Why do people invest so much money in putters?

[Wi-Golfer]

I like cake, oh and brownies too.

 

[Stanters]

Money spent does not make you a good putter. Not one bit.

And, you've hit the nail on the head about what I think of people that defend boutique putters. Always looking down their nose at people that don't have them.

R35

Bit harsh Rock, I don't think the putter maketh the man any more than a flash car does.

Some people just like em --- simple. Live and let live and be free from judging people, life's a bit short for putter related bitterness.

Now please stop being so nosey you dreadful guttersnipes

 

[Sandpiper3]

Case, my answer is that I will use ANYTHING, I dont care if it's a mini putt putter, a SC, a rectangle on the end of a stick made of gold or anything inbetween, I will use the putter that I look down at and feel confident in and that feels best to me.

For awhile it was a Odyssey white hot number 8 (blade style), then i lost confidence and wandered around til i got a scotty, then found the one I have now in a FS ad on WRX. I planned to pick it up and resell for a profit as it looked perfect having just been sent to the custom shop, but then I stroked a few with it, and O-M-G....

Safe to say, it's been my gamer ever since.

If you want to ask that question, then why do you use a fancy taylormade golf bag? I could rig a backpack and make a few little holes in it to do the same job my golf bag does, so why don't you do that too? It's just a golf bag? :laugh:

 

[wirehair]

wirehair, what was the type of Scotty you let me use? I know you said it was rare, but I wouldn't mind looking for a similar one, or better yet, you looking for a similar one for me.

That thing had some mojo in it.

Doc: This is the putter you used that day. It's got unusual balance, not quite face balanced but less toe-flow than a Newport. Classic V Tour

A close cousin is a pro-Plat Sonoma II (not a Gun Blue Sonoma) - it has a different neck and is closer to face balanced but is much more available and can routinely e-bayed up for around a $100. Pro Plat Sonoma 2

 

[LBlack14]

I'm in less than $100 for my putter, including the grip and refinishing. Much less that what you'd pay for a plain Jane Odyssey these days.

R35

You talkin the one Frank refinished??? I'da thought you had 2wice that in it, at least.

 

[Sunset Beach Golf]

Being a custom putter manufacturer I am a bit biased but I will give you some insight into how I do things.

1. I cannot do a complete loft, lie, and length fitting over the internet. However I can do a couple of things.
2. I have devised a system to help a customer become better fitted for their putter. Some know their lie and length and loft. Some know lie and length and loft is a variable based on their stroke.
3. My system helps them to discover how much toe hang fits their stroke.

Once we decide on the toe hang we then make just about whatever style hosel they want adapting it to one of our heads and adjusting their loft, lie and length to what they need.

Part of the reason my putters are more expensive are for these reasons, also with all of the stamping options we do for personalization is included in the price.

So from my stanpoint, yes it is silly to just go and buy any old cameron off the rack, but getting a putter you like the look of and fits the amount of arc in your stroke and the weight, loft and lie are set for you is definitely worth the money I charge.

Which is far less than just about any of my competitors and I do more for it.

 

[Mr Happy]

The secret is, when you miss that 4 footer with a cheapo putter, you look like a hack who can't putt. But, when you miss it with a Scotty, you look like a hack that bought a expensive putter that can't putt, but you look good missing it,




And seriously, my Scotty is better balanced, and has a better feel to it than any other putter I've tried. And trust me, I've tried a bunch of them. If the putter feels good to you, suits your eye, you will putt better with it.

I agree and for me it all about the feel. I have 3 scottys and did not pay over $100.00 for any of them. What club do you use more then a putter per round? I am also going to spend $20.00 more to have it fitted to me.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

It's genuinely hard for me to believe that the SC putters are "so balanced" and feel "so good." I really think it's the mentality that a putter this expensive MUST be better, somehow, so you fill the void in your head with something very subjective.

Put 2 putters down on a putting green; one off-brand anser-style blade, one SC anser-style blade. 9/10 people will tell you how great the cameron feels, and how nice it is.

Even if they're the EXACT same putter. It's as if having something more expensive in one's hands makes one believe that they need to pick up on some extra-sensory perception of that putter. Like, this thing must have feedback like no other... it must be balanced so nicely to cost this much... it must be... something...

You need a putter that suits your eye to the line of your putt- you don't want to feel like you're going to hit offline.

You need a comfortable heft in your putter.

You would like an effective loft of 3-4*.

You need a grip that works with what you're trying to accomplish with your hand position.

You can do MOST of that without a Scotty Cameron, but you'll be missing out on the opium-infused huzzah of "feel" that the Camerons offer.

By all means- they're good looking putters. But that's really ALL it is.

Putting has VERY little to do with technology. Spending money on titanium drivers with graphite shafts that have internal weighting and yadda yadda yadda actually DOES effect the performance of the club versus using some cheap aluminum garbage. But putting is just rolling a ball. If you can putt, you could putt reasonably well with virtually ANY putter once you got used to it. The shafts don't flex, the faces don't recoil, etc. There is almost no "technology" to spend your money on in putting.

(Though TM would have you thinking otherwise with their SPIDER)

But that being said... people pay HUGE money just to wear shiny metals around. I don't have a problem with that, because it's perfectly clear that they're just spending their money to look higher-class. To each their own.

If "boutique putter" doesn't say enough, I dunno what will...

 

[xamilo]

Why do people spend so much money in buying a high-end car if a us$1500 will get you there ANYWAY? Why spend on dinner at 372 Tetsuya if you can go to Mac Donald's and eat a Big Mac? Why go on a Golf Trip to the Caribbean if you can play at the local community course and have a splash at the pond?

There is certain "charm" on spending money in somethings people find precious, and in golf putters seem to be the way to go.

The best things in life have no price, but some great ones need a little more to spend on hehehehe...

 

[SilverUberXeno]

Why do people spend so much money in buying a high-end car if a us$1500 will get you there ANYWAY? Why spend on dinner at 372 Tetsuya if you can go to Mac Donald's and eat a Big Mac? Why go on a Golf Trip to the Caribbean if you can play at the local community course and have a splash at the pond?

There is certain "charm" on spending money in somethings people find precious, and in golf putters seem to be the way to go.

The best things in life have no price, but some great ones need a little more to spend on hehehehe...

1.) If all you cared about with a vehicle was getting from A to B, you'd spend $1,500 on a car. If I could find a car that met my demands for a vehicle for $1,500, I'd have a $1,500 car. But there's a LOT more to cars than putters. Excesses there are impractical, but do tend to offer something cheaper ones CAN'T. A $1,500 car doesn't go 0-60 in 3 seconds, or have heated seats. Paying excess for a putter, which offers virtually 0 extra performance versus even the cheapest putters is futile.

2.) I don't spend significant money on dinners at all, but I assume one would because they taste better, or are more nutritious than a Big Mac.

3.) Is your local course as nice as the Caribbean? If so, don't waste your time with the trip and stay at home!

You've made three examples of things in which spending more yields a SIGNIFICANT difference in product or performance. Putting does NOT fit this bill. Putting is about rolling a ball in a desired direction at a desired speed. That's IT. That can be accomplished very inexpensively.

Of course, so can going A to B in a car. If you spend more on a car, you must want more out of it. I like my car to look nice- I like to see my car and feel priveleged to drive it. I LOVE heated seats; fantastic in the northeast. I need a big trunk. I like leather. None of this has ANYTHING to do with A-to-B. A car is more to me than that.

You are welcome to make the same claims about a putter. You want to like the way it looks, you want people to be impressed, etc. But my point is, NO, you are not getting any performance out of a more expensive putter. It will NOT assist you in getting from A-to-InTheHole.

 

[Sandpiper3]

There is significant advantages in putters, and the car comparison works perfectly fine, your just only looking at it from your point of view.

THERE ARE putters that are "better" than others, throw a SC, a rossa Spider, then old fashioned anser on a putting machine, you will notice it will be very consistent.

If you grab a POS "anser style" putter off the rack and throw it on there, there WILL be a difference.

Feel is a huge matter, and Camerons DO feel different then some other anser style head, they all feel different! If you dont think so that's just stupid. And that feel is different and a lot of ppl do like the solid type of feel you get from a Cameron putter (although yes i guarantee there could be the $ affecting their decision on many players that buy Cameron as well, but that just shows how good of a businessman he is).

Why do Pros use SC's and Spiders and not putters you can buy from Wal-Mart...? THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN FEEL AND PERFORMANCE!!!!

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Some people feel that the more money they spend on a putter the better they will putt and that confidence is HUGE on the putting green.

I believe confidence is the only part of golf that can positively affect your scores that can be flat out purchased in cases like this one. Not that I feel knowing I spent more money on a putter would give me confidence. Just different strokes for different folks. I also personally disagree with the concept of the OP that a $500 driver would be better for my game than the $129 one I have in my bag. I think it is the same thing, but simply what part of the game you value the most. I think the $129 one is better than the one it replaced for which I spent $299. Furthermore, you use it at least twice as much as any other club in your bag. You put my drive on an Iron Byron with a $500 driver and I would bargain to guess I would never spend $400 more on the other driver in an effort to gain the difference in results.

While I would have no problem spending $300 on a putter if it was better than the one I have in my bag that was $119, and have even given thought to trying the Black Series #7 which is close to that amount if I felt it gave me more confidence. I refuse to even try the Black series for that reason. I already have confidence with my current putter, so why mess with a good thing. I only replaced my old one because it was damaged, and can assure that if my current putter ever reaches that point I will try the black series. When bought this one, I possibly would have bought a SC had they had one with a soft insert, but only if it felt better than my current one. I would only guess that had the Black Series #7 been available at the time it very likely would be in my bag right now.

 

[Fourputt]

I picked up a Scotty Newport 2 for $115 which is less than the odysseys cost when they originally came out.

Don't know where you get this... my Odyssey 992 cost $84 full price in a golf shop on the course. That was about 10 years ago. Last I looked $84 was less than $115. :laugh:

Case,

The putter is the most used club in the golf bag. Think about it. A par round = 36 putts. Compare that with hitting a driver about 6 times (depending on the course) during a round. Yet some people spend $600 + on their driver.

Golf is a numbers game & 9 times out of 10, the putter will be the club used to get the ball in the hole. Putting is just about the most important aspect of the game.

There have been golf rounds where I've left the driver in the bag & used my 3 wood or long irons & it hasn't hurt the score card at all. The same can't be said for putting.

Remember - "Drive for show, putt for dough".

But no matter how you gauge it, a putter is low tech. Anyone with the craft skills and access to a machine shop can machine a putter head from a block of metal. Even if you design by trial and error you can eventually end up with a good product. But I defy anyone to design and build his own driver from scratch.

I agree and for me it all about the feel. I have 3 scottys and did not pay over $100.00 for any of them. What club do you use more then a putter per round? I am also going to spend $20.00 more to have it fitted to me.

Had I been interested, I could have had 2 Scotty's this spring for $70 each. They were on the putter table at the Denver Golf Expo in the Junior Golf club swap. I don't need a new putter, and I've never been much enamored of Scotty Cameron anyway, so I left them there.

 

[xamilo]

1.) If all you cared about with a vehicle was getting from A to B, you'd spend $1,500 on a car. If I could find a car that met my demands for a vehicle for $1,500, I'd have a $1,500 car. But there's a LOT more to cars than putters. Excesses there are impractical, but do tend to offer something cheaper ones CAN'T. A $1,500 car doesn't go 0-60 in 3 seconds, or have heated seats. Paying excess for a putter, which offers virtually 0 extra performance versus even the cheapest putters is futile.

2.) I don't spend significant money on dinners at all, but I assume one would because they taste better, or are more nutritious than a Big Mac.

3.) Is your local course as nice as the Caribbean? If so, don't waste your time with the trip and stay at home!

You've made three examples of things in which spending more yields a SIGNIFICANT difference in product or performance. Putting does NOT fit this bill. Putting is about rolling a ball in a desired direction at a desired speed. That's IT. That can be accomplished very inexpensively.

Of course, so can going A to B in a car. If you spend more on a car, you must want more out of it. I like my car to look nice- I like to see my car and feel priveleged to drive it. I LOVE heated seats; fantastic in the northeast. I need a big trunk. I like leather. None of this has ANYTHING to do with A-to-B. A car is more to me than that.

You are welcome to make the same claims about a putter. You want to like the way it looks, you want people to be impressed, etc. But my point is, NO, you are not getting any performance out of a more expensive putter. It will NOT assist you in getting from A-to-InTheHole.

1. Caring about a car having leather seats seems to me exactly like caring about a putter having a more expensive grip because you "feel" better. I don't think it "increases performance".

I agree a car is more than that. In some cultures its a notion of power, economical status, etc, you like it or not. So is a putter. People feel better because they have this or that strange special collection limited edition putter like they care about having that special collection 1973 Mercedes "Gull-Wings" or 1967 Shelby Mustang. It is in no way better than an actual SLK Mercedes or GT Mustang, bu it does give a special "feeling".

How about customizing a car? Tunning has become a huge business and has a ginormous amount of adepts. Isn't a custumized putter exactly the same? I would love to have a putter designed for myself, with my name on the cast head and the exact finish and colour I want. And yes, I would pay more for that because I think its great and I find it "cool". (Waiting to have the money and put my order through Sunset Beach) Just as I pay more for having my initials engraved in a Ralph Laurent Polo-Shirt.

We come to a second point: Why spend money in brand name clothing if you can get a pair of jeans at K-mart for $9.99, a Polo T' for $5, and Shoes for $19,99? Because some love the way some brands look on them, or feel better with them. I love Kenneth Cole Trousers because they just "feel" perfectly, and no, they do EXACTLY the same as the K-mart ones do, they offer no increase in performance.

2. Spending money in fancy dinners is one of the things I love the most to do. Having a great dinner out with some great tasting wine, with great company (Why pay $70 a bottle for a Grand Cru if you can get drunk with a bottle of cheap rum, uh?) does give me a better "feel" than eating TV Dinner every night.

3. My home course is an ocean-side in a place called Little Bay in La Perousse, NSW. Yes, its a beautiful "caribeean-like" course, but I would still pay for going on golf vacation to "feel" how it "feels", just as I would pay for a different putter to "feel" it (and maybe trade it back if it doesn't work).


Most things are about "FEEL" as you can see, no increase in performance or ahything. FEEL cannot be measured, you are right, is a completely subjective thing.

If you feel like TW in the course with your $20 putter, I applaud you and I'm happy for you, but I can perfectly understand ALL OF YOU OUT THERE who spend money in a putter because you like the "feel", or you like the "looks, or you simply are capable of buying a more expensive putter and you don't care why. Its your money anyway and isn't it jut WONDERFUL when you can invest your money in whatever you want it to? And that might be a reason to buy an expensive putter: Because you can afford one. If any of you bought one for that reason, I congratulate you. Its a good enough reason.

I currently own a Karsten Anser series PING putter, the CHEAPEST in the line, cause its the one I have the most "feel" with, but I would definitely try and get a customized as soon as I have the spare money available to do so, because I think its worth it.

BTW, Sunset Beach, you have something looking like an Anser B-60???

 

[Rockford35]

Bit harsh Rock, I don't think the putter maketh the man any more than a flash car does.

Some people just like em --- simple. Live and let live and be free from judging people, life's a bit short for putter related bitterness.

Now please stop being so nosey you dreadful guttersnipes

I've long maintained that people that play Camerons are douchebags - around here, anyways. And, the douchebag to shitty golfer ratio is almost always 1:1.

However, I have lightened my feelings on this subject recently, as there are plenty of doucheba, er, guys around here that play Camerons and we get along just fine.

You talkin the one Frank refinished??? I'da thought you had 2wice that in it, at least.

If it would have cost me twice that, I would not have had it done and I'd still be using my Odyssey White Hot #2.

That being said, this putter is firmly entrenched in my bag. It's phenonmenal and sinks putts. If that's the goal, who cares what it costs?

R35