Scotty Cameron Newport 2 - The Greatest Putter

I'm a sucker for inspirational stories of how people achieved great success from a humble beginning. It never failed to bring a tear to my eyes. It is all abut passion and in some cases obsession.

Karsten Solheim (Ping)

Have you heard the one of how Ping came about? About how a Norwegian immigrant Karsten Solheim who works in GE having unhappy situations with his putting then went on to toy with and finally developed a prototype putter with weights towards the back, the first of its kind in the world.

He then established Karsten manufacturing in 1967 and promptly named his product Ping which was how it sounded when it made contact with the golf ball. He wanted to name it Answer, which was the answer to putting problems but the six letters could not fit in to the heel end of the perimeter weighting and his wife suggested to drop the "w" to get the same sounding name which gave birth to the Ping Anser putter. He could only sell a few units until Julius Boros won it in a PGA tournament.

What is the significance of Karsten Solheim? He pioneered the Anser putter design that is copied today in all brands. More than that, he applied the same concept of perimeter weighting to his irons and his designs and methods took the golf world into another dimension. The Ping Eye 2 became the best selling irons ever. He died at age 88 in 2000. Ping remains to be the only manufacturer to have a foundry in Arizona, USA. Ping also possessed the most precious putter museum because for every win by a pro playing with their putter, they will make 2 special putters to commemorate the event - one would be given to the player and the other they will keep in this museum.

Kia Ma (TaylorMade)

Kia Ma is a nativeVietnamese who endured immigration to the USA in 1980. Later he was with Shamrock then Ray Cook before he set up K & M Golf before TaylorMade purchased it in 2003. He was considered one of the best and most sophisticated putter customizing operations in the world specializing in high end milled putters. He is the guy behind all the lastest Taylormade Rossa, Spider, Tourismo, etc.

Robert Bettinardi (Bettinardi/Mizuno)

Bob Bettinardi used to tinker at his father's shop since young and went on to be a master engineer milling parts for the defence and medical industries. Armed with a mechanical engineering degree and a special milling machine, he got Callaway and Cleveland to let him build them a putter. In 1998, he founded Bettinardi Golf. Jesper Parnerik used one in 1999 and won shooting an incredible 23 under with 99 putts in 4 rounds of golf. Bettinardi's breakthrough technology and tour pros' backing made him one of the world's hottest putter designers. He gave us the honeycomb pattern on the face and he found a way to flatten the face within a thousandth of an inch. Bettinardi putters are treasured. Mizuno has released a Bettinardi Carbon Black.

Odyssey

Odyssey, owned by Callaway created the original Odyssey mallet in around 1990. Then they released the classic style Dual Force Bronze putters in 1994 with black inserts. In 1995, they claimed 26 first placed victories and more than 300 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour. Recognized itself as the No.1 putter in golf in 1997. The White Hot series was released in 2000 and in 2001 came one of the game's greatest revolution in design with the 2-Ball putter making it the world's best selling. 2003 saw the unveiling of the DFX, a firmer feel putter than the White Hot. Later they released the Black Series which some users claimed to be as good as or even better than the Scotty Cameron and now the Sabertooth is making its rounds in PGA and golf courses everywhere.

Harold Swash (Yes!)

Yes! was so impressed with Harold Swash - Britain and Europe's putting doctor that they formed a partnership. He suffered a serious leg injury playing soccer and friends introduced him to golf where putting soon became his forte. His father was a serious snooker player and taught him about topspin and forward roll. He once completed a round with only 18 putts and six rounds with 19 putts. In 1995, he developed one of the most significant putting technology. Knowing that a putter face would force a ball to spin, skid and skip in the very first few inches upon impact, he designed a club to prevent this and he found a winner, patented and called it the C-Groove technology which makes the ball produce an almost immediate forward roll so that they could maintain alignment in the roll. The fact that Yes! putters were asked for by Tour pros and they did not have to pay them to use it speaks volume of the product.

Scotty Cameron (Titleist)

Scotty Cameron used to play golf with his father when he was growing up and would often be in the garage working on clubs, fiddling with heads, grips, designs and then later bringing them out for tests. In the erly days, he used a garage to work and due to its limitations he became a special talent in shaping and finishing with superb craftsmanship. Later, he joined Ray Cook, Maxfli, Cleveland (founder Roger Cleveland), Founders' Club (Gary Adams founder of TaylorMade) and Mizuno before setting up on his own. In 1993, one of his putters won the Masters. Titleist became interested in Scotty to design putters.

In 1994, Cameron and Acushnet (Titleist owners) became partners. All Scotty Cameron putters are known as Scotty Cameron by Titleist. It went on to win more modern tournaments than any other brands. from 1993, 500 worldwide tournaments and nearly 50% of the 4 golf majors were won with a Scotty Cameron.

Why Scotty Cameron?

There is an array of brands of putters with an even greater variety in process, weight, size, quality and shapes.

Golf is won in and around the green and the putter is the most important and the most used club in the bag considering if you average 2 putts per hole. Scotty Cameron was the number one putter at the Traveler's Championship with 58 players using one. It became famous for milled putters from 1993 when Bernhard Langer won the Masters with one. Tiger is using a Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 (previous model) but his comes with a black Ping grip (because he was using this Ping grip since young).

Ratings for Scotty Cameron Newport 2 reviewed:

Golf Digest: 5 Stars. Feels exactly like a blade should. Doesn't feel or sound like a metal face. Sets up perfectly. Feels like butter (soft). It is a performance, look, sound, feel winner!

Rankmark: 3rd Position for Seniors. 3rd Position for low handicappers. 1st Position for high handicappers. 2nd Position for Looks. 1st Position for Best Feel. 2nd Position for Long Putt.4th Position for Short Putt. 2nd Position for Best Overall.

Golf Magazine: Features machined steel insert over a soft vibration pad. An elastomer cushion in the face of the precision-milled head. High toe set up reduces tendency to raise toe and aim left. Tester comment: Best weighting of any Cameron putter. Quality and attention to detail. Excellent weight balance, feel. Apperance - 8.5 (out of 10), Feel - 8.5, Balance - 8.5, Alignment - 8.4, Distance Control - 8.6. Overall: 8.5 (highest).

Best Apperance: Scotty Cameron Studio, Mizuno Bettinardi, Rife Aussie.

Best Feel: Scotty Cameron Studio, TaylorMade Spider, F2 Hamilton HM1.

Best Balance: Scotty Cameron Studio,Odyssey Sabertooth,Yes Gina, F2 Hamilton HM4, Rife 2 Bar hybrid.

Best Overall: Soctty Cameron Studio, Mizuno Bettinardi, Yes Gina, Rife Aussie, Rife 2-Bar, Titleist Red -X, F2 Hamilton HM4.

Scotty Cameron Newport 2 (Studio Select) is precision-milled from a block of 303 stainless steel with 3 red-dot cherry graphics splashed across the back. Heel/toe weights were created for stability to reduce twisting and a larger sweetspot. The weights are factory-fitted and factory-adjustable for best head weight to shaft length balance but can be customised. They come in 33/34/35 inches.

As they were duly fitted length, do not cut your putter shorter or add weights as they may distort the in-built qualities. It comes with a loft of 4 degrees and lie angle of 71 degrees with headweight of 360g/350g/340g in respective length of 33/34/35 inches and swing weight of C9-D1/D2-D4/D6-D8. Milled patterns are found on the face. A distinctive Scotty red cord grip provides a comfortable and easy grip. A white alignment aid makes lining up shots a breeze. Due to its great and right feel, balance for consistent stroke, distance control is a piece of cake. Craftsmanship is outstanding as in all Scotty who mad putters with great allure, like an excellent work of art. This gives you great confidence on the green if you like blade style putter.

An overall solid performer ticking all the right boxes. When struck well, feel is like velvet, smooth and feedback with a springy feel. Off-centre hits felt and sounded different but they are not super-friendly high MOI putters and you will need a decent touch. Headcover is silver, padded with 3 large red cherry dots which seems a bit loud and vain using velcro to close. They even have putter covers as collectibles. In the US, you can even send your SC to pimp it up for a spa treatment at their custom shop.

Gurus teach us to use pedigree equipment and look for your role models. Tiger is using the Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter (previous model not the latest) but his comes with a black Ping grip which he is so used to since using it from young and without all the graphics that you find in standard ones. You can go buy a Rolex or Panerai for $40 or $50k or you can get an imitation for $50. Make an important choice. Once you invest in a Scotty, you will not need any other. Beam me up Scotty! Drive for show and putt for dough they say. My friends, this is your dough maker!

P.S. All the above mentioned are great putter makers. You won't do yourself any harm playing them. Ping and TaylorMade have a wider price range while Yes, Bettinardi and Scotty Cameron are pricier.

Golf as in life, play as it lies!