tksputters

Mick, there is an awesome BB2 on my site here www.tksputters.com and here is a picture of it as well: BB-2 BLACK PEARL DOUBLE AGED STAINLESS STEEL (D.A.S.S.) 350 GRAM W/ 3 SLOTS & WHITE SPIRAL NEAR SHAFT 1 OF 10 MADE I hope this helps as it is the best BB2 Bettinardi has ever made.

This is a neat story that is short, but sweet: Bettinardi started to make putters for Crews starting in 1998. So they started fresh in 1998 with nothing and now do $25 million of Bettinardi sales a year and every year doubles. Bettinardi is huge in Japan. So overall, Crews is very happy with Bettinardi and they keep going very strong.

Chris, Bobby does all the designs for everything. Guys from Crews and Mizuno will give ideas, but Bobby is the main man. Bettinardi likes to make the Japan line different from the US line. The MC3 is a soft carbon BB1 w/ copper insert. It is one awesome putter and the tour only ones I have are sweet.

Bettinardi is done making putters for Hogan. They are still on the Hogan site and you will see them in shops as they are still for sale, but when they are all sold, that's it as they are no longer made. Crews is doing well in Japan and the Bettinardi Mizuno is staying in the USA which won't hurt Crews. That's all the info I have for now.

The 3 slot ones are not the ones that go to Japan. They are the ones that are at my site at www.tksputters.com which are the tour prototype ones.

Hello everyone. They are DASS and are awesome. I had some prototypes that had 3 slots, but they sold out very fast, but I will have some more real soon. They looked like this: Description: This is Mr. Bettinardi's newest creation right out of the Bettinardi studio and PGA tour van, this is a Very Rare/Brand New Bettinardi right handed BB-1 tour exempt DASS 355 gram heavy head that has 3 slits/slots/floating faces on the bottom of the putter that are one half inch (.5") wide each and you can actually see the milling lines inside each slot of the 3 slits that are cut out. This special putter also has a very unique non glare finish unlike that normal stainless putters have and has the new 2005 HEX B logo on the heel of the patented honeycomb face and says RJB in bold inside the cavity. Tour exempt stands for that there were 10 or less made and this DASS BB-1 is 1 of only 3 total made. Here is a quote from when I talked to Mr. Bettinardi on Tuesday, March 15, 2005: "Todd, this DASS BB-1 3 slot is the best feeling putter I have ever made". All the writing on the bottom of the putter was engraved with actual Robert J. Bettinardi signature and the "P" inside the hozel was hand stamped by Bettinardi that stands for PROTOTYPE. This is the first time that Mr. Bettinardi engraved his actual signature on any of his putters. The putter is currently at an D9 swingweight, 515 total grams at 35" and can be custom to any length you want. That is why this head is over 355 grams as it can be cut down all the way down to 31" if need be without hurting the balance. This very special putter comes with a silver Bettinardi tour limited shaft band, white tour limited winn grip and white tour limited 3 flag headcover. The grip is in original shrink wrap from the Bettinardi plant. This putter has a sight line.

FROM MAR 2005 Page 1 of 2 Precision Play Brown W Cannon III Bettinardi putters are works of art that work by Thomas Dunne What does a fast-breaking birdie putt sweeping down the fall line toward the hole have in common with a fourteen-foot-long bomb set loose from an F-14 to zero in on a terrorist's tent in some dusty corner of the world? The simple answer, of course, is that in each case success depends on precision. A facile comparison, perhaps, but just as the player carefully studies the undulating green to avoid the dreaded three-jack, so the bomb will be "smart" enough (one hopes) to avoid the orphanage next door to its intended target. There is, however, a less-obvious point in common—a forty-four-year-old mechanical engineer named Bob Bettinardi. From his manufacturing facility in Tinley Park, Illinois, Bettinardi's CNC milling machines produce casings for electronic guidance systems, protecting a smart bomb's "brain" with quality-control tolerances set to, well, military precision. Just five feet away from those machines sit several others, dedicated to the products that Bettinardi is much more famous for—namely, some of the most beautiful putters in the world. To the cognoscenti, the Bettinardi name is synonymous with performance, prestige and price. Since partnering with Ben Hogan in 2003, a retail Bettinardi putter can be had for anywhere from $190 (for the Hawk series) to roughly $500 (for a stainless-steel model)—high end, to be sure, but in the ballpark with top offerings from other major companies. But a visit to the Internet reveals a different story, one of a feverish collector's market where rare Bettinardi Tour prototypes can run upward of $10,000. Then there are the models available exclusively in Japan, the only region excluded from his contract with Hogan. There, Bettinardi putters rank in the top three on the Japanese Tour Darrell Survey, and this is where some of his most creative pieces can be found today. "I sometimes think they love me in Japan because I have an Italian last name," he laughs. "They associate it with quality: you know, Armani, Maserati . . . Bettinardi." So what makes a Bettinardi special? For one, each is produced from start to finish in Tinley Park, as Bettinardi refuses to sacrifice quality control for lower labor costs. Another is his penchant for the exotic, creating works of art from materials such as "double-aged" stainless steel, black chrome, gold- and copper-plating, and a bewildering array of finishes and inserts. The third major factor is the process itself. Time is money, as we all know, and it takes twice as long for Bettinardi's CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines to mill a putter head out of a single piece of steel than it does to make a standard forged putter. For the most part, the history of golf club design has been marked by near-total anonymity for the innovators who actually dream up the irons, woods, wedges and putters that we swing every day. Very few know the name Coburn Haskell (inventor of the rubber-cored, proto-modern golf ball), much less that of Richard Helmstetter, chief designer of the Callaway Big Bertha. Indeed, dating back to Old Tom Morris, who along with his architectural and playing accomplishments was the foremost club maker of his time, only a handful of designers can be described as celebrities in golf circles. In the modern age, a list of such auteurs might include Karsten Solheim, Bob Vokey, Bobby Grace, Scotty Cameron and Bob Bettinardi. Bob Bettinardi has been working with metal his entire life. Hanging around his father's machine shop, he grew up making parts and studying the properties and potential of various alloys, so a degree in mechanical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering was a natural move for him. After college he worked for his father for six years before starting his own shop and quickly acquiring the medical, communications and defense contracts that were the focus of his early career. In December of 1990, though, he had a revelation. Walking into a pro shop, Bettinardi spotted his first milled putter, a Callaway Bobby Jones model. He understood immediately what this implied. For years putters had been almost all cast, meaning that molten metal was simply poured into molds and left to cool, producing results that were often imprecise. Bettinardi bought the putter and began setting his milling machines to a new task. And the rest is history? Not exactly. "It took me three months to make my first putter," Bettinardi says in his dry Chicagoland accent. "One putter, three months! Trial and error—that was my first foray into the process." Within a matter of months, though, the quality of his early experiments would land him a contract with Mizuno, where he spent the next few years designing with Scotty Cameron. One of their first breakthroughs, in 1993, was one-piece technology, or milling putters from a single block of metal instead of welding separate pieces together. "Any time you add heat to metal, it distorts it, and I knew we could take it to the next level," says Bettinardi. "People were amazed by one-piece technology. It definitely has a better feel." Precision Play Bettinardi founded his own company in 1998, and the artistry of his work really took off. "Confidence starts with looks," he says. "Golf is such a tough sport, but if the putter looks beautiful, gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, then at least you have a chance." The most instantly recognizable feature of a Bettinardi putter is the honeycomb pattern on the clubface, created with a jeweler's cutting tool. While the designer is quick to point out that the honeycomb "has a performance characteristic in that it makes the putter face flatter than a normal cut," it is the look—both high-tech and elegant—that turns heads on practice greens around the world. Back in 1999, at the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic, announcer Gary McCord joked of Jesper Parnevik's new putter, "The face looks like the parquet floor of the Boston Garden." Parnevik then shot twenty-three under and won, taking all of ninety-nine putts. It was the first Tour victory for Bettinardi, and has been followed by at least a dozen more, including two majors in the last two years: Jim Furyk's U.S. Open victory in 2003 and Vijay Singh's PGA Championship title in 2004, one of four events he won with a Bettinardi flatstick during his monster season. In October 2003, Bettinardi signed a multiyear contract with Ben Hogan (now owned by Callaway), becoming the first designer to have his name alongside that of the legendary Hawk on a golf club. Of the five lines of putters currently offered by Hogan, three have the traditional look familiar to Bettinardi fans, while the other two are in the modern mallet family, including his most recent offering, the Hawk series. The BHB11 and BHB12 are oversize alignment putters; Bettinardi is confident that the invasion of the "potato mashers" is not a passing trend. "Most people who play golf are not three-handicaps," he says. "They need something to make more putts with. When you look down and see this big mallet, with its long lines and all the weight in the back to help you accelerate through the ball—it just makes sense." Along with tracking his Tour players and developing new products, the designer is primed to have an exciting year right at home in Chicago. Studio B, Bettinardi's custom-fitting studio strictly for putters, features a four-camera dynamic fitting system and other high-tech gadgetry. It will debut in July, timed to coincide with the Western Open at nearby Cog Hill. The kicker is that, unlike many studios operated by major equipment companies, Studio B will be open to all, not just touring pros and corporate VIPs. (Visit bettinardi.com for details.) "Customers will walk in to an area that will almost be like a little museum, where they'll get an idea of how putters are made," Bettinardi says. "After practicing on the green, they'll go into the studio, which is right above my shop, so they'll be able to look through a window and see putters being created while they're being fitted. We're not going to adjust their stances. I don't want to be a golf coach—I want to take the way they putt and fit the putter to their styles."

The production BB1 short slant that is carbon steel only came with a full 4" slit and can feel clicky at impact and you get that tingy/pingy sound as well. The DASS BB1 3 slot does not feel clicky. By having 3 .5" slits all separated makes the putter feel more solid. I hope this helps. Thanks

I absolutely remeber. This is the first putter Bettinardi has ever made with 3 slits as the ones in the past were 1 and 2 slits. This DASS BB1 3 slot will have a more solid feel unlike any other putter Bettinardi has made and I put a quote from Bobby himself on what he said. They are $1275 and going very fast. Let me know and just call me or email me at [email protected]. Thanks

Here is some information on Bettinardi's newest Creation that you can see pictures at my site at www.tksputters.com: BB-1 D.A.S.S. TOUR EXEMPT 350 + GRAM HEAD W/ THREE (3) HALF INCH (.5") SLITS/SLOTS/FLOATING FACES 1 OF ONLY 10 TOTAL MADE W/ 1 LINE & 1 OF ONLY 10 TOTAL MADE W/ NO LINES THAT ARE BOTH AVAILABLE. BETTINARDI MILLED HONEYCOMB NOT ONLY ON THE FACE THAT IS NORMAL, BUT ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE TOE & HEEL BUMPERS & THE ACTUAL 3 SLOTS HAS MILLING CUTS INSIDE EACH ONE OF THEM THAT ARE VISIBLE IF YOU LOOK VERY CLOSE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN ATTEMPTED BEFORE. Here is a quote from when I talked to Mr. Bettinardi on Tuesday, March 15, 2005: "Todd, this DASS BB-1 3 slot is the best feeling putter I have ever made". The first person to buy one of these was a service man from Iraq. Yes, a gentleman from the Iraq war bought a DASS BB1 3 slot from thousands of miles away. He actually called me from Iraq to ask some questions about the putter and he will not be home until August 2005. He has been in Iraq since November 2003. He is so excited to see his new Bettinardi with the black enduring freedom cover and black and white tuxedo winn grip as I shipped it to his wife and it will be waiting at the door when he comes home in August. I shared this story with Bobby and it is truly an amazing and special story that I hope everyone enjoys. Thanks Todd Schumaker www.tksputters.com 314.368.1010

Hello. I have some 2 tone Bettinardi winn grips at my site at www.tksputters.com.

Everyone, I appreciate all the very nice comments. I have met many very nice people throughout the world and I appreciate everyones kind words. I am all about customer service as life is too short to get upset with people. So if you ever need anything, just let me know as I will do my best to make you a very happy customer. Thanks again.

Everything on my site are special putters as they are heavier and different finishes. Everyone that buys the protos from my site do play them. You are welcome to email me or call me direct if you have any questions. Thanks, Todd

Hello. I have many baby bees on my site at www.tksputters.com. Let me know. Thanks, Todd

Hello. I have all the rare baby bees on my site at www.tksputters.com. Let me know. Thanks, Todd