Golf Clubs that Changed the Game

Giant club heads, exotic shafts, and weird-looking putters have become staples in the bags of players today. In fact, it seems every year brings a new twist on technology that prods players to keep pace.

Yet it remains to be seen whether recent novelties like the moveable weights in the TaylorMade R7, the curious shapes of the Cleveland Hi-Bore and Nike SasQuatch drivers, and ever-stranger putters like the Hammy leave a lasting mark on the game.

Looking back, however, there have been clubs through the years that have had a seminal impact. Here’s a look at some of them whose influence is still seen today.

1904: Schenectady Putter

The Schenectady putter is famous not so much for its design as for what it did to the rules of golf. In 1904, Walter Travis used the aluminum center-shafted mallet to become the first American to win the British Amateur. The R&A were not amused, particularly after Travis made some not-so-gracious remarks after his win.

Four years later they exacted their revenge by outlawing center-shafted putters. The USGA, however, chose to keep them legal. Thus began a decades-long schism between the two rules making bodies that resulted in such disparities as the smaller British ball. By the way, it wasn’t until 1952 that the R&A ruled center-shafted putters legal.

Nonetheless, the Schenectady putter proved a huge success with hundreds made and scores of copies fashioned of wood and steel.

1934: Sarazen Sand Iron

Club designers had been struggling for years to come up with a club that would work out of sand. Solutions like concave faces that could scoop the ball out and extremely deep and wide grooves that would impart spin when the ball was picked clean were quickly ruled illegal.

Enter Gene Sarazen who, inspired by the way a boat’s bow plowed through water, soldered a flange to the bottom of a niblick to create a heavier club with what is now known as bounce. The club changed forever the technique for hitting shots from sand. Nearly three quarters of a century later, the most popular sand wedges in the game are essentially the same design.

1966: Ping Anser Putter

Karsten Solheim’s legendary status in club innovation began with his Anser putter. 40 years later, it is the most copied design in all of golf. Called the Anser because “answer” would not fit on the bumper of the putter, its shape was first doodled on the back of a 78-rpm record jacket.

The putter caught on when Julius Boros won the 1967 Phoenix Open with it and the rest, as they say, is history. Ping putters have won more than 500 tournaments, and derivations of the Anser made by others have won countless more.

Cast in manganese bronze and featuring heel and toe weighting, a “plumber’s” neck, and slotted sole, its influence can be seen today in the putter inventory in every golf shop in every country in the world.

1979: TaylorMade Pittsburgh Persimmon Driver

Metal-headed drivers had been made for years but never achieved commercial success until Gary Adams introduced his TaylorMade Pittsburgh Persimmon driver. Ron Streck and Jim Simons were the first to put it in play on the PGA Tour, with Simons using it to win the 1982 Crosby Clambake.

Not only did this club usher in the age of metal woods, it began a new era in product life cycles. Up until this club, drivers were considered unique works of art that were difficult to find and, once found, stayed in the bag forever. Players like Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus used the same driver for decades.

The club’s success may also be traced to the concurrent introduction of truly playable graphite shafts… technology even Tiger Woods eventually succumbed to.

1982: Ping Eye2 Irons

I’m hedging a bit here, since Ping’s early models (Karsten I-IV and Ping Eye) introduced cast cavity backs and color-coded lie angles. But it was the Ping Eye2 that brought the concepts to their highest form. In fact, many still say that the Eye2 is the best iron Ping ever made. It is still available through special order and still found today in the bags of some players on the PGA Tour.

Forgetting for a moment every cavity-back iron it has since inspired, the Ping Eye2 may have made an even bigger impact on the game when in 1984 a “U” groove model was introduced.

The resulting “square grooves” controversy included a $100 million lawsuit filed by Ping against the USGA and R&A when they ruled the grooves nonconforming. The subsequent settlement forever compromised the power of the ruling bodies to legislate equipment design in subtle ways. I have no doubt this opened the door to the current age of technological revolution in clubs and balls.

1984: Dave Pelz Three-Ball Putter

Like Karsten Solheim, Dave Pelz is an engineer by background who applied an engineer’s typical analytical thinking to the problem of putter alignment. He came up with a design that positioned three plastic golf balls behind the face.

Early models were deemed non-conforming because they were deeper front to back that the face was wide, then later because they were considered “not plain in shape.” Thus his original designs never really took off.

But good ideas don’t go away. In 2002, after licensing the patent from Pelz, Odyssey introduced their line of two ball putters and watched as they became the most popular in all of golf. Keeping with a strategy of constant line expansion, they finally introduced a three-ball model we reviewed here. I’m sure Odyssey, and Pelz, are forever grateful for the concept. So, too, the myriad putter makers who have since come out with distinctive sight lines.

1985: Matzie Slim Jim Long Putter

The first long putter was the brainchild of then Senior Tour Player Charlie Owens. Made by the Matzie company and dubbed the Slim Jim putter, it was 46″ long and featured a small but incredibly heavy brass head. It immediately found a following on the professional tours and went on to spawn countless variations.

After considerable discussion and debate, the R&A and USGA ruled long putters legal. However, thanks to the effectiveness of long and belly putters and the ungainly (to some) look of the technique, there remain constant rumblings and rumors that putters anchored against the body may one day be banned.

Unfortunately, the putter did not prove a financial windfall for its first manufacturer. Matzie Golf was sold in 2003 and its principle, Ken Matzie, passed away last year at the age of 73.

1991: Callaway Big Bertha Driver

The clubs we’ve touched on here made a difference because they worked better than anything before. Callaway’s Big Bertha Driver was no different. I can tell you that at the time it was introduced, it seemed huge even though by today’s standards it was just a puny 190cc head.

What the Big Bertha driver did was to kick off the size race in driver design and, in a subsequent model, introduce titanium to the mix. The bigger head did work better as it was much more forgiving. Of course, once it was determined bigger was better, the ruling bodies had to step in and set a 460cc limit on head size.

With a size limit established, enter the age of new shapes and weight distribution. What will catch on? Just stay tuned. It should be interesting.

In the End…

As a long-time equipment freak, from 1966 on I owned and played every one of the innovations listed above almost as soon as they came out, except the Pelz putter. Unfortunately, staying on the cutting edge never really changed my scores all that much. But more forgiving, efficient clubs have indeed made the game more fun. And maybe that’s the whole point of club innovation.

So this is my list. Any that I missed?