SeeMore Putters MSeries Review - Forum Testing Review

[JB]

THP & SeeMore Putters will be sending 8 forum members mSeries putters for long term review. This is the thread for them to discuss the process from beginning to end. The testers will be starting with a fitting with the SPi instructors over the phone and they will be discussing everything from the customer service all the way through the results that they find over an extended period of time.

Lets keep this thread clear until the guys start getting their clubs in and posting initial thoughts. Thanks.

 

[Jman]

OK, I have had a thought and desire to do this and after first talking to THP Testing Mod Kmac and the man himself JB to get the OK and not step on toes since the putter is not actually "in hand" yet, I really want to go through and over some initial thoughts and observations of this whole amazing thing. I want to document it all as best I can for all my fellow THP'ers!

I'll be breaking it down below and as always each new review post will include links to my previous one's in the "Reference Link" section, as it gets to be more and more crowded with additional review/thought posts those links will obviously go into spoiler tags.

REFERENCE LINKS:

• Initial Thoughts/Process: CLICK HERE

INITIAL THOUGHTS:

So, first off again is obviously a big THANK YOU to SeeMore as well as THP and the Forum Testing Mod we refer to as the Kmac for being selected to partake in this forum review, flattered and excited are both understating what I feel about all of this.

Since being selected for this testing I've had alot of thoughts, ponders, feelings, and so forth that I really want to share. After all, this testing simply isn't about getting a club and getting after it, SeeMore is allowing us to delve into the entire SPi (SeeMore Putter Institute: CLICK HERE) and literally have hands on teaching and guidance to learn (and in turn review) the SeeMore putting system and theory...but I'll delve more into that shortly as I'm going to try to go through this in as organized a manner as I can to keep it easy to read since I know I can get long winded.

SOME BACKGROUND:

Honestly the word "WHAT!?!?!?!" about sums up my reaction to selection for this testing. When I found out I was getting to do this I quite literally turned into that little kid at Christmas again and promptly got laughed at by my wife, but I blame the laughter on her not "getting it" and certainly not my 6 year old girl like shrieks. Obviously.

The coolest part about this for me is that unlike alot of the testers in this one I'm actually not new to SeeMore as far as putters go. Most anyone who frequents the forum know how Buckjob and I like our putters, I think the term 'addicts' most properly exemplifies us and our taste for the pretty flatsticks. Because of this addiction of mine and my time around THP and hearing the praises of SeeMore I have at one time or another had several in my collection including several from the mSeries itself as they are some of the best looking putters out there. To me, it was only natural to possess some of them at one time or another.

In fact, for total transparency in the testing, I will openly admit that I've actually at one time or another had and gamed the mFGP SS, mFGP2 SS, m1 SS, m2 SS, and the m3 SS form the "milled series". I will also openly admit that SeeMore has their fingerprint on my putting style already. When I got my first I had to get used to the whole RST "hide the red dot" thing and thusly researched Pat O'Brien and the SeeMore school of thought on putting. The thing is though, even though my stance, ball position, and stroke are influenced already by that school of thought, I never went all in on it beyond those. Not like we testers have the opportunity to do now. But more on that in a bit.

INITIAL PUTTER DESIRES:

Let me fist say I plan on rolling whatever my SPi instructor (more on that too in a minute...hehe) recommends to me, it could be a boulder on a broomstick with the RST painted on it and I'm going to buy in to the method and rock that sucker. Hwever, I will openly say that I'm also a big believer in that if you don't like the look of a putter, you'll never fully get everything out of it....so...with those two things in mind.....

Naturally, upon selection I started ogling all of the beauties on the SeeMore website: CLICK HERE

After drooling and clicking and drooling and clicking...I kind of narrowed in my mind the styles that I like the most personally:

The mFGP2 CS:

Spoiler

The m7 SS:

Spoiler

The m8 SS:

Spoiler

The m9 SS:

Spoiler

Right now you're thinking, "wow", well so am I. My natural eye gravitates towards a blade with a wider flange on it to a mid-mallet and these four above are the ones that after hours of looking again and again scream that for me. That's not to say I don't like the other styles or that I may not end up fitted with something else. These are simply the knee-jerk styles that if you made me decide by myself right now that I would end up narrowing down to purely out of passing the initial eye test. Again, I'm a big believer in having to be comfortable over what you are addressing the ball with, I really am. Who knows what I'll end up with though, only time will tell and I can safely promise you then that I will have lots of thoughts on the looks of it.

THE PROCESS:

In case one hasn't noticed, the testers have been bantering back and forth in the signup thread about our initial interactions with SeeMore, more appropriately though our interactions beginning with the director of instruction for SPi himself, Mr. Ted Gallina. I was excited as heck to get to hear from Ted and having read last years SeeMore Si forum review I expected to get started with a phone or internet fitting and to get after it, well, Ted upped the ante form what I was expecting. Frankly I can't say it as well as Ted's email did, so:

Spoiler

James,

Congratulations once again for being selected to be a THP tester for the SeeMore mSeries putter. All of us are excited about the process.

I have copied one of our top SPi Silver Certified Instructors, Brady Fennel (The Territory Golf & Country Club, Duncan, OK). He will be your personal putting coach through the entire process. Brady understands the SeeMore system and will give you hands on instruction. Please feel free to contact him anytime for any questions that you might have.

Brady will be able to help you in person at his putting studio or over the phone - like we did with our testers last year. There is nothing like getting one-on-one experience with your instructor - I do not know if you will be able to see him in person but maybe you could work it out with your schedule.

Brady will follow up with you on an email to get some general information from you and begin the process. Once the correct putter is selected for you, Brady will forward me all of the information and we will custom build and ship to you. Brady will then begin the follow up instruction.

Let me know if you have any questions. Again, congratulations on selection. THP and its forum members are a great group of people.

Sincerely,


Ted

Ted Gallina
PGA Professional
SPi - Director of Instruction
SeeMore Putter Company

Um....wow? First, to see Ted's admiration and respect for what JB and GG have built here with THP is awesome but now not only are we now getting to test a putter, I've now got a personal putting instructor in Brady Fennel (who happens to be the head pro at one of Oklahoma's nicest courses) that I will get to deal with for help, advice, and even true hands on instruction throughout this amazing journey. Again, wow. That lead to hearing from Brady this morning:

Spoiler

Good Morning James!

My name is Brady Fennel and I am the Head Golf Professional at The Territory Golf & Country Club in Duncan. I have played with a SeeMore putter now for six years and am honored to be apart of the SeeMore Team as a SPi Silver Certified Instructor. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with you during THP testing process with a SeeMore mSeries putter and would like to welcome you to visit The Territory if your schedule allows. We have a first class practice facility where I can fit you for your SeeMore mSeries putter. We also have nine mSeries demo putters here that you can test. Please let me know if you when you are available to meet or talk over the phone and we will get the process started. Again, congratulations on being selected and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

Brady

I emailed Brady back as soon as I received his email and I kid you not, I got a phone call from him about a minute later. We talked for a bit about SeeMore and then about him really wanting me to be able to come down to Duncan (about 3 hours for me) and do a true hands on fitting rather than just over the phone or through email. It wasn't a knock on doing that, but like he said hands on is just so much better so he can get a true feel for what my strengths and weaknesses are in my putting as well as getting the best fit possible. He has 9 of the mSeries putters readily available that I will get to try and see (can you say even more awesome?). So basically I will get fit for my putter and get a lesson in the SPi putting style at the same time to truly begin the process of diving into the system as a whole, not just the putter. I like this alot, I'll have a true idea of what I need to work on, focus on, and to be doing in preparation for my putter to arrive so I can acclimate quicker to the SPi school of thought. Go one step further and throughout the testing all I have to do is call and set up an time and I can go work with Brady on my putting, actual hands on instruction whenever I feel like I need it!

PARTING THOUGHTS:

Sadly we had some crappy weather today and couldn't mesh it out between Brady's and my own schedules until next Tuesday at 2:30 (cst). Before getting off the phone though he even gave me his personal cell phone to contact him whenever I needed regarding my putting, even if I'm on the course. However, to me its more than worth the wait for what I will get to experience.....and yes, I will do my best to take as many pic's as I can to fully document the experience.

This has been a whirlwind of amazing proportions for me personally, it is already more than I anticipated it being in so many ways. With that though comes a responsibility to keep all of you fully informed along the way and that is one thing I don't take lightly. Testing here on THP isn't simply about getting a free club and using it, its about getting information and experiences, good and bad, across to all of the other THP'ers and those who find the site along the way, its about putting true work in on it to do so and I cannot wait to do my best. I may get long winded as all get out (like this post) but I'll do my best to illustrate it the whole way. I know there will be bumps and frustrations along the way of learning something new to me and applying it on the course but it will certainly be worth it and part of this journey.

Again, I cannot thank SeeMore and THP enough. Wow!

 

[JB]

Good lord that is something to behold. What an amazing write up by a man that is truly embracing the testing.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Wow! Jmanwhat an opening!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

[Nate]

Jman just brings it.....wow. Amazing work of art.

 

[adwillingham]

Awesome job Jman...you really do an amazing job with testing, and I'm glad to have you amongst the testers for this awesome product and opportunity.

 

[thedue]

Good lord dude, you just set the standard for reviews, lol. Well done buddy, but SeeMore may have their hands full making you a better putter. From what I hear you seldom miss!

 

[DawgDaddy]

To say you are excited is a gross understatement Jman. I am very happy that you are one of the testers in this group. Congrats again.

 

[BamBooBender]

Wow Jman, HIO on the opening shot! Setting the bar very high, this is going to be great!

*goes and scraps what he had prepared for opening comments. back to the drawing board*

 

[Buckjob]

And Jman raises the bar again, great write up i can't wait to hear back from my SPi instructor. For the record i like to refer to myself as a connoisseur of putters instead of an addict! In all seriousness though i really have made some recent strides with some stuff with my putting and im interested to hear if what im doing is correct of if theres a better way i could be doing it to be more consistent and how what i currently am doing would work in if at all with the way SPi Putting style is. i hope some things are able to be worked in but honestly i don't know much about the SPi putting style so i feel like a noob of sorts. I really think im more excited about the fitting and the lessons on the SPi putting style than actually getting the putter itself. i have never been formally fitted although i know what works well for me and what im comfortable with lie and loft and length wise. But this should be a interesting journey for me. im really excited to see how this style and putter work out. i hold myself to high expectations and i put a lot of work into my game and this will be no different. I'm really stoked for the challenge. i'll leave it at that for now, i really want to save some of my thoughts for my initial write up for after my fitting. Great start though Jman i really feel the same enthusiasm that you do towards this.

 

[Jman]

Wow Jman, HIO on the opening shot! Setting the bar very high, this is going to be great!

*goes and scraps what he had prepared for opening comments. back to the drawing board*

BBB, just be you dude. You can't look at it like a comparison to what I or any of the other testers write kind of thing. I'm a freak teacher who is long winded and likes to be super organized, I'm not normal. LOL

Do your thing and be honest, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.



Thanks for all the kind words gents, not my intentions and it makes me blush but I'm thankful all the same, it means more than you know!

 

[bgammill]

jman that was great write up!! You've raised the bar within this review and going forward. The testing within this forum continues to get better with every test. Great job Jman, can't wait to read more and it shows why JB picks the people he does.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BamBooBender]

BBB, just be you dude. You can't look at it like a comparison to what I write thing. I'm a freak teacher who is long winded and likes to be super organized, I'm not normal. LOL

Do your thing and be honest, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.



Thanks for all the kind words gents, not my intentions and it makes me blush but I'm thankful all the same, it means more than you know!

No worries man, just messing with you a little. I'm not really going to have to start completely over. Your post is most impressive though, and did give me pause for a bit. Nothing wrong with setting the bar high, this round of testing deserves nothing less. imo

 

[#Cookie]

Very impressive start Jman, not that I expected any less from you! Looking forward to Tuesday both for you personally and to read your thoughts. You definitely bring a much different aspect to this than I did last year with your love & knowledge of putters.

 

[Kmac]

Jman nothing like making me feel even better the selections we made, wow dude that was a stellar write up. I kept getting stuck though. Each time Id get to the reference link for initial thoughts and it would start me all over again. Like a time warp continuum of Jman write ups. Great start Jman and thank you for putting that together. Not knowing anything about your putting or tendencies Im going to pick the m9 as the putter you end up with.

 

[runpuddrun]

Dang Jman, incredible. The awesome thing about this testing and what makes it truly a new experience on THP is the one on one - personal fitting, and continued personal instruction that SeeMore is providing for you all. Not only do you get the club to test, you get a great chance to see how much a personal putter and coach will improve your game. Incredible and I will be following along.

 

[FrankA]

Can I just say that I never want to be in a testing with Jman

 

[Trout Bum]

That is the greatest pre-review I've ever read, great job!

 

[Hacker]

If that is how good Jman's initial writeup is, I can't wait until he actually gets his own putter!

 

[spazzdog]

My god man! You got yourself some heavy duty putter gravitas going here!

Well done Jman.

Looking forward to the journey.

 

[SharkHat]

Since we're under way, I've been itching to give more details about the start of this process as well.


First, let me echo Jman's sense of awe and astonishment. If the royal treatment that we're being given is any indication of SeeMore's best in class platinum level customer service - and I suspect that it is - then WOW does not cover it. It doesn't even scratch the beautifully milled surface.


WishList


My putter repertoire isn't even a shadow of Jman or Buckjob's. I have a gamer, a backup, and some putter clutter that is only worthy of taking kids to play Putt-Putt. But like most of us, I know what I like. I like mid to large mallets, and there are two that caught my eye.


M5X-CS in Gunmetal - a center-shafted beauty that was likened to a Deathstar Destroyer by our very own Kmac

Spoiler

M5SS in Platinum Finish - *droooooool*

Spoiler

I think all of the testers are of the same mindset here. We may have our favorites, but we're going to let the fitting process dictate the selection. I know that I wouldn't feel right any other way.




Process


Ted did the work of finding the closest fitter to me, and getting us in contact of each other. I think Ted might be only slightly less excited about this than we are. It would have been easy to say "Here's a link to our locator, find the closest one and give them a call." Not Ted.


Here's the link by the way: http://www.seemore.com/locator/




My SPi certified instructor's name is Mike, and he's the Head Pro at Wolf Hollow Golf Club. The course is just under an hour away from me, and Mike and I have already been in contact via email.


After talking, Mike was willing to meet with me as early as Saturday! He was willing get me under way even on a day when he's going to be busy with an event at his course! Unfortunately, even though I am excited and anxious to get started, I'm scheduled for a scramble on Saturday which could run past the time that Mike had available, so I chose to pick a different time rather than turn up late and waste his time. The opportunity to have a hands-on fitting and instruction will not be wasted or rushed.

ETA: I just got confirmation from Mike, we're scheduled for Wednesday at 3:00pm

 

[Jman]

Nice Shark!

 

[thedue]

Great start shark. You guys are going to take me right back into the putting zone with your reviews, I can tell already. This is going to be a classic!

 

[More Gooder]

I can't thank THP and SeeMore enough for this opportunity. I love the way things are done on this site with this sort of thing, you have putter gurus like Jman and Buck, then putter virgins like myself. Reviewing alongside J is pretty intimidating, but I am loving the whole experience, hopefully my inexperience doesn't show too much.

The Beginning

I wasn't going to sign up, but I was in the market for a SeeMore anyway so figured it was worth a shot. Like others have said, when I logged on and saw the PM notifications I instantly turned into a screaming 8 year old girl. It felt like an eternity waiting for that first PM from Ted (I don't think it was even 24 hours) and when I got it the anticipation grew.

I got my second e-mail right at noon today letting me know that John Higgins would be contacting me soon, and soon it was. A little after 2:00 my phone rang and as soon as I saw the 615 area code I freaked. I answered, trying not to be a giggly moron and I'm not so sure I succeeded. Talking to John was not what I expected, you would have thought I was a tour pro or something. The conversation was no different than taking to an old friend....except for the part of that "friend" being a certified putter wizard. The only thing that detracts from the experience is that even though I'm only about 3 hours from SeeMore HQ, my schedule won't allow me to get out their way anytime soon.

John wasn't one to be discouraged though, he gave me an open invitation to visit and take a tour whenever I can make it. How awesome is that?! We went ahead and started the process over the phone and, based on our conversation, suggested the mFGP2.

Spoiler

I have to admit, I was pulling for the mFGP2 and his suggestion of it left me elated.

I'll definitely have more to add later.

 

[IceyShanks]

I can't wait to hear how the in person fitting go, I'm super jealous.

For those who are already considering which finish to go with, my real question is why did/do you pick the finish you did/do?