Just in time for the holiday season, the folks at TaylorMade Golf are rolling out some fine putters that fall into the premium category (more $$$), the Rossa TP by Kia Ma putters. Prior to this, you had to be on the TaylorMade Tour Staff like Justin Rose, Andres Romero, and Mike Weir who all use Kia Ma putters. No more as now the rest of us can get one of these beauties.
Join me as we take a look at some pretty sweet looking putters.
History
Quick show of hands, prior to reading this article, how many people have heard of Kia Ma? Didn’t think so (neither had I for that matter). Here’s a bit of his background: native of Vietnam who immigration to the United States in 1980 and started in the golf industry assembling clubs for a small southern California equipment manufacturer called Shamrock Golf.
He then joined Ray Cook Golf in 1987 and took up putter design. He then started his own company, K & M Golf, which “quietly serviced some of the most powerful brands in the game.” Kia Ma started with TaylorMade six years ago and has been working with developing premium putters for TaylorMade’s Tour Staff professionals, (including the custom-made putter used by Sergio Garcia to win the Castello Masters and the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai – Sergio found a putter that works!).
Great for their tour staff but how about the rest of us? Well, now you too can have a Kia Ma putter with the release of the Rossa TP by Kia Ma putters, consisting of five models for you to choose from (golfers love choices!).
Styles
With five models to choose from, it should be easy to find one that suits your fancy, unless you have a hard time making decisions. All are constructed from soft 1020 carbon steel and are 100% CNC milled. Toss in what TaylorMade calls a “rich, midnight finish” you have some extremely nice-looking putters.
For the blade aficionados, there are three styles to choose from: the Daytona (anser-style with a plumbing neck), Imola (curved neck and no back pocket) , and Monaco (back pocket and a plumbing neck). I think the Monaco looks the best but I could roll the others as well.
For the mallet folks, you have two choices: the Monte Carlo (pictured below left) and Maranello (pictured below right). I’m not a mallet guy but they both look pretty sharp. All in all, a very impressive looking putter lineup.
Availability and Pricing
Premium putters carry a premium price and these are no different as they have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $360 (which I am guessing to be a street price of about $300, but that’s only a guess. You can add one of these to your putter collection in about mid-December.
Final Thoughts
It’s pretty easy to say that 2008 was the year of the premium putter as just about every golf equipment company now has a few (or an entire line) that crawls above that $250 price point and beyond. Considering how often one uses their putter though, it still ends up being a much better investment then getting the latest $400 driver only to have it replaced next year but some “newer” technology.
If your looking to save some dough when buying golf equipment, now is the time to pounce. A quick perusing of some major online golf retailers shows some nice markdowns, rebates and sales going on right now. I would imagine the same is going on right now in the brick-and-mortar stores as well. Of course, the longer you wait, the bigger the discount could be. Happy shopping!
Do these have the AGSI inserts. They always looked kinda hoky to me. But if they didnt I dont know, I need another putter incase my studio select fails me
yes it’s getting ridiculous. Almost like the rag trade! A new product every five minutes,at extortionate prices. So now I tend to stick with my gear unless something really special comes out.
There are many great looking putters out there at premium prices and these look great. I think I’ll stick with my old one though; I know when the putts don’t fall with it, I’m the one to blame and the money I did not spend can be used to settle up with my friends.
😆 My playing partner just recently purchased a Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2.7 and began to tell me about how (as in his words) they are often imtiated, never duplicated. I saw these Kia Ma putters at the local golf shop and tried them out. I had been putting with the Taylormade Spider and loved that one too. Once I putted with the Kia Ma, I was instantly in love with it. It felt smooth, well weighted, and gave me a better roll off of the face than the spider did. For $300, it was either this beauty, or the Scotty. Since I have been a loyal Taylormade man, I decided to buy this one and traded in my spider. Since then, I have been consistently taking my friend’s money in putting contests and weekly games. I bought the Maranello model (never really been a big fan of blade putters). I know that the price tag is a bit steep, but the quality that Taylormade has put into these babies is sure worth it.
😛 this is the best better i have ever putt with i have a scoty cameron and a spider and i bought this and nothing compares to this its incredible.
i just purchased the monaco off of ebay for a very good price. i am a putter junkie and your ringing endorsemants make me feel ocnfident that this is a special putter series that cant be ignored.i bought the monaco becuase it remnded me of a t.p. mills that was stolen out of my bag . thanks and i am like a kid at xmas waiting for arrival
this is the really special new thing out that is a must to own… the weighted head gives the smoothest stroke and for those that can afford one it will be an investment for many years of satisfying putting
What ever”… For me, KiaMa putters are the best. I have one my self and I love it. I met Mr KiaMa a week ago in a tournament of AVGA group. He’s a very good men, I came to him and asked him to sign on my putter and told him that I’m a big fan of him. It was so lucky that I got his signature on my putter cover. I walk away so happy with his signature on it. Then he call me back, say: Andy, if you don’t mind it’s a used hat I’m wearing, and it special made only for KiaMa, you can’t never buy it in any store cause it have KiaMa on the hat. I will sign it and give it you as a gift. I didn’t take the champ that day but with his hat on hand, it make me feel more like a champ. It’s was a lucky day that I met him.
Anyway. KiaMa putters are the best