"The dumbest money in golf is spent on putters."

[Goonsidious]

All about feel. Once you find one you're done. Price means nothing unless you have an ego. My old past down from generation to generation putter has the feel i care for and his the ball..no excuses. I agree with the old man. But this is golf. Status and image plays a big part unfortunately.

[cliffj]

Best money I have ever spent on golf equipment was for my Edel putter.

[RouteBurner]

Waste? Buying a putter fit for your height, and swing will increase your accuracy. (You don't use drivers on par 3's) and it is the only club you use on every hole on every course.

[hanalei]

Most can adjust by choking up unless your tall. I agree with that phrase. I still drain em with a free brass putter I got for for placing an order 20yrs ago. But u need to like the style of putter, cosmetics and material accounts for 0.000001% of accuracy.

[colin007]

i think its most important to see where the face of the putter is pointing when you line up.  simple to do with a laser and a wall and a small piece of mirror.  when i did it i realized that i point the putter about 2 inches right on a 6 foot putt.

[bigwave916]

Two stories from an old codger:

A friend and I have been on many golf trips in the past 20 years. Invariably, on these trips we go to one of the golf stores and end up rolling a few balls with the latest putters. Now over that time period, he has owned about 20 different putters, always searching for the right one. I had used an Odyssey Dual Rossie II that I bought when they first came out in the 90s, I think it was. This last trip, same scenario and it hit me while watching him putt. I blurted out "Hell man, you don't need another putter, you need to learn how to putt." The guy was a single digit handicapper who averaged around 34 to 36 putts a round and just needed to save a few strokes a round to get down to scratch. I think the old codger mentioned by the OP was right. Driver technology has evolved greatly. People who make putters claim their technology has evolved greatly also, but IMHO not much of it has really had much effect on how well a person can putt with one of their latest designs.

Lee Trevino, when he was hustling people down in Texas used to wager that he could beat his opponent with a soda bottle taped to his putter face. Once the mark accepted the bet, Trevino would get a Dr. Pepper bottle and tape it to his putter, then proceed to take the guy's money.  Trevino used the Dr. Pepper bottle because back in that time period, soda bottles like Pepsi and Coke had more sculpted shapes while Dr. Pepper bottles were smooth and cylindrical from the neck down to the bottom.  Either that or the whole story was concocted to get endorsements deals with Dr. Pepper.

The point is that a good putter can putt with damn near anything and that some of the money spent on putters would be better spent on instruction.

[NuclearMike]

I used a hand-me-down Odyssey Rossie II with which my dad always seemed to make everything in sight.  I put it into play when he passed away and it just wasn't right for me.  I got a Ray Cook mallet free from Rock Bottom Golf with my last order and I'm putting better than I ever had in my life.  Go figure.

[misty_mountainhop]

The dumbest money in golf is spent on equipment and thinking it'll fix things without needing to practice?

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by WalkTheCourse

A good point for the most part, I think.

Thing is though, I think there are more situations where replacing a driver makes sense. I mean, if you've got an old, old driver in your bag, I think anyone could benefit from some new technology...

However, I have no delusions that an R11 is gonna do any better than my Burner Superfast 1.0...

Putting however is the only situation where the reverse could happen. If you've been putting great for 20 years and buy a new shiny model, then proceed to stink... that was a dumb move.

I guess it's two different kinds of dumb.

See, thats where we disagree.  Putters have gotten so much better in the past 10 years.  Softer feeling, higher MOI.  Take a putter from 10 years ago and then take a putter from today and its a night and day difference.  Putting is the ONLY aspect of the game where you need to be perfect or near perfect.  With any other shot, as long as you are somewhat close, thats considered a good shot.

In the case of drivers, amateur players dont hit the ball THAT much farther today than they did 10 years ago.  So, Im not all that convinced that all this new driver tech makes that much of a difference.

[Maverick]

For me, the putter holds more value..it's like your right hand man..ace in the hole.  I have a few Scotty Camerons, to be honest.  I rotate between them..

GaiJin, didn't see it..but see you are playing with the NEW JPX 825? wow.

[WalkTheCourse]

Originally Posted by RouteBurner

Waste? Buying a putter fit for your height, and swing will increase your accuracy. (You don't use drivers on par 3's) and it is the only club you use on every hole on every course.

Unless you put it in from 70 yards out... like i always do on every hole on every course....

:P

[WalkTheCourse]

Originally Posted by GaijinGolfer

Quote:

Originally Posted by WalkTheCourse

A good point for the most part, I think.

Thing is though, I think there are more situations where replacing a driver makes sense. I mean, if you've got an old, old driver in your bag, I think anyone could benefit from some new technology...

However, I have no delusions that an R11 is gonna do any better than my Burner Superfast 1.0...

Putting however is the only situation where the reverse could happen. If you've been putting great for 20 years and buy a new shiny model, then proceed to stink... that was a dumb move.

I guess it's two different kinds of dumb.

See, thats where we disagree.  Putters have gotten so much better in the past 10 years.  Softer feeling, higher MOI.  Take a putter from 10 years ago and then take a putter from today and its a night and day difference.  Putting is the ONLY aspect of the game where you need to be perfect or near perfect.  With any other shot, as long as you are somewhat close, thats considered a good shot.

In the case of drivers, amateur players dont hit the ball THAT much farther today than they did 10 years ago.  So, Im not all that convinced that all this new driver tech makes that much of a difference.

Well at this point I think we're making two different arguments... I mean, let's hold everything constant here.... Let's say there's a man with a 10 year old driver and a 10 year old putter in his bag... he uses both well... which should he replace? I say the driver...

then again, if he uses both poorly, obviously i'd say the putter. But that's not to say he has to drop $150+ on one... he probably just needs to try a new design that feels right...

[Spyder]

I'm not sure I agree with all of this. The dumbest money spent in golf is purchasing any club/ball/accessory that doesn't improve your game in any way. Sometimes buying something new, or even "flashy", can instill some confidence and confidence goes a long way in golf.

A buddy of mine gets a little hell from us for purchasing a custom Never Compromise putter for nearly $350.0, but he's been smoking hot with his accuracy and putts per round lately. He had the money for it, he enjoys it and he doesn't regret his purchase. How is that dumb and how can you argue against it?

The same goes to be said for someone who has success with a $20.00 putter. Your success with any club is all that matters, not the price tag. If I go out and upgrade my Cobra S3 Driver to the Cobra AMP just for the sake of being "flashy" with that neon orange color scheme (not that I would, personally) and have success with it, so be it - money well spent in my book. If I spend my money just to have name-brand things that catch people's attention and draw in conversations or gawking "Holy hell, that's a $500 club!" comments... that's stupid in my opinion (but again, my opinion won't matter because I don't care what anyone else buys or uses.. I also will keep my opinion to myself and not offer it to you in this case).

Then again, you will have the 30 handicap golfers out there with budgets/income higher than you who are gaming $2000.00+ sets. You may laugh and call him a hack or ask him if he at least got a free hat out of it to take a stab at him... but if he can afford it and it makes him feel good, mind your business.

In the end, there is no "dumb money" in golf as long as whatever you buy makes you happy, or it improves your game.. If it improves your game, builds confidence (which also improves your game), then that is what matters. $20.00 or $200.00, to each his own.

[LBlack14]

I'm havin' a love affair with a girl named Natalie! For a $40, 1 time charge, she always says YES! and allows me to put it in the hole much more consistently. I step out on her from time to time, but she is always there to bail me out when I find myself in trouble.

[WalkTheCourse]

Originally Posted by Spyder

Then again, you will have the 30 handicap golfers out there with budgets/income higher than you who are gaming $2000.00+ sets. You may laugh and call him a hack or ask him if he at least got a free hat out of it to take a stab at him... but if he can afford it and it makes him feel good, mind your business.

I know what you're sayin'... but I created this thread to inspire thought, not lash out at 30 handicappers who think $2000 worth of clubs is going to make them any better...

In short, I think it's fair to say that the theoretical person you've created has "more money than brains..."

[Bullitt5339]

My putter is the oldest club in my bag............ but.......

The last 4 times I've went to the PGA Superstore, I've been trying out putters.  I have never found one that I'm any more accurate with than my current putter until I picked up this odd shaped, odd looking SeeMore.  I was sinking everything with it.  Picked up a few Scotty Camerons and couldn't putt with them.  Tried 4 or 5 different putters, including my current gamer with crappy results and then went back to the SeeMore and was draining everything.

I didn't buy it, because I've made the mistake of hitting something well once and buying it and being disappointed in the end.  The 2nd time I went down, I picked it up again and was sinking everything.  3rd and 4th time, same thing.  I didn't have the cash to buy it the last time I was there, but I got the model number, length and shaft type off of it and wrote it down.

Tomorrow, I will be ordering that exact same putter with same specs from SeeMore.

[mdl]

Originally Posted by x129

Any reason for that view? Do you know some one who spend 1000 hours practicing putting that is not really good (i.e top 10% at it)?  Personally i have never met a "natural" musician or artist. All the ones I know practiced a ton. Wether they practiced a ton because they were good at it or were good at it because the practiced a ton, I will leave up to you to decide.

You've never spent much time around real musicians then.  My older brother is a music genius.  He has perfect relative pitch (play him one note and tell him what it is and he can sing you any other note within his range), and sort of semi-perfect pitch (ask him to sing a note and he'll sing a note within maybe a step or half step).  He can sit down at the piano and just dominate any song you play him once.  With popular music where the progressions are pretty predictable if you sing him a melody he'll accompany you.  It'll always sound great and it'll be 95% the same as the progression in the original song (of course, styling will be different since he's never heard the original).  Play him some complex 4-6 part harmony song, and he can go through and sing you any part you ask for perfectly.

When you ask him how he's so good, he tells you that when he was maybe 8 or 9, he was learning to play the trumpet (a Bb instrument), and his trumpet teacher wasn't actually that great a musician and could only play the accompaniment on the piano as written (obviously a C instrument).  So my brother transposed all his songs up a whole step.  That's his explanation for how he became a musical genius.  Talk about a natural musician.

[GaijinGolfer]

Originally Posted by WalkTheCourse

Well at this point I think we're making two different arguments... I mean, let's hold everything constant here.... Let's say there's a man with a 10 year old driver and a 10 year old putter in his bag... he uses both well... which should he replace? I say the driver...

then again, if he uses both poorly, obviously i'd say the putter. But that's not to say he has to drop $150+ on one... he probably just needs to try a new design that feels right...

I still say the putter because you will hole more longer putts with a new putter, on average, especially if you get a newer, higher MOI putter.  Improved putting is one of the best ways to shave strokes from your score.  Even if you go out and buy the best driver in the world, it all boils down to getting it into the hole when youre on the green.