Re: Master Scotty Cameron Putters: Worth It or Not? Thread
Originally Posted by
nike_golf 
I don't get some peoples attitude about SC putters. It's like some are personally offended at the site (sic) of one. .........
But for some to basically bad mouth others and assume the reasons why they play certain clubs is down right childish.
I couldn't agree more. I don't understand the venom that comes out when people ask if a SC is worth it, and their arguments rarely have anything to do with objective points about the putter or even the subjective points about feel, comfort, and confidence. What is especially odd is that every manufacturer - every one - has similarly priced product in the market. Go to putters on the Golfsmith website and sort by price starting at the highest, and it is interesting that of the top 8 there is one SC, 3 Odyssey models, 3 Yes models, and a See More. Expand the list and some more Scotty's pop up, but so do a lot of Odyssey, SeeMore, Yes, TaylorMade, Pings, etc. But for some reason the SC haters always neglect to mention their own favorite brands also have putters in the same price ranges; do they honestly feel that those are valued fairly while the Scotty's aren't?
The fact is, every other manufacturer ought to kiss Scotty's ring on a daily basis. Without going into the argument of the putter values, what Scotty has achieved is a study in marketing genius. He has taken the lowly putter, previously the least glamorous club in the bag, and elevated it into a profit machine for every company, changing the perception of the putter as art and spawning a huge market of collectibles. Harvard Business School could write a dozen case studies on the business wisdom that Scotty has instilled into this market.
Back to the putter's worth, it is true that there are great putters a lot cheaper than a SC, and there are those a lot more expensive (at least for production models). Ultimately a putter is that rare blend of head style and shaft configuration combined with a level of manufacturing quality and an aesthetic appeal that needs to match the user's eye and stroke. I don't think of any other club - not even a driver - that requires this near-magical blend of a bunch of objective and subjective factors. When it all comes together it is wonderful and you sink everything you look at. If it doesn't, whatever you bought is overpriced and irrelevant. That is why people need to really spend time with different putters with a blind eye towards the price tag to figure out what really works for you.
In my case, I've recently changed my putting stroke a few times over the last dozen years driving me from my old BeCu Anser to an Ray Cook Blue Goose (a Scotty-designed model although I never knew that until lately) back to the Anser to a Odyssey 2-Ball to a Ping Piper and now to a SC Newport 1.5. In my last buying decision I narrowed it down to 3 different putters that I liked - an inexpensve Guerin Rife, a Ping Redwood, and the SC (price range all over the map) - and spent about 2 hours on the practice green figuring out which was the one I wanted in my hand to sink that putt on 18 to win a match. The SC prevailed, and I never blinked at the price difference, figuring it will be in the noise over the years. If the SC lost out I wouldn't have cared, for even though it was the best machined and best looking of the 3 if it didn't inspire confidence over the putt it doesn't matter.
So for those who feel compelled to slam the Scotty's, please at least make it an
intelligent conversation. If you want to discuss the benefits of the different steels involved, fine. Manufacturing processes - interesting discussion. Design choices....great. Ability to get the right sizing, or left hand versions.....wonderful. But so many of your retorts sound like the Monty Python "Argument" sketch. And are less constructive.
