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Ultimate Prize Fight

Ultimate Prize Fight

  • Karsten Solheim (ping)

    Votes: 22 38.6%

  • Scotty Cameron (titleist)

    Votes: 17 29.8%

  • Kia Ma (Taylormade)

    Votes: 11 19.3%

  • Bob Bettinardi (Mizuno)

    Votes: 7 12.3%
  • Total voters
    57
SuperStroke
TOAOST21

TOAOST21

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Ladies and Gentleman this is the final heavyweight championship bout this evening pitting a royal rumble of putting
Karsten Solheim vs. Scotty Cameron vs. Kia Ma vs. Bob Bettinardi
because putting is so subjective we wont call it a best and you dont have to own one to weigh in just pick one and justify your pick

GO
 
Personally i have to go with Cameron, based upon the widespread success of his putter not only in wins but in usage alone i mean how many players today have one of his sticks in use? i know Karsten was the original but these feel amazing roll the ball pure and god you cant argue with results. thats my two cents



O also im gonna put a poll up just pick whoever you are choosing that way we can kind of quantify the results
 
Camerons successful putter designs are all remakes of other designs. And his most famous, the newport, is a flatout anser. He even refers to the anser-style on his online videos.

With the anser and the Zing, Karsten is easily the most influential person ever to touch a putter
 
I picked Solhiem. If it hadn't been for him half of the blades we play today would be different. The anser style has to be the most copied ever.
 
I think you have to go with Karsten even though I currently use a Bettinardi putter.

As a side note, Bettinardi is no longer with Mizuno.
 
As noted, Bettinardi is on his own now, but I think you are forgetting a few designers. It also would depend on what the poll is about. For designing, Scotty cannot possibly be at the top. His original designs never sell well, but his remakes sell tremendously. His marketing is genius. But if you ask a few that SC has worked for, his ideas, none are original. Sour grapes or the truth?

From a pure putter maker, nobody on that list can touch Bettinardi. His mill work and craftsmanship are incredible.
For creating legacy and/timeless classics it would have to be Karsten. The anser was not totally original when he did it, but it is considered his.
Kia has an interesting story and incredible background. He and SC have crossed paths quite a few times and Kia will be the first to tell you certain things are not always what they appear to be.
SC has taken some designs and with the proper marketing turned them into gold. I mean listening to people call an anser a newport and a 8801 a napa is ridiculous, but it shows the hold he has on his fans.
 
JB, great post. There are more than a couple of things to consider when it comes to putter design and putter manufacture.

I'm going for Karsten, just because I recently pulled a classic B60 from the garage and still love it.
 
although I use an Anser, I picked Cameron... not for their effect on golf but plainly for the amount of putters in use on the various professional tours.

as far as influence goes, Karsten hands down
 
Solheim.

His designs have been the basis for many of the so-called "new" putters that have come along since. His Anser and Cushin models are two of the most copied designs ever conceived and have yet to be significantly improved upon.


-JP

BTW, I would have included T.P. Mills in this poll (talk about great putters!).
 
I love Kia Ma designs, just classic. Wish I could pick one up some day! Maybe if there's a ghost version some day.
 
I still have an original Ping Zing 2 in the BeCU. (berrylium copper?) First putter my dad bought for me, I still go back to it every once and a while.

Every company has stolen the Anser and Zing style in their time. Whats the saying? Something about Copying is the greatest form of flattery?
 
SNAP HOOK said:
I still have an original Ping Zing 2 in the BeCU. (berrylium copper?) First putter my dad bought for me, I still go back to it every once and a while.

Every company has stolen the Anser and Zing style in their time. Whats the saying? Something about Copying is the greatest form of flattery?
Click to expand...

If that is teh case, wouldnt TP Mills be the ultimate on every list?
 
SNAP HOOK said:
I still have an original Ping Zing 2 in the BeCU. (berrylium copper?) First putter my dad bought for me, I still go back to it every once and a while.

Every company has stolen the Anser and Zing style in their time. Whats the saying? Something about Copying is the greatest form of flattery?
Click to expand...

my Ping Anser 2 is a BeCu model that I got in 1995... it still rolls true and I wouldn't trade it for the world...

... that being said, I would love to get an SC Newport 2, but unless I was guaranteed the same results I get with mine, not going to happen
 
I guess there is no love for Yes! putters...
 
i tried to go to what was considered the "big three" with TM, and Titleist being some of the more popular putters out there i know odyssey is popular but i really havent heard of them having one key guy so i figured leave them out. Personally just on craftsmanship alone it's gotta be Bettinardi, on Design alone no doubt its gotta be Solheim. But what i looked at was who has pulled it all together and just blown others out of the water. At least on the PGA tour that title has to go to Scotty.
 
I would have to say that for design it would be Bettinardi, but as for how a putter rolls the ball I wouljd have to pick Kia Ma from the four. the Kia Ma's that I have rolled in the store are flat out wonderfull. All that being said my Seemore is still the one in the bag.
 
TOAOST21 said:
i tried to go to what was considered the "big three" with TM, and Titleist being some of the more popular putters out there i know odyssey is popular but i really havent heard of them having one key guy so i figured leave them out. Personally just on craftsmanship alone it's gotta be Bettinardi, on Design alone no doubt its gotta be Solheim. But what i looked at was who has pulled it all together and just blown others out of the water. At least on the PGA tour that title has to go to Scotty.
Click to expand...

That could very well be who has the deepest pockets as well. No doubt SC makes a good putter, but they also pay the most to use the putter. Just like Taylormade does with drivers, Titleist does with balls, shoes, wedges, and putters.
 
China Cat>Rider said:
I guess there is no love for Yes! putters...
Click to expand...

I got some love to share for Yes.

My current putter rolls it smooth, and the weighting on it feels lovely. Just don't know if they've been doing it at that level for long enough to be considered.
 
Yes! makes great putters. But I would hardly call their designer in the league with these others. They mimic made designs and add their C groove to the face.
 
believe it or not, the only putter i've ever rolled out of the list is a bettinardi, and that was at the THP spring outing. i've never as much as picked up a scotty. i've seen setho's kia ma, and of course i've played anser style putters but never really rolled a karsten either. i'm such a putter virgin!
 
I think the list to pick from is a little too short......
 
JB said:
If that is teh case, wouldnt TP Mills be the ultimate on every list?
Click to expand...

That guy gets the shaft as he was really an innovator AND craftsman yet doesn't really get credit for either.
 
I was a long time SC user few month ago i switch to Bettinardi and there's no way back.
 
OK i think i am about to thread jack myself... I get that there are good putter makers out there and that some people think the list is too short, well tell us who you would add and why. Just wondering who i left out that fits in that echelon of craftsmanship
 
What about byron morgan or machine or the other custom guys? what do you think of them? My opinion is moot because i use one of the ugliest putters ever devised by man but it does the job for me!
 
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