8thehardway

I disagree. The informational content was not all it could be. While learning that versus the custom Miz, the NC-1s have less vibration and offset, a larger top line and sole and are more forgiving, left unexplored are items like comparative trajectory, distance, and accuracy vs his standard set of clubs. Also Chris gives no indication of his game so there is no basis for judging how suitable a fit these clubs might be for anyone else whereas including his handicap, swing speed and 5 iron distance would be a logical first step in providing a bridge between his needs and others. While the contest was framed as what's going into his bag, it was an opportunity for others who may not share his tastes or abilities to vicariously demo all the clubs under consideration. Were shot selections compromised in a particuler brand, did one set feel head heavy or light, was distance control the same for all sets, were mis**ts severely punished? As a narrative, it was fun to read. As an aid in purchasing one of these sets it was frustrating.

Those NC-1s are driving me crazy with their good looks (for that matter so are the GAS milled wedges). My problem - I'm a high single digit handicapper and unsure of just how demanding they are. Next time out consider selecting testers who reflect a broader handicap spectrum so that 8 to 14 handicappers have a clue; statistically there's more of us and we need great clubs also.

Yep, that's some effort. March 1 - "Sorry I can't go curtain shopping with you honey but I must continue to test these clubs." April 1 - "I'd love to visit your mother but I'm down to two sets and it's such a hard choice." September 1 - "I know we have an appointment with the marriage counselor but Scratch just demanded that I include their irons." December 1 - "Your golfing honor, before awarding alimony let me ask if you would like to help me test some outstanding clubs for my forum members?" (JUDGE "NC-1s you say? Case dismissed!")

The John Byron/Byron Design S4 has a 400 gran head. Beneath the smooth face are great looking oval mill marks in an expanding, overlapping pattern. It's an Anser style head with an extended flange and an offset plumbers neck hozel. I bought it because I thought the increased adrenaline when putting would make a heavier putter feel normally weighted. It did, but it's not heavy enough to overcome my flawed stroke. There's also the Heavy Putter, which weighs about 2 pounds... about twice the normal putter's weight. You might also look into Balance Certified Big Oak putters.

I've seen the same numbers - 2 yards per .01 COR for 100+mph swings - but that supposed a perfect hit. What really counts for me are the misses. I'm better off with a bigger .83 sweet spot across the face (Cobra, MacTec, Tour Edge Exotics) than a small .86 sweet spot trailing off to an .81. I'd check out theCOR across the face before buying a non-conforming driver.

Not entirely true, kemosabe. Look at the endless reruns of the 1986 Masters which Jack won at age 46 - everyone's hitting persimmon drivers and these are the most talented warriors in the tribe. Now they've all switched from flint heads to steel, outsourced the feathers to fletch factories in China and dumped their wooden bows for exotic compounds loaded with science and sleek design which can kill a settler at 300 to 350 yards instead of 275. They are also grabbing GPS systems to better locate their quarry. Settlers are now such easy targets Washington is imposing technological limits on bows and arrows which they wouldn't do if it was the Indian and not the arrow. Don't 'Bury Your Heart at Wounded Knee'... ditch the persimmon, buy the G Field NC-1s and your scalp collection will again be the envy of the tribal counsel.

Excellent analysis! However, I'd like to make a few points. At premium prices a monopoly isn't necessary. In 1985 there was no internet and technological innovation (graphite shafts and metal woods) was in its infancy. Golf was harder for beginners back then and there were no design choices to speak of. People stayed with one set of clubs forever because a new set was little from an old set. The pace of life was also slower: cell phones, faxes, mp3 players and other forms of instant access/communication/gratification had not engendered the feeling that immediate results were possible and required. While most golfers today still play low end stuff there are signs of change: Pro V1s have enjoyed strong sales and hybrids and wedges are hot. This buying trend is a departure from pre-1990 golf and indicates an increased consumer awareness and willingness to adapt. I'm surprised that smaller, non co-branded Japanese OEMs have ignored the one move that would increase brand awareness, test the market and perhaps become a profit center onto itself - form a publishing consortium and start a Golf magazine for US distribution focusing on equipment. If marketed correctly, it would be a spectacular vehicle for sales.

Good one, Stunner. Been a long time since a post got me laughing. Re. the Speed Stick, any exercise will increase strength. I got it up to 98 mph which is 10 mph above my actual swing speed. My first reaction was WOW, I'll put a club head on this thing, get it Kwok'ed and rule the munis. Then I thought maybe I'd get to 100 mph with a bit of practice. I no longer exercise but this got me thinking about it. Like an off-label use for a perscription drug I think it has beneficial but unintended consequences:

The first day home with my new Acura Legend my neighbor says "Nice Honda". Many Mizunos, few Scratch clubs. If they both play well I'd get the Scratch.

A graceful, forward sweeping hozel bringing an aggressive, deadly serious face into play. OUTSTANDIND. I can't take the temptations this site inflicts on my senses. Mallet or blade? MORE PICTURES!!! Is it for sale? Some specs urgently needed. Does it have a name??? I think my bag's putter well wants to make it's acquaintence. Please e-mail me a price.

+ Dear Father, I propose a putter partnership. Your 'sound slots' idea is perfect and I have just the sounds for them. We can make a mallet and a blade and name them the "Te Absolvo" and the "Mea Culpa" because after you hit a putt that's what they'll 'say'. The Te Absolvo (You are Forgiven) can honestly be marketed as the world's most forgiving putter. And what golfer wouldn't want a Mea Culpa putter sadly intoning "My Fault" to his foursome when he misses a 3 footer. We can sell 'em for $89.99, batteries included. If you have some pull with the Pope he can give the putters his Impramatur. Once HE sanctions them we'll be rich!!! Well I'll be rich, since you've taken a vow of poverty. We can make them all black with a white collar and a second run of purple ones for Lent. Let me know soon - Lucifer's on the other line.

I don't recall ever seeing such a substantial copper putter before. It looks outstanding. Purely from a design standpoint I'd start with the Mitchell Machine Art Putter FB Blade... essentially an Anser style, face balanced with a rounded sole and a 1 inch wide, 3/8" thick brass insert screw-mounted into the steel face and top line. I'd redo the steel in 3x black, change all lettering to a dull gold to match the insert and convert the black sightline to 1/2 gold where it goes over the black topline.

I went to a sports psychologist. He asked me why I ever took up golf to begin with. He said if I had carefully invested all of those golf dollars and had taken a second job instead of practicing and playing I could be retired by now... and playing golf!

Don't see why not. I'm no expert but I would think conversion to Face Balance is a function of shaft design, lie angle and hozel (size, weight, placement and design). If your going to go to Slighter, you might discuss all the aspects involved. For example, if you use a claw style of putting grip it's worth noting Chris DeMarco has a lie angle around 80* (vs an average of 72*). You might also like S bend shafts, which tend to throw a little weight more towards the center (Gauge Design Eldik-M) or a modified S bend (YES Victoria) without a hozel or an S bend hozel (WRX 03 Prototype). So many choices. While I think YES makes a fine putter, my Victoria model doesn't suit my stroke so I'm biased when I suggest that, for the price of reworking your Tracy II you might find it worthwhile to ask about face balanced Slighters. When I get around to selling off a few of mine I'm going to get that Needle model. :tsg_smilie_money3:

The colors on the putter insert make it look like a "Divers Down" scuba flag. I don't get the Japanese penchent for putting jaring colors on synthetic surfaces yet creating beautiful designs in fabrics, metals, stone and wood.

Golfer 1 - "I just got a new set of clubs for my wife." Golfer 2 - "Wow, that's a great trade!" Yes, trading up is risk free with clubs, but the honeymoon period is different since, by definition, they are new clubs. My dating analogy suggested it would be better to rediscover the swing you successfully used with the new club rather than revert to familiar swing patterns. For me, I get more aggressive as I become familiar with a driver and long (240 yards) and straight becomes short and twisted. But I find it;s best to treat women like fine tour or prototype putters. Grip them gently, use slow smooth strokes, keep them well oiled and snug in the best putter covers, then dump them on eBay when they make you miss consecutive 4 footers.

"Honeymoon" is a misnomer; it's more about dating than marriage. On first dates I'd be witty, charming and considerate and the girl would respond enthusiastically. After a month I'd revert to my grouchy, selfish and inconsiderate norm and she'd cool off toward me and my 'club' would lose distance and direction. The minute I thought I knew what I was doing I'd take her for granted and the honeymoon would be over. I knew tinkering with the relationship only involved going back to the way I was on the first date but I was no longer inspired to do that and without inspiration it was too much work so I'd find a newer newie. I've come to believe I need a woman (or club) so beautiful and desirable I'd always be inspired to be at my best. Shallow? Yes, but so are my divots.

Haven't played Louisville but I have played Musty putters. The wood has an incredible feel - soft, yet responsive. I think they would be great on fast to medium fast greens. Unfortunately, my putting stroke needs more MOI than these provide but if your stroke is stable and your greens are medium or fast they are exceptional for feel and looks. I was reading an article from Golf Club Review that shows a magnificent heel-shafted mallet - the Modern Classic putter model with a body of black ebony, a sight line of blond maple and a faceplate of purple heart wood. They described it in an update dated 9/20/2000 and if you look up the issue on the internet you might agree that it's a stunner and worth every bit of the $300 asking price. I met David Musty at a golf show where he was displaying, among other things, a full length putter/pipe. The top of the putter head slides open to reveal a bowl where you insert your favorite blend. You'd need super lungs to draw the smoke up the 35" stem but you have to admire his ingenuity.

No experience, but Consumer Reports lists the following as easiest to use AND top print quality: Kodak EasyShare V550 $320 P859 $390 Z740 $275 Z700 $245 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20S $440 DMC-FZ5 $340 Hope this helps.

Perception vs. Performance Prception, in all it's dimenssions, plays a big role in exotic purchases. The pride of ownership and the pleasure of the artistic design can be very satisfying and a reflection of the owners devotion to his game. If performance was the only issue then demo days would be a requirement. For me it's putters. All putters 'work' but I can't know which is best for me until I try them, something that's impossible with limited-run models. But when I come across a damascus steel Tad Moore pototype or a Byron Design S-4, there's a certain sense of pride in putting it in play. Are they worth the extra money? It depends on how many of your senses you wish to engage, and whether an elevated awareness is of value.

Face balanced putters promote/encourage/suit a pendulum putting stroke - taking the putter back and through with the face constantly square to the target - while putters with toe hand are intended for strokes where the putter opens on the back stroke and closes on the follow through. Some think that the pendulum stroke is the logical stroke since the face is constantly oriented to the target while an open/closed stroke requires exact timing to orient the closing face to it's target. Others argue that the open/closed stroke is natural, while the pendulum stroke requires unnatural manipulation to make it work. My right wrist is over active during putting. A face balanced putter and the claw grip style used by Tom Kite allow allow me to completely take it out of the equation when using mallet putters such as Gauge Design's Eldik-M or the original Cameron Futura, whose upright lie angle makes it especially easy to employ that grip. Alternately, the Byron S-4 with its 400 gram faced balanced anser-style head allows me to use a conventional grip and still have quiet wrists. Visually, I also prefer the lack of an offset neck. Normally, long necks encourage less toe flow (a quarter toe hang) and shorter necks encourage more toe flow (a full toe hang). The quarter toe hang is intended to open and close the putter face slightly while a full toe hang does so more dramatically.

For starters, a Global Economy means there are fewer barriers to imports & exports, such as tarrifs or restrictions; it doesn't mean there are no barriers. But your concern is different and has more to do with shalf space than red tape. Golf outlets would need to double the space allocated to Mizuno clubs without seeing twice the sales. Callaway would complain. If Mizuno Japan clubs had significant sales, Mizuno USA would complain and their suppliers would also start yelling when orders went down. And Mizuno would have to double their budget for Print Ads and explain to everyone exactly what the differences were in their expanded product line. And Sorenstam would insist on Callaway Japan clubs. And last year's 725 BILLION dollar trade deficit would really balloon and people would lynch Allen Greenspan who just retired and is getting into golf. All because you aren't content to let Tourspec Golf bridge the well-established boundaries between nations. :tsg_smiley_no:

That's because Phil's irons, unlike Muria's, were forged in Mount Doom and quenched in the Mines of Moria.

I now understand how difficult it is to design and build the best equipment for the U.S market, you simply have to sacrifice all you can until your product meets the price point.[/b] The average golfer seeks competence, not excellence, and buys accordingly. Statistically, golf handicaps and wealth are displayed as a power curve which looks - from a height perspective - like a Driver, a 3 iron and a million golf balls (finacial approximation, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods and the rest of us). When OEMs market to the golf balls, value is paramount because their target audience plays 15 times a year, shoots 96, and would derive more benefit from a ball retriever than the latest driver. You can't market the best ANYTHING to golf balls - if you could everyone except Warren Buffet would be driving a Rolls Royce (he drives a Lincoln). If OEMs are trying to meet price points it means they are either inclined or being forced to expand their market. Good luck. Beyond high prices, Japanese marketing in America suffers from lack of advertising and tour exposure. Minimal exposure and a casual market not only discourage excellence, they also discourage sales; even among well-heeled enthusiasts it's difficult to spend $1,500 on irons that a buyer hopes will perform better than similar sets, none of which are available to try. Miura might be better served putting some of its savings from outsourcing into demo days... certainly it's customers would. For the few whose games and wallet warrant it, there are spectacular choices; but I'll hold off on positive predictions for Japanese OEMs until I see a Gauge Design infomercial.

Specs can help narrow the field if you're buying sight unseen, but there's no substitute for rolling a few when you're looking to buy. There are rationals for each design element from hozel configuration to sound but if something feels, works and looks right you've found your putter, whether its sitting in a bin or locked in a display case. As far as 'derivative design' goes, there's a world of difference between Caneron's American Classic and the Bulseye, the Nomad WRX 03 Prototype and the 8802, Bryon's S4 Welchman and the Anser and even the Gauge Eldik-M and the Futura. I don't think 'a putter's a putter' just because they all borrow design cues from each other; the differenvces lie in how a unique combination of elements lend's itself to a golfers particular putting style.