Most Famous Putters

[iacas]

I think, for this week's "Trap Five," I'm going to talk about golf's most famous putters.

I don't mean the people, either - I mean the clubs.

Off the top of my head, I have:

The Schenectady putter (used by Walter Travis to win the British Open before it was promptly banned).

Calamity Jane. Duh.

Arnold Palmer's Wilson 8802?

What other putters would you put on the list? Nicklaus changed putters pretty often, Tiger has kept the same putter for quite some time, but I don't know if that makes it famous, etc...

[sevenfourate]

Slazenger inscribed Ping Anser is rather classic -The first true "heel and toe" Ping must be a breakthrough model and the Anser is legendary.

Faldo using first Odyssey "Rossie" with Stronomic Insert to win the Masters.....they were like absolute gold-dust for months and months after that win and the coverage on TV - I should know - i was in the queue waiting for one

The putter Doug sanders missed a 2 footer with at St Andrews to lose,must be somewhat famous for all the wrong reasons.

The one Paul Azinger snapped over his knee in anger and then played the rest of the round putting with a 3 iron.......

Odyssey two-ball for the truly miraculous ability to make bad putters feel like Ben Crenshaw overnight and the somewhat revolutionary alignment aid.

Titleist/Cameron Bullseye for its classic style,clean looks and longevity.Corey Pavin and Mark McNulty amongst others are famous users.....

Whatever Constantino Rocca used to hole that MONSTER from when in the Valley-of-Sin on the 18th at St Andrews to get into the play-off against John Daly.





Better retire now and gives some others a chance before i get even more carried away....

[rckymtnglfr]

Even though Nicklaus changed a couple of times in his career, the George Low Sportsman Wizard 600 is what he used for most of the major victories. It is also one of the hardest and most valueable modern putters to collect. Obviously the Calamity Jane is one of the most rare as there were only 5 or so made originally.

My list for importance to the game of golf would go as follows:

5. Ping Anser
4. Designed by Palmer/8802/8813
3. Schenectady
2. Geo Low Wizard 600
1. Calamity Jane

[flap]

Ray cook Billy Baloo and M1 mallet used by Nancy Lopez and others.

[NCGolfer]

Arnold Palmer's Wilson 8802?

Don't forget to mention that it is the putter of choice of Gentle Ben. I usually associate the 8802 with Ben as much as Arnold. I have one at home from my days in college...and actually went back to it last year for a time. Also, Phil is using a virtually identical style these days and putting

very well I might add.

[rckymtnglfr]

The other one that might be considered would be the Mac Tommy Armour Ironmaster. That is actually what Palmer started with to design his putter.

[Donald MacKenzie]

Excellent group of responses. Pretty much everyone has hit the putters I'd put on the list of the top 5. But for the sake of posterity, I'd have to say:

1. Ping Anser: The one that changed everything by incorporating perimeter weighting, and paved the way for soooooo many imitators up through the present day. Watson and Seve used the original though their primes, and it is still one of the best.
2. George Low Wizard Sportsman: Nicklaus was just one of the guys who used one of these. And George Low was quite a character, too.
3. Wilson 8802: From Arnold to Crenshaw to Mickelson to Pavin (who actually used a Cleveland "designed by" version of the putter when he won his open), this has been a favorite of many a smooth-stroked player over the years. Another often-copied design.
4. Titleist Bullseye: Like the above, there have been many variations and imitations. But every golfer of a certain age has used one of these, and many majors were won with them back in the day.
5. Odyssey Dual Force Rossie 2: As someone posted above, it was a stampede to the golf shops when Faldo won the 1996 Masters with one of these. I remember being at the Senior PGA Championship a week after the Masters that year and watching players come in from the practice green to the golf shop to buy one Rossie 2 because the Odyssey rep was out. This launched the insert putter era and led to Odyssey being purchased for $130 million by Callaway.

Honorable mention would be the Odyssey 2-Ball line, since it had a similar rocket-like takeoff a couple years ago and breathed life into a pretty stale putter scene. Without 2-Ball, there's no Cameron Futura, MacGregor MOI, Bettinardi Big Ben/Baby Ben, NC Voodoo, TM Monza, etc. I'd also put the Ram Zebra on the honorable mention list for making mallets popular in the early 1990s. And along with Bobby Jones' Calamity Jane, how about the See-More Putter that Payne Stewart used to drain his winning 18-footer at Pinehurst No. 2?

[iacas]

Article is now online .

[Jmo]

Hello just join , I know this a old topic but I’m a player and collector of putters ! I did some research and the Wilson 8802 in this list was Actually a Macgregor George Low thing and evolve from there . But I have to say leaving the Bullseye out was a mistake do you realize how many players used this putter and who ? Jack used the Bullseye not only for 1967 US open but four other tournaments, and Macgregor actually made or tried to make their own version! 

[Jmo]

Hello just join , I know this a old topic but I’m a player and collector of putters ! I did some research and the Wilson 8802 in this list was Actually a Macgregor George Low thing and evolve from there . But I have to say leaving the Bullseye out was a mistake do you realize how many players used this putter and who ? Jack used the Bullseye not only for 1967 US open but four other tournaments, and Macgregor actually made or tried to make their own version! 

[Jmo]

Also , I’m not a big fan of Stealth mallets, but here is my Mallet list 1. Odyssey Rossie dual force 2 or Rossie White hot Pro . 2. Wilson Billy Casper Biltmore original . 3. The wide blades Cameron M2 or Odyssey 1Wide 

[TAC852413]

As of now I'm a Scotty Cameron fan. My Newport 2 Studio Select has been in my bag going on 10 years and I'm considering a new putter but not exactly sure what I will go with. The Timeless design has my eye!

[Groucho Valentine]

I dont know if it has a name or not, but it has to be Tigers putter. No other sports artifact has that kind of history attached to it. I could only imagine what it would sell for at auction. Probably hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions. 

[TAC852413]

1 hour ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I dont know if it has a name or not, but it has to be Tigers putter. No other sports artifact has that kind of history attached to it. I could only imagine what it would sell for at auction. Probably hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions. 

Timeless 2 is the putter that I have pictured. The main differences between the Scotty Cameron putter's other than the style of the head is the type of metal. Still not exactly sure. But those SC Tour Only putters look nice. 

[Piz]

The over-sized putter that Nicklaus used in the 1986 Masters.  It was marketed as the MacGregor ZT Response and spawned a host of imitations.