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Craig's Factory "Miura" Putter


TourSpecGolfer

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It all started with a used and abused Miura Giken Japan putter... One of our top clients sent in 9 or so used putters a few beaten up and asked us to mod them to our vision one per month or so, with only 3 putters remaining and 6 completed already in the clients hands I decided to go all out and produce something "special" for him. This client is extremely discerning he wants things a particular way and with all the options we could pull from and a no concern for price it could have been very easy to produce a tacky overly optioned putter that he wouldn't of liked.

Good news is he and I share similar tastes, first it must be a heavy head, second it's gotta have class with an understated approach to it's design. I started with a drawing then a design and sent it to the master "Masayuki Sasaya-san" of Gold's Factory who worked on this putter personally as if it was a M.A.C series and while this putter is still in the air on it's way to the clients hands I still feel nervous that there is something he won't like about it as it is my design and vision completed by Gold's Factory to appeal to another persons preference, I guess those nerves are a good thing.

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Looks pretty simple doesn't it? Nothing too wild? Let me tell you this one was not a simple build and it cost a pretty penny in modifications alone. Let's talk mods, below is a picture of how the putter arrived to Gold's Factory, it was dinged up, rusting in some areas and worn in a good amount, somehow I needed to figure out a way to add some heft to it while still keeping it's class, we went for overlap tungsten weighting on the sole with a nice touch of orichulum 12mm tungsten for the inner weight, subtle upgrade but I felt it added a little something, we needed 2 weights because a lot of weight was to be removed to get rid of the writing on the sole, re mill the face, engrave logos and the removal of a Miura Giken badge located in the back cavity not to mention cutting the neck down a serious amount. When the specs were checked before the work started this thing was warped the angle of the extra long neck, the loft, the specs were off and not from use but that's how it was manufactured.

Each logo was made special for the client, Craig's Factory is a play on the Gold's Factory logo which I thought added a nice touch, on the heel of the face another play on what Scotty and GF use and then out on the toe a custom made reverse engraved CC logo for his initials. Reverse engraved.. another subtle upgrade that add's an understated enhancement where instead of cutting out the dual C's we cut around it so they would have the lighter custom PZ milling engraving on it.

Next up is where a good portion of the money was spent, in a "Japanese Kyoto made Damascus insert" and you may not notice but it was hand polished first then milled very lightly then hand polished again. All I can say is wow ...

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Now the specs are spot on but I would have liked to have made it reach 370 grams yet with all the removal of metal and starting with an already light weight head 360 was a big victory, this putter is made of mild carbon so it will feel soft the milling adds to that but really it's the Damascus insert that will give it the most unique feel and the light milling on top of it only add's to it. A copper under layer was added on top of a Japanese NiCR Satin Plated finish and the specs are now tuned to a 70* lie angle 3* loft measured from the sole, Face Angle: 6°open / Shaft Angle: 2°open. Those specs may mean little to some because manufactures measure in a more generic fashion so these numbers may seem odd but they are perfectly optimal like all Gold's Factory putters.

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Beautiful work! Enjoy this one (and all the others...), Craig!

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That is a gorgeous putter.....very well thought out and classy !

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Master Sasaya always have some tricks on his sleeve ... Looks gorgeous and classy!

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Wondering, why you would have a face insert and face milling apart from aesethics? Apart from that it looks grand, which it is most probably what it cost to be done.

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Wondering, why you would have a face insert and face milling apart from aesethics? Apart from that it looks grand, which it is most probably what it cost to be done.

I'm sorry I'm not following can you please explain?

Sounds like your saying material makes no difference if there is milling on it.

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I'm sorry I'm not following can you please explain?

Sounds like your saying material makes no difference if there is milling on it.

No, If you have a face insert there is no requirement for face milling as well. The ball is hit in the middle of the face where the (Damascus) insert is and hopefully not the surrounds where the face milling is. So the surrounding milling is for aesthetics only.

Edited by ukok
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No, If you have a face insert there is no requirement for face milling as well. The ball is hit in the middle of the face where the (Damascus) insert is and hopefully not the surrounds where the face milling is. So the surrounding milling is for aesthetics only.

Yup that is correct, the milling outside of the insert is for aesthetics as we don't hit the ball or try to hit the ball in that area, doesn't cost much at all for that feature, the original milling was worn and not as pretty so it made sense :)

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  • 1 month later...

Delightful

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Any feedback from Craig on how it plays?

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And... it looks to be "long neck'? Curious about toe hang. I'm guessing this turned out to be face balanced? Something

I'm surprised we don't see more of with this style of Putter.

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And... it looks to be "long neck'? Curious about toe hang. I'm guessing this turned out to be face balanced? Something

I'm surprised we don't see more of with this style of Putter.

Hey idrive happy new year man :)

Yes it was long neck to start off with but we cut it down. Yes it's face balanced.

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Sorry guys but I have not played with this yet.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed that it came back head only, as I expected it to be shafted by Golds.

Communication error on my part.

I am no expert on club fitting and it takes a different type of shaft.

I decided to use the original shaft that it came with, and found it today.

So hopefully I can get it in play soon.

It does look stunning, and like all the Golds that I have played with, I am expecting it to be superb.

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Sorry guys but I have not played with this yet.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed that it came back head only, as I expected it to be shafted by Golds.

Communication error on my part.

I am no expert on club fitting and it takes a different type of shaft.

I decided to use the original shaft that it came with, and found it today.

So hopefully I can get it in play soon.

It does look stunning, and like all the Golds that I have played with, I am expecting it to be superb.

Hey Craig, sorry about that I take responsibility for that as well. I will make sure to make it up to you :)

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  • 2 months later...

Have only played it once.

My home course is an embarrassment at the moment.

It is dry barren and seriously not a joy to play.

It has been like that for months, so I have not played any decent club or putter that I have. Not worth dinging them up.

With winter coming up, we are unlikely to have any rain for 4 - 6 months.

It is like concrete now, so who knows in another few months

So is there a JDM lawn bowls section

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

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