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Interesting first day of putting with my new NEAD

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jnug

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Boy the difference in putting surfaces from one course to the next this time of year is really something. I guess it is always different one course to the next and maybe just more so this time of year. My home course features greens with a good deal of undulation that also happen to be very very fast. They were just aerated on Monday so they are not much to putt on right now.

I went off to one of the courses I have not played this year to see what it was like as I know that it is tough tee to green but did not know much about the greens themselves. Also my new NEAD came in today and I wanted to try it on something, anything.

As it turns out the greens at this place were slow as molasses. They were not aerated so the greens were not swiss cheese. However they were incredibly slow especially when compared to the greens at my home course. My NEAD is 20 grams lighter than the putter I had played this year. I wanted something more around 350 grams as my other putter head comes in at 370 which seemed a bit much to me especially on the faster greens. I love the feel of the NEAD but going from a much heavier putter and super fast greens to the lighter putter on greens that made you feel like you were plowing through something did not make it easy on either me or my new NEAD. Anyway as I said I do really love the feel of my new putter. Balance is terrific. NEAD made it close to a 4:30 putter which matches my gated swing nicely. It just took some time to get some feel using a lighter putter on what where the slowest greens I had seen all year.

Is there a big disparity between greens speed going from one course to the next in your neck of the woods?

How do folks feel about putter weight? Like a putter to be on the heavy side, the light side and does the speed of the greens that you play regularly tend to push you one way or the other regarding weight?

I should also take the time to put in a good word for Gene Nead. He is terrific to work with and his putters are working golf tools that happen to be very pleasing to the eye as well. I would not describe them as eye candy as they are more elegant and graceful than they are flashy. A quality I think of that beauty of a putter that one of our members posted up earlier today. Are you listening P4B?
 
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Where's the pictures buddy? Good to hear your Nead is in. Good luck with it.

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pics! pics! we want pics! haha
 
I know guys pics pics but this is P4B's day not mine. We should bask in the glow of that beauty of a putter that he posted up for today. I wanted to post up some questions cause I wanted to know what you guys think with regard to putter weight and greens speed. I am going to post up some pics that include a couple putters for comparisons including this one in about a week looking to see which of them you guys like the most at least from what you can get from a photo. They will all be very different putters so it should be fun to fool around with.
 
jnug said:
I know guys pics pics but this is P4B's day not mine. We should bask in the glow of that beauty of a putter that he posted up for today. I wanted to post up some questions cause I wanted to know what you guys think with regard to putter weight and greens speed. I am going to post up some pics that include a couple putters for comparisons including this one in about a week looking to see which of them you guys like the most at least from what you can get from a photo. They will all be very different putters so it should be fun to fool around with.
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No way buddy, we want pics!!! You guys see and hear enough jack from me that I definitely don't need much more than a second or two and a "hey, nice putter dude" and I'm set, we need to see the NEAD!!!
 
OK, damn, I should have tried to take some pics during the day. I will get the digital camera battery juiced up and get something posted....probably be tomorrow but will try to get something up tonight if I can get something decent without sunlight.

Should be interesting day here tomorrow. Supposed to be warm (at least for this time of year) but raining in the morning. I will likely try to play unless it is a downpour as this next week is really going to be it I think. Many of the courses are going to close the day before Thanksgiving regardless of whether or not there is snow on the ground. So far my home course has vowed to stay open until it snows. Not sure if I can depend on that but I guess we shall see what we can see!
 
jnug said:
OK, damn, I should have tried to take some pics during the day. I will get the digital camera battery juiced up and get something posted....probably be tomorrow but will try to get something up tonight if I can get something decent without sunlight.

Should be interesting day here tomorrow. Supposed to be warm (at least for this time of year) but raining in the morning. I will likely try to play unless it is a downpour as this next week is really going to be it I think. Many of the courses are going to close the day before Thanksgiving regardless of whether or not there is snow on the ground. So far my home course has vowed to stay open until it snows. Not sure if I can depend on that but I guess we shall see what we can see!
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Now we're talking, I can't wait to see pics. We're in the same boat right now man, I'm stretching every last second of golf I can get around here too. My home course has said the same exact thing, vowing to stay open until snow flies. They closed the driving range on me though, I had to go to a different course for the driving range yesterday. We're supposed to have sunny skies and 50 on Friday here to I'm going to slide out of work and play 18, maybe even more.

I can't wait to see your pics of the Nead!
 
I play on two courses that are polar opposites as well. One course has moderately contoured and very fast greens (stimp 12-15) because they've been attempting to kill of some sort of disease. The other course has extreme contoured but very slow greens (stimp 7-9), mostly because when the wind kicks up (30-40 mph are common) in the high desert, the ball will roll right off the green if they're too fast.

Makes it very difficult to find that right "touch". One would think that changing the putter weight based on the greens would be one more variable to take into account....
 
I've gone to a 350g standard and am trying to fit my entire game around that, but swing weight is, IMHO, where it all happens. My lag putting is a matter of inches now and my 7 ft and in are based on nothing but back of cup and line. Hope that answers your weight question, now lets see some pic's, haha. I NEAD some pic's.
 
I have to agree with the comment on changing putters all the time. I had been using the one in my signature all season, and I got a bug up my butt to get a new one for some reason. When I started playing with different models at the store, my putting went downhill rapidly. I spent my last round 3-putting almost everything.:angry:

Now, let's see some pics.
 
Congrats on the new stick, jnug. I've found that the main difference between courses right now is the quality of the putting surface. Some never recovered from the tough summer and others are still pretty nice. I had a really tough time on Saturday b/c the greens were wet and the ball seemed to skid a lot.

My putter is 355 grams and I like that weight a lot. For me, I find that it works well on fast or slow greens. Just feels right in my hands.
 
thedue said:
I've gone to a 350g standard and am trying to fit my entire game around that, but swing weight is, IMHO, where it all happens. My lag putting is a matter of inches now and my 7 ft and in are based on nothing but back of cup and line. Hope that answers your weight question, now lets see some pic's, haha. I NEAD some pic's.
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I just re-read my post and it sounded like I was lag putting within inches, lol. What I meant was I'm trying to find different lag distances in the stroke distance or distance I take the club back, if that makes sense. Worked pretty well yesterday, but I struggled bad at reading the greens.
 
Here are some photos of the NEAD. You might notice that the shaft is black nickel which is a real neat touch. This particular NEAD includes a copper insert and the head is weighted at about 4:30 for my gated stroke. The Big Moss putting mat got in here as well.

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Jnug, that girl is sweet man. Love the BN shaft and the copper insert. Can't say I'm a fan of the long necks, unless were talking Beer, but should work very well for you. What do you think of the stiched leather grip? I love the look, but the one on my Bettinardi just don't work. Can't wait to see and hear more, that dog will hunt buddy.
 
Due,
I think Gene was trying to hit my toe hang number which might have extended the neck a bit. I am not a SBST putter but have a gated stroke. As such a face balanced putter would not be best for me. I am not sure that drove the neck length but I think it miight have. I have asked Gene about that as I actually thought it would be a little shorter. Again I think Gene was just trying to accomodate my toe hang number.

By "don't work" do you mean that you find the stitching to be hard to get used to? That would not surprise me since it is only these kinds of grips that have the raised stitching. In my case I have been gaming a Scotty three button Newport. Scotty had the same grips put on the three button only in tan as opposed to black. So in my case I have gotten used to that grip and I am fine with it. In fact I am sort of glad I won't be gaming the three button any longer. They are costly and hard to find in unmolested condition. I have never customized mine. I would rather put the three button up at this point and use it now and again as a benchmark for other putters to save the grip from wear. I could see where that stitching would drive some folks batty.

Are you a SBST putter (straight back and straight through)? I would guess that if you are, that stitching might get in the way a little more as well. If you are SBST I am sure that the stroke is something you have groved to some extent by now. But I have always thought that in order to really make the SBST stroke, you have to keep your hands a certain way on the putter and keep a certain grip. I would think the darned stitching might be impossible to avoid. While gated putting strokes have their own issues, you can move your hands around a bit more and it just so happens that the stitching really is not an issue for me.

That Bettinardi of yours is a really neat putter. Sort of a shame that the darned grip makes it hard for you to putt. It looks perfect on that putter so I would find it hard to see anything else on it.
 
Jnug, to be honest the Bettinardi will never be a gamer anyway, but I tinker with it on the carpet at home once in a while. I think the biggest problem with the grip for me is the size and texture, way to small and slick. I do have a SBST swing, have had for over 30 years, and while I notice the stiching I would possibly get past that if the size and texture was right.

You have a great looking putter there. Gene sure does some magic with metal, lol. I asked him to make mine face balanced for my swing, but fully understand why 4:30 works better for you. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Due,

If you are thinking about that grip for putters that you are going to game, I think it could be had in larger sizes. The texture might be something else again. Since I am also used to the texture from the three button, that like stitching is not a problem for me. I actually think those particular grips are getting hard to come by regardless of the color or anything else. I don't want to put words in his mouth but I would bet that Gene would be fine with putting a different grip on the putter he is making for you if there is something you think you will like better.

I don't believe I could let the Bet touch ground either. That baby belongs on a wall or something.
 
Good point, I spent so much time thinking how I wanted the head and shaft done it never occured to me what the grip would be, haha. I love the look and would like that style in a mid sized even if a bit slick. I could surely get used to it.
 
That is a pretty putter. good luck with it. I'm sure you'll love it.
 
I purposely avoided this thread today since PB is blocked at my work. Jnug, YOUR PUTTER IS UNBELIEVABLE! Congrats and I am insanely jealous of you right now :) Here is a tip to get better pics. Put a light above the putter off to the side a bit. It seems to help with the glare from the flash.
 
Just looked again and I would like to reiterate that your putter BADA$$.
 
DUDE! Wow is that a fine looking putter! Thanks for getting the pics up bro, so you still loving it just as much? Probably even more huh?
 
damn that is one nice putter. I never realized how nice some of the custom putters are until joining THP. Now I want one
 
Sorry it took me awhile to get back to this thread.

Thanks guys and thanks for the tip regarding light and photos.

I am really happy with this putter. It is very well balanced, looks good as you are standing over the ball and has the right amount of toe hang for my stroke. It has taken me some time to get used to it because my previous putter was much heavier. I purposefully wanted it to be lighter. The more I play with it the better the putts role. Now that I have a putting surface in the basement, I will be able to work with it all winter. It is a really really nice stick that rolls the ball really nicely.
 
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