By Eldon Sarte
I originally mentioned my “quiver of putters” in my report, Clone Golf Clubs: Are They Good Enough? A Real World Answer, and wrote a bit more about it in my Golfdirt.com post, Assemble a Quiver of Putters. The following post has some practical tips on where to buy putters for your quiver.
If you do decide to assemble this quiver of putters, you better have one dead serious bank account (and an understanding spouse) if you stick with brand name equipment. $200 putters are no longer uncommon; with the highly desirable and very popular Scotty Camerons regularly $300 each, other manufacturers’ prices have been creeping up, with many approaching Cameron territory.
You could, of course, try your luck on eBay, where you can see there is no shortage of putters. Or even Callaway Golf Pre-Owned (for Odyssey and Callaway putters; previously owned and outlet sections) and Golfsmith (all brands; previously owned and outlet).
However, you’ll likely find it really beneficial to consider clone putters from highly-rated outfits like Hireko Golf, Pinemeadow Golf and GigaGolf. Besides the fact they produce and sell high quality cutting edge and traditional putter designs, each priced well below their brand name counterparts, these companies custom build each club to your specifications.
Take this selection from Hireko Golf, for example (Hireko is the actual manufacturer of a lot of the “brands” you may recognize in the clone marketplace). We can pick up all five of these fully-assembled clubs for less than a single typical $200 putter! (Click on the thumbnails to magnify.)
Prophet Putter
Unique design; dual fixed weights in the heel and toe portions of the putter, coupled with a very broad face-to-back design helps stabilize putts. The milled aluminum insert provides a more solid feel. Also features a bold alignment line and it is bored to create a face-balance design.
Bionik HP425 Putter
Sleek black finish contrasts sharply with its sight line to facilitate an easy and simple alignment of the putter head to your intended target line. Center shafted for straight back-straight through putting stroke. 425-gram head weight provides plenty of head feel for a true sense of the pendulum stroke; grooved aluminum insert provides a solid feel.
Technica DX470 Putter
Oversized, 50% wider than a standard putter. Constructed of durable stainless steel. Weight is redistributed around the perimeter to create an enormous moment of inertia (MOI) for superior accuracy. The parallel struts along with the unique alignment system ensure proper takeaway for straighter, more accurate putts.
Bionik 105 Red Insert Putter
Features a soft alloy insert anodized for a striking new look. The zinc body is highlighted with a beautiful tin-nickel finish and contrasting red precision milled face to ensure superior performance.
Bionik 201 Mallet Putter
Exclusive ball bearing alignment system assures proper set up. Anodized alloy inserts provide soft yet solid feel. High moment of inertia (MOI) is created from weight being redistributed to the center and rear of the putter.
Obviously, there’s no need to go overboard — a small quiver of just 2 or 3 putters may very well do the trick — but you can see that at these prices, going the clone route won’t break the bank even if you need more than a couple.
REMEMBER: If you do decide to try this quiver thing, mix it up! Besides different style heads (traditional blades, mallets, and even different kinds of mallets), you may want to consider different shaft lengths (some days I feel and play better with short putter shafts instead of longer ones… and vice versa; go figure).
But I have to repeat again: As I mentioned in the Golfdirt post, if your putting’s OK with your current putter, don’t mess with it, even if these clone putters make it really affordable to play around with different toys!
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Good Article about economically acquiring a second and perhaps third alternate putter from clone companies to test and experiment which design/setup suits your putting stroke best.
However, this did remind me of a bad experience I had with the Pinemeadow Golf company. I had been window shopping the Odyssey putters and got sold on the Pinemeadow 4-ball putter that Pinemeadow invited the customers to compare the features etc with the Odyssey 2-ball putter. Given the potential savings of a clone vs. a name brand putter AND their website documented 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed return policy (alleviating customers concerns), I ordered the putter. When I received the ordered putter, I was appalled by the kindergartenish assembly (more diplomatic than saying jacked-up assembly) of this putter. It has one of those double-bend shafts but it doesn’t create a half-ball or full ball offset – its more like a 5 or 6 ball offset. If you grip the putter and hang your hands neutrally in the center of your body, then the putter head is at your rear foot. Contrary, if you set the putter head behind a ball in the middle of your stance, your hands are pressed out forward of my front foot. Secondly, the putter grip is Not aligned on the shaft .. its TWISTED. So, if I was to make this putter work for me, I’d have to Re-shaft it and Re-Grip it which isn’t what a customer seeks to do with a new club that isn’t bought off EVEN the discount retailer (non-golf specific)store shelves.
I called Pinemeadow expecting immediate return shipping customer satisfaction. Instead, I was told I couldn’t be right as this was a high selling model and everyone was pleased with this club. So they took me for the 40 or so bucks. Now that putter collects dust in the garage and only serves as a tale of caution to friends and neighbors who see firsthand and formulate their own opinion of what horrendous assembly craftsmanship (correction .. throw-together-manship) was put into this club. Sometimes, I bring it to the course and will bring to the putting green and will pass it around the guys warming up there, kind of like the gimmicky 8 foot long and 10 foot long drivers that some golf entertainers use. Everyone laughs and shakes their head at this “Pinto” of a putter which of course gets banished to the trunk of the car before the start of the round.
So, back to the correlation with the subject matter – I think its fine advice to amass a quiver of putters, I just add the word of caution that it isn’t exactly economical if the putters aren’t playable (my experience was a poorly assembled putter from Pinemeadow) and only collect dust.
If others had similar experiences, I would (and I believe others would) like to hear from you.
Hope this is helpful to your subscribers.
Happy Golfing
Hi Jim
Got a pic of that putter of yours? Now you’ve got me really curious to see what it looks like.
Sorry to hear about your experience with Pinemeadow. Frankly, i’m surprised, since that’s totally opposite of what I experienced dealing with them.
Be that as it may, they really should have let you return that club, even if everybody else in the free world liked it. Fact is, you didn’t, and their guarantee doesn’t have a “you can return it unless everybody else likes the club” clause.
I’ll see if I can run this by Pinemeadow to look at and comment on.
Hi Jim, I am one of the Golf Guru’s with Pinemeadow Golf. I came across your post and wanted to make sure that we addressed the problem. I am sorry your experience with us was a bad one. I am surprised by your story and it doesn’t sound like how we would handle the situation at all.
We can’t do nothing about the past but we I would love to make sure this is taken care of. If you get a chance please contact us at 1.800.309.6878 ask for Clark or Tommy. We will make sure the problem is taken care of. We pride ourselves on Customer Service! I also tried looking up your order but since I didn’t have a last name I didn’t have much luck. Contact us soon though. Look forward to hearing from you.
-Pinemeadow Golf