Master Scotty Cameron Putters: Worth It or Not? Thread

[adamg]

I've never owned a Scotty, but I've demoed a few on real greens. I will say they felt better to me than any other putter I tried. It was easy to be consistent. For me, they weren't THAT much better than some putters I tried at half the price. I love my Ping, it was a close second to SC. So while I've never owned a Scotty, I can certainly understand why folks love them.

[kpaulhus]

  delav said:

Congrats. I WOULD putt with a board on a stick if I could average sub 30 putt rounds... My stats are 62% GIR and 34.5 putts :(

Well, you also hit twice as many greens as I do. In the last 10 rounds I have had 13 chip in's for a 0 putt.... I am deadly with a wedge inside 15 yards of the cup. When you are headed to the back with only 12 putts on the front you know your having a good day. My lowest this year was 26...a bad round is 33, but if I have 33 putts I am likely to shoot 85+

[max power]

  delav said:

Congrats. I WOULD putt with a board on a stick if I could average sub 30 putt rounds... My stats are 62% GIR and 34.5 putts :(

I'll second that. I don't know my stats, but I'm 110% sure the putting number isn't under 30. Or 31. Or 32. You get the picture.

[delav]

  max power said:

I'll second that. I don't know my stats, but I'm 110% sure the putting number isn't under 30. Or 31. Or 32. You get the picture.

Yeah... (sigh). I had my first 3-putt par this year, and wanted to throw up. My goal for 2011 is to really concentrate hard on putting; it hurts throwing strokes away with 2 putts.

[toddmlazarchick]

Well I was all set to pull the trigger on a Cali Del Mar now I started looking at Cali Monterey's and now Im torn. Any advice on which?

[Shorty]

  toddmlazarchick said:

Why do people view them as the top of the line putters? I want an honest answer from the people who own them or know a lot about them. What makes them better then any other putter? Is it their make up? Or just because they are so expensive?

They are not really more expensive than other top of the line milled putters.

Scotty Cameron is a marketing genius. The German Stainless Steel thing is ridiculous nonsense. So is the "For Tour Use Only" stamping. Childish, but people fall for it. OTR SC putters are mass produced like any other. They are anything but exotic. Common as anything. The collectible ones are quite different. Very nice. And expensive. Great finishes. Sites like this promote myths about them because a lot of new golfers hear the name early on in their golfing life and believe the hype. People talk about quality control and finish etc. which is nonsense. I have never seen a putter from any quality maker that has a poor finish. If they were "the best" all players who were offered one for free or who could afford one would use one. They don't. How many owners would bet $100,000 in a double blind test to identify the "feel" of their SC over other putters? It's like exotic speaker cable. Emperor's new clothes. Great putters. And there are lots of great putters out there. I have owned several and didn't like any of them, but I only ever had OTR ones, which probably are overpriced. A 009 might be nicer.

[golfro]

  delav said:

Yeah... (sigh). I had my first 3-putt par this year, and wanted to throw up. My goal for 2011 is to really concentrate hard on putting; it hurts throwing strokes away with 2 putts.

Second that. Sucks walking up to a par 5, on the green in 2...to 3 putt to par glory.

[sean_miller]

  delav said:

Yeah... (sigh). I had my first 3-putt par this year, and wanted to throw up. My goal for 2011 is to really concentrate hard on putting; it hurts throwing strokes away with 2 putts.

I've had 2 in the same round this year. More than once. I wish I was lying.

[delav]

  Shorty said:

They are not really more expensive than other top of the line milled putters.

With all due respect, i don't think it's all smoke, mirrors and marketing. I do believe that the feel of an SC putter is different than that of your OFR cast putter. The materials are different too. Is it a $150 difference over a cast ping, probably not.

As far as finish? Sure, you're right. All the oilcan/platinum/nickle/bushed, etc... that is for the sake of driving sales with something new and different. But I'd much prefer to shell out the $$ for a SC over other similarly priced premium putters.

[golfro]

  delav said:

With all due respect, i don't think it's all smoke, mirrors and marketing. I do believe that the feel of an SC putter is different than that of your OFR cast putter. The materials are different too. Is it a $150 difference over a cast ping, probably not.

sure the feel is different but that doens't equate to "better" which is what a lot of people claim.

i think thats where the confusion is, a lot of people fall into the hype and recite the same ol buzz phrase "oh the face just feels better" when it fact they have no idea what the difference is. Some are more honest amongst themselves, some arent. Now I do believe that for a low handicapper like yourself, you can be very picky about weight and feel of your putter. For me, I find one that I'm comfortable with because I look for the putter that I'm most familiar with as far as feel and weight goes...so i try hard not to switch putters. but for the average 20-30 handicap who say the SC putters perform better? i call the BS card on that. Give them a blind test - $60 Ping Anser and a SC Newport 2, they won't be able to tell the difference.

[jamo]

  delav said:

With all due respect, i don't think it's all smoke, mirrors and marketing. I do believe that the feel of an SC putter is different than that of your OFR cast putter. The materials are different too. Is it a $150 difference over a cast ping, probably not.

The feel and manufacturing process is what sets them apart from Cleveland, Ping, or Odyssey, but it is the marketing and TOUR visibility that sets them apart from other milled putter makers such as Sunset Beach, 350 Milled, Bettinardi, and Byron Morgan.

[sean_miller]

  jamo said:

The feel and manufacturing process is what sets them apart from Cleveland, Ping, or Odyssey, but it is the marketing and TOUR visibility that sets them apart from other milled putter makers such as Sunset Beach, 350 Milled, Bettinardi, and Byron Morgan.

The funny thing is, being milled doesn't make them better either. Is a milled faced Dunlop or Cleveland a lesser putter than a milled faced milled putter? Says who? The good folks at Titleist?

Does it matter how the grooves end up on a Titleist sand wedge? Is spin milled better than just regular old "milled" or grooves cast or pressed into the face? Are forged irons better than cast? Says who? Should we be playing milled wedges?

[golfro]

  sean_miller said:

The funny thing is, being milled doesn't make them better either. Is a milled faced Dunlop or Cleveland a lesser putter than a milled faced milled putter? Says who? The good folks at Titleist?

Yep, its all hype. Who cares if the wedge was spin milled, laser milled, hand milled by a 120 year old japanese artisan miller, milled by a swedish super model, etc. If it has grooves, it has grooves... Same goes for putters. Most manufacturers use the very same materials, whether carbon or stainless steel, etc... what exactly makes SC's milling process suddenly make it perform better?

Doesn't. Thats just good marketing.

[sean_miller]

  golfro said:

Yep, its all hype. Who cares if the wedge was spin milled, laser milled, hand milled by a 120 year old japanese artisan miller, milled by a swedish super model, etc. If it has grooves, it has grooves... Same goes for putters. Most manufacturers use the very same materials, whether carbon or stainless steel, etc... what exactly makes SC's milling process suddenly make it perform better?

If money was no object I'd look into a milled Miura putter, but I doubt I'd make any more putts than old cast Odyssey with face insert, my $80 milled face Cleveland or my vintage brass MacGregor blade/flange with some sort of black (probably toxic) insert.

PS - I actually think both Vokey wedges and SC putters look really good - they look and feel properly balanced if that makes sense.

[Topper]

  sean_miller said:

With Scotty Cameron putters you either get it or you don't. Now of course, just like those bodacious (audacious?) billiard sticks, those who want a Scotty feel they're the ones who "get it" and those who scoff at what they feel is an over-priced over-hyped tool exchange winks and feel they're the ones who truly "get it".

Kind of like those sophisticated people who can appreciate the pile of scrap steel, wire, and beer cans artfully fastened together with plastic tie-wraps and call it "art" while most of us stand next to it and say "WTF" and hope it wasn't purchased with millions of taxpayer dollars. Anyway, I say that only $200 Scotty C. putter covers should adorn a Scotty C. putter....anything else will just clash and completely prevent the putter from functioning as intended.

[delav]

  sean_miller said:

The funny thing is, being milled doesn't make them better either. Is a milled faced Dunlop or Cleveland a lesser putter than a milled faced milled putter? Says who? The good folks at Titleist?

A putter that is milled entirely versus cast, then milled on the face will feel different. I'm fairly certain the heating and cooling associated with casting yields a different feel for the club.

[Joeyvee]

  JEWMAH9701 said:

Well this is the putter that I have in fact chosen to treat myself with this offseason, the

Cuz you lefties are weirdos. My brothers a lefty. You should see him write his name. It's like hes got the ratards or something.

[soloredd]

When I bought my Bettinardi earlier this year I also tried the Newport 2. Ultimately, I went with the Bettinardi because it was $99 (apparently, Mizuno is giving these things away now that their deal with Bettinardi is over). The Scotty did feel really, really good.

I may look into a SC in a year or two but I want to give my Bettinardi a real chance and so far it's been great - it's all on me when I 3-putt or have 37 putts in a round.