aznmrq Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 is now declared legal by USGA.. anyone using it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznmrq Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Here's the column about them in Dallas Morning News After ruling, prospects in better shape USGA determines Dallas company's Superline putter is OK 10:57 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 By MATT McKAY / The Dallas Morning News Limbo may be fun at roller rink birthday parties and Caribbean cruises, but for Dave Billings and Dogleg Right Corp., it has been as much fun as an eight-month back injury. Fortunately for Billings, the Dallas-based company's president and CEO, he has passed under the bar and is now ready to get back into the business of getting his equipment into the hands of golfers. Perhaps best known for the Hog putter, the thick-shafted club he concocted nearly 10 years ago, Billings became the center of controversy again last year when his Superline putter was taken out of Jim Furyk's hands just after he had posted a run of top-five finishes. The U.S. Golf Association deemed the Superline's design to be in violation of Rule 4-1a – the "Plain in Shape" rule – because of a hollow appendage behind the putter face that accommodated small weights. Golf GolfDay Bill Nichols: Foreign ascent: International players dominate money list Matt McKay: After ruling, prospects in better shape July is month for Champions Tour majors Notebook: Is Wie's success causing jealousy on LPGA Tour? Area golf calendar Scouting the tours PGA | LPGA | Champions | Nationwide More golf The weights allowed the putter's heaviness, and consequently its feel, to be customized to a player's comfort level. The USGA deemed the putter illegal as Furyk prepared for the Open. He went on to win with another putter. For Billings' company, it was a lost opportunity. "It's what we all work for in the club manufacturing business," Billings said recently during an interview in his Dallas office. "It's validation." Billings recently learned the USGA has declared the putter to be a legal club. While he feels a certain degree of vindication because of the revised ruling and can now market the putter, he knows Dogleg Right is still not up on all four financial paws. The ruling, and another new product he's developed, may help change that soon. Billings has stepped up production of his new "Machine Grip" and is starting to see it make headway in shops and golf bags across the country. The grip is all-metal and milled, much like a putter head, to precise specifications. The grip's weight, feel, angles and tackiness are all strictly controlled by computerized milling and the finishing process. The rigidity also eliminates the unevenness of conventional grips, which inevitably have some alignment flaws through taping, gluing and fitting of flexible synthetics and leathers. The end game for the Machine Grip is that the flat face of the grip can be set perfectly perpendicular to the club face, which theoretically allows for a more precise aim, and therefore, more made putts. And more made putts lead to more confidence when a golfer stands over that four-footer to win the hole, the match or the tournament. "We were experimenting with milling methods with the idea of creating a 100 percent milled putter," said Billings. "The more we fooled around with it, the closer we came to a milled grip." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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