Gordo

Oh really? High grade Stainless is $3.83/ lb which means a 350 gram putter head has about $2.96 worth of irrefutable quality material in it. Add a Winn Grip, a shaft, some epoxy, tape and labor and it easily totals $300. The EFT's were designed by Todd Sones - one the best putter designers - and went for $150 new at a shop. $19 was a "used" eBay purchase. What is true is if you can putt - you can putt, period. The reason this fellow was practice-putting with my putter is that I was sinking them - right on top of his. I had nothing to prove or justify he was curious and nonbiased enough to be impressed. He didn't act belittled or threatened - which of course means it has to be a lie! What about all those tour players who don't play SC putters - that's another lie? Pull your head out, Elvis, and take a breath of fresh air!

Had an interesting experience last Wednesday. I was playing in a 666 match and one of my partners for 6 holes had a Scotty Cameron Newport. (I had never played with this fellow, but have seen him around the club and knew that he is good - a 4 hdcp). I was putting with my Milled EFT Model 1 ($19 investment). Both putters where 35" with identical Winn grips (his was bight Red and mine was Black) and the Ping Anser 2 style - probably the best design, for most people, ever. When we finished each of our holes, he'd practice putt using my EFT and he claimed that there was no noticeable difference - to his amazement ! The only real difference was cosmetic because his Scotty has a highly polished finish! For kicks, I asked him if he thought that his Scotty Cameron was worth the extra money and he said "Yes, because I've always wanted Scotty Cameron putters". I asked him if the Scotty Cameron performed better than my Tommy Armour EFT, and he said "No - they felt the same". This guy is an excellent putter, I might add, so his comments meant something to me. It all gets back to prefernce, not they are that superior. If you want a Scotty, it's worth it!

Point and counter point! I say let Tiger answer the question for himself - "Is this the way you'd want your kids acting in public?" If he says he doesn't want his daughter throwing F-bombs, then he should really look at himself. Bobby Jones changed when he saw how "spoiled" it made him look. This is the only reason I would never agree that Tiger is the greatest golfer, ever. He might have enough control of the game to beat all the records, but the game of golf needs one to control himself, while playing it. A spoiled brat throws "hissy fits" each time everything doesn't go his own way. Watson was heartbroken when he was carved-up by Cink, but all the public saw, felt or heard was the anguish on his face. Tom played the best he could and beat everyone else, but one guy - that is life.

I am not the only person who has a feeling about what Tiger has done to the game. This is part of an article from ESPN Magazine about Tiger and the example he sets - (especially for kids) which is part of his responsibility. The comment about Jack and the senior tour is way off base. He helped get the tour started, won 10 of the first 35 events and felt that other senior Pros (yes, many of whom he'd already beat) could have more of a chance in the events - for the money they could win - if he wasn't playing. A lot more classy than some arrogant high school golfers. Tiger has benefited from not having a BEAR roaming the course on Sunday - ready to put pressure on him like he has never known. I know, Jack only had a bunch of no-names like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead to deal with and today's fields are stronger. Nobody crumbled and fell for Jack - he had to beat them ... and he did! I say, Tiger may be the most talented. but is not the greatest golfer (one who represents the game of golf).

The term Grand Slam ,in golf, was coined when Bobby Jones won the four most important tournaments of 1930. They were the US and British open and the US and British Amature events. The entire sports world counts Golf Career Grand Slams. That is winning the four majors of today during a life-time. There is a short list for that: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus (3) and Tiger Woods (3). Only five of the greatest players of all time have accomplished this. A lot of other people and I think that it is trully a great feat !! Jack and Tiger doing it three times makes them two very special golfers.

Pick the one thing that costs you the most - and fix that. Don't try eating elephants!

I think that Ping makes the best, technologically advanced clubs available to amatures. You youngsters probably don't remember that Ping irons were not allowed for tournament-play because the groove geometry provided an unfair advantage over anyone elses irons. A rule change finally allowed Ping into competition. And, now a rule change will force V-grooves back. (A little known fact is that Jack had his irons ground to the absolute minimum allowable groove depth. That gave him that low-spin, high iron flight - but made him a less than stellar wedge player!) Being and "old fart" who plays shiny. no offset, thin topline, forged blades I just never liked how they looked - therefore, my taste has hurt my scoring!?! I play for the love of the game. Interestingly enough, I had an Anser 2i putter that I sold on eBay for more than I paid for it, new. I could never pressure-putt with it. Now I use a MacGregor Captiva ( 2i look-a-like) that is very good. Go figure. If I ever went Game Improvement. I'd go Ping.

Whoops - thought the debate was Jack vs Tiger. For you youngters, this is the official story of Arnold's second ball. He knew that the official had given him an incorrect local on course ruling . He was not stretching the rules, at all --- big difference. A thousand pound boulder that was intentionally put in place during construction of the course, takes 6 people to move and leaves a hole in the ground is not a loose impedament like a loose pebble, a twig or a pine cone. I'll never agree that it wasn't intended to be part of the course and that moving it was clever, not cheating. After making the turn in even-par 36, Palmer dropped a shot at the par-4 10th. On the par-3 12th, he opted for a 4-iron from 155 yards. Too much. The ball flew the green and embedded between the rear bunker and the putting surface. “The golf course was very, very wet and that day we were playing wet weather rules,” Palmer says. “I saw an official there and I said, ‘I’m gonna lift, clean and place this ball,’ and he said, ‘Oh no you’re not.’ He says, ‘You can’t do that.’ Well, of course, I knew better and so I begged to differ with the official. “I said, ‘I’ll play two balls,’ and I did. I made five with one and I made three with the other.” Palmer first played his original ball on his way to making double bogey. He then dropped from the embedded area and pitched up nicely for a gimme par. It wasn’t until the 15th hole that Palmer was officially told that he was entitled to a free drop and that he would be credited with a par at 12. This is not hypothetical, Jack has already won 18, finished second 19 times and had three Grand Slams - the greatest PGA major record ever. Not trying to discredit anyone's accomplishments- but Tiger ain't done it yet !!!

My answer to the question - slightly modified by adding " for the money". Tommy Armour - Forged Persimmon Driver 350 CC Tommy Armour - Silver Scot MB Forged blades 3-PW The company that seems to survive, somehow, without huge marketing budgets. Very good clubs that people can afford. (I've read that the 845 is the best selling iron of all time because of it). Obviously I am a pathetic old low-tech purest. As I play a round of golf I hate the peace and quite of a course ruined by the "Clank of a tuna-can". It's like what aluminum bats would do to major league baseball.

I am old enough to have followed both of these players in tournaments. I say the answer would become clear if we had Tiger play his rounds with a 43" Persimmon Driver with a steel shaft that weighed 150 grams and a Balata ball. Personally, I have never heard anything like the sound of Jack hitting a Balata ball 300 yds. (As Jack himself has said, the biggest advantage of today's play - tee to green- is the golf ball.) The courses that Jack played on were not the manicured pieces of perfection that the tour gets to play on, today, either. They were lucky if the greens were as good as today's fairways! In his hayday, if you couldn't drive it in the fairway, you couldn't consistently win. So every opinion is very hypothetical because of the changes. What I will say is that Jack respected the game more. You never heard him swear, or slam a club - he'd turn bright-pink after a bad shot and just groan "Ooooh, Jack!" You'd never have seen him let the gallery roll a boulder "loose impediment" out of his line, either. Jack played the game as it was meant to be played... only better than anyone else. That is what makes me say that Jack was the greatest. That does not mean that I think of Tiger as any less of a phenomenon than what he is, however.

My opinion - no. They are good putters but the price quadrupled after Tiger started using them. (He used Pings until he got the $12M Titleist contract coming on to the PGA Tour. Notice, he still uses the Ping "Jasper" grip on his Scotty !!). To me, it's all about balance (shaft weight, length and a grip that really fits your hands) and making sure that things are squared-up, properly. I have settled on Bobby Grace design putters after playing everything you can imagine. I think that they are excellent for amature players and you'll still have both arms to putt with, after buying one! Putters are the most "personal" club in your bag, so I imagine you'll get a thousand different anwers!

Jon - I bought a Tommy Armour forged, chrome 56* R91 wedge. Gotta admit it's as good as the best wedges out there! The stopping power is better than any Cleveland I ever had. As with every TA club I have ever had, the quality is unsurpassed and the rpice is what it should be - because they don't pay millions and millions to Pros to play their clubs.