So with my new little club working shop in my garage, I got a little antsy after the Masters. I have been loving my putter for over a year now, but I have been analyzing why I love it so. Here's what I have come up with...
It is pretty simple.
It has no offset. (In other words, the shaft is even with the face of the putter face. Almost every putter you will find has a shaft that has at least one shaft width of offset, where the shaft is in front of the putter face.)
It is face balanced. (it feels balanced to make a stroke with.)
If you have seen my putter, you will recall that it is a bronze cylinder bar with a shaft in it.
I have been admiring putters on tv for a while that I like the looks of a lot better. By saying that I like the looks, what I mean is that they have some sort of line that helps you line up your putt better. This alignment aid is important to me and gives me the confidence to make a good stroke.
However, every time I see a putter that I like, I see that it is offset. The offset putters just do not please my eye. And the ones that are not offset are center shafted, meaning that the shaft runs right into the center of the putter right behind the face. What I don't like about this is that the shaft of the center shafted putter usually blocks some of the alignment line and even looks funky and blocks the view of the back of the ball.
So what I have decided to do is to find a putter that I like the look of. Buy a straight shaft and put a single bend in it that allows the face to hang balanced but has no offset in it. The putter needs to be heel shafted and have a good alignment aid. I also want it to have a solid but soft feel while putting.
After watching Retief Goosen win a couple of weeks ago, I found that I have loved his putter for a while. His putter is a Yes! Tracy Putter. But when I have tried these, they are a little too light and are just a little too thin for my eye.
So after messing around at GolfWorks, I found that Yes! makes a putter that is like the Tracy only not at thin, weighs a bit more, is heel shafted, and has a great feel. I found one that they were selling for $80. On ebay they go used for $150, and the new ones are between $250 and $300. I offered GolfWorks $60 and they took it.
I bought a couple of the cheapest shafts I could find to practice bending in my garage. When I got a bit of confidence, I bought a putter shaft that I liked for $6. I bent it perfectly.
I heated the putter head and shaft and pulled the original shaft. I used quick epoxy to put in the new bent shaft. I took care to line it up really well and let it dry. After drying, I threw a Lamkin grip that I found for $2 at Pro Golf Discount and bought a few of the other day. It is a simple looking grip but has a nice feel and shape.
When I put it together, I was amazed at how cool it looked. I immediately took it into the yard and hit a few putts. The putter is still face balanced, the feel did not change. In fact, because I balanced it well and used a shaft that I liked, I think it actually feels even better. The grip is also a solid grip, not a cushy one. I like the solid ones better. I love looking at the putter over the ball. The alignment aid is easier to aim than ever. I was feeling consistent and accurate over every putt I hit.
I have to say that I am actually pretty impressed with myself. This might be the coolest putter I have ever looked down at. It makes a difference when you have control over every aspect of the design of the putter. I could not have found this combination of look, feel, balance, alignment and simplicity in any putter off the shelf. But it feels amazing that I thought it through and created it.
I will post pictures soon.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Masters Recap 2009
I know I know. Usually I write a preview. But there was just too much going on this week. So, yep I watched every minute of it. And here are my thoughts.
The competition and course were better than they have been for a few years. The course set up and course conditions were ready for good scoring. I hope the competition committee takes this into consideration for the next few years. The last few years sucked. Scoring was too difficult and the wrong kind of shots were rewareded.
First, I will say that Angel Cabrera is a great story. Coming from Argentina to shock the world in the 07 US Open. The guy is supposed to be charitable and nice giving back to poor kids in his home country.
I never would have picked him to win. He was not on my radar. Already some stupid Golf Channel Analysts are claiming that they foresaw him doing great things this week. Whatever.
I would have picked Geoff Ogilvy. If you gave me a choice between Tiger and Ogilvy, I would have taken Ogilvy in a second. He is number one in putting stats, putts fast greens great. He is one of the best long iron players in the world, and is red hot this year.
Take note this year though. Even though there is no rough to speak of, and analysts say that driving distance is the key at augusta and not accuracy, they are wrong. Immelman won last year by driving better than anyone else. Take a look at the top players this year. Perry, Cabrera, Campbell, Furyk... all of these guys were very accurate. Phil and Tiger were not playing from the fairway and had to take advantage of the holes where they were. The other leaders were in the fairway almost every time and had green lights into greens far more often than the big two.
Phil and Tiger.
The duel almost came to fruition. They stormed into contention on the front nine. Dang that was awesome! Phil's 30 on the front was unspeakably amazing. Tiger played himself into contention and what was crazy scary, he didn't look to be doing anything all that spectacular.
If Phil would have not thrown the ball in the water on 12, and not bogeyed 18, he would have been in a playoff. That would have been a round of 64!
Don't say he choked though. Number 12 is a rough hole. Phil plays that hole as well as anyone. No doubt he could have hit it a few feet further and been in a good spot for birdie. The birdie on 13 was solid. If there was any real bad decisions, look at how he over thought the putts on 15 and 17. He literally could have walked away with a 62, had he putted better and not been in the water on 12. He would have won by 2 strokes!
Phil's post round interview was his best interview in a long time. Usually I cringe at his interviews, but he acknowledged over reading both of those putts. He said he made a bad swing on 12. The drive on 18 was pretty lame, but he was trying to be agressive because he thought he needed birdie. (I think Faldo was a little over critical of Phil and Tiger's driver choice on 18.) I loved that he said that when he and Tiger have gone head to head in the past, he admitted that Tiger gets the best of him more often than not. He didn't acknowledge or brag about beating Tiger by a stroke, he just answered the question. Good stuff.
To me, it appeared that Kenny Perry was more solid through the entire tournament than anyone else. i was kind of disappointed for him.
I also have to just say for the record that Rory McIlroy is awesome. He would have been right in the mix had he not blown up the last few holes on Friday. He has an amazing swing. I love it, he is young but not trying to kill it. Just a balanced sweet swing. I hope he keeps the great play going for a long time. He is just going to continue to be more and more entertaining to watch.
All in All, it was a great Masters. I am happy.
The competition and course were better than they have been for a few years. The course set up and course conditions were ready for good scoring. I hope the competition committee takes this into consideration for the next few years. The last few years sucked. Scoring was too difficult and the wrong kind of shots were rewareded.
First, I will say that Angel Cabrera is a great story. Coming from Argentina to shock the world in the 07 US Open. The guy is supposed to be charitable and nice giving back to poor kids in his home country.
I never would have picked him to win. He was not on my radar. Already some stupid Golf Channel Analysts are claiming that they foresaw him doing great things this week. Whatever.
I would have picked Geoff Ogilvy. If you gave me a choice between Tiger and Ogilvy, I would have taken Ogilvy in a second. He is number one in putting stats, putts fast greens great. He is one of the best long iron players in the world, and is red hot this year.
Take note this year though. Even though there is no rough to speak of, and analysts say that driving distance is the key at augusta and not accuracy, they are wrong. Immelman won last year by driving better than anyone else. Take a look at the top players this year. Perry, Cabrera, Campbell, Furyk... all of these guys were very accurate. Phil and Tiger were not playing from the fairway and had to take advantage of the holes where they were. The other leaders were in the fairway almost every time and had green lights into greens far more often than the big two.
Phil and Tiger.
The duel almost came to fruition. They stormed into contention on the front nine. Dang that was awesome! Phil's 30 on the front was unspeakably amazing. Tiger played himself into contention and what was crazy scary, he didn't look to be doing anything all that spectacular.
If Phil would have not thrown the ball in the water on 12, and not bogeyed 18, he would have been in a playoff. That would have been a round of 64!
Don't say he choked though. Number 12 is a rough hole. Phil plays that hole as well as anyone. No doubt he could have hit it a few feet further and been in a good spot for birdie. The birdie on 13 was solid. If there was any real bad decisions, look at how he over thought the putts on 15 and 17. He literally could have walked away with a 62, had he putted better and not been in the water on 12. He would have won by 2 strokes!
Phil's post round interview was his best interview in a long time. Usually I cringe at his interviews, but he acknowledged over reading both of those putts. He said he made a bad swing on 12. The drive on 18 was pretty lame, but he was trying to be agressive because he thought he needed birdie. (I think Faldo was a little over critical of Phil and Tiger's driver choice on 18.) I loved that he said that when he and Tiger have gone head to head in the past, he admitted that Tiger gets the best of him more often than not. He didn't acknowledge or brag about beating Tiger by a stroke, he just answered the question. Good stuff.
To me, it appeared that Kenny Perry was more solid through the entire tournament than anyone else. i was kind of disappointed for him.
I also have to just say for the record that Rory McIlroy is awesome. He would have been right in the mix had he not blown up the last few holes on Friday. He has an amazing swing. I love it, he is young but not trying to kill it. Just a balanced sweet swing. I hope he keeps the great play going for a long time. He is just going to continue to be more and more entertaining to watch.
All in All, it was a great Masters. I am happy.
Club Review Cobra Carbon CB Irons
Hey...
Remember when I said that I was pretty happy about the clubs that I have. I am.
But...
I was at AZ golfworks the other day and saw a set of irons that Brad had told me were some of the ultimate clubs out there last year. When I tried to find a set, they were consistently $550+, even now, on ebay you won't find a decent set for under $400.
So I was shocked when I saw a set on sale for $225.
So I asked if they wanted to come down on the set. I asked about $175, and ended up settling at 185. The weird thing is that these clubs came with brand new golf pride new decade grips (about a $60 value installed) and they are in amazing shape. When I measured them and they were exactly fit to my specs.
Anyway, I knew that if these don't work out for me, I can make a couple hundred bucks on them. These were on consignment and the owner just wanted to get rid of them.
Here's my review.
These clubs are so sharp looking at address. They have a thin top line and almost no offset. They couldn't look better in my opinion. My only complaint is that I don't like shiny chrome, but they do look sweet.
I have heard that these were cast and not forged, so I figured that they would be clunky or at least much more harsh than my titleist forged irons.
But the 8250 steel that they use is much softer feeling than most cast clubs. I was also told that the cavity on the back of these clubs is designed to give a nice feel.
These look and feel like I imagine pro clubs feeling.
The ball flight is nice and penetrating. I love it when irons don't balloon. My ever changing swing has been hitting some high short irons lately and these irons have a much lower and penetrating flight. They feel so controllable.
I couldn't give these a higher rating. These are amazing looking feeling and flying irons.
Setting Up Shop
Whatever happens with my new game, I am making an investment...
I want a golf shop.
I want to make building and fitting clubs a hobby.
Soooo, I am going to pick out some equipment to start a garage shop.
Here's what I am starting with...
A swingweight/total weight scale
A Vise with a shaft clamp
A Shaft bending vise attachment
A shaft bending bar
A bench grinder
A belt sander
A grip remover
Grip Tape Remover
A 48 in Ruler
A loft/lie bending machine
A torch for heating hosels and shafts
A graphite shaft extractor
Epoxy
Grip Tape
Build up tape
Protractor
GolfSmith multi measuring tool
magnetic angle measurer for loft and lie
regrooving tool
Shaft curtting tool
Ferrule Tool
Assorted Grips
And most importantly
Brad Butler's charts of clubfitting standards
All of this stuff would cost thousands if I just bought it at golfsmith or golfworks, but by getting a lot of the stuff at Harbor Freight, Golfsmith Sales, and Craigslist I have only paid a couple hundred dollars.
Not only that, but I was able to take a college course on clubfitting that students paid thousands for, for free. Because I know the teacher. Wink
I want a golf shop.
I want to make building and fitting clubs a hobby.
Soooo, I am going to pick out some equipment to start a garage shop.
Here's what I am starting with...
A swingweight/total weight scale
A Vise with a shaft clamp
A Shaft bending vise attachment
A shaft bending bar
A bench grinder
A belt sander
A grip remover
Grip Tape Remover
A 48 in Ruler
A loft/lie bending machine
A torch for heating hosels and shafts
A graphite shaft extractor
Epoxy
Grip Tape
Build up tape
Protractor
GolfSmith multi measuring tool
magnetic angle measurer for loft and lie
regrooving tool
Shaft curtting tool
Ferrule Tool
Assorted Grips
And most importantly
Brad Butler's charts of clubfitting standards
All of this stuff would cost thousands if I just bought it at golfsmith or golfworks, but by getting a lot of the stuff at Harbor Freight, Golfsmith Sales, and Craigslist I have only paid a couple hundred dollars.
Not only that, but I was able to take a college course on clubfitting that students paid thousands for, for free. Because I know the teacher. Wink
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