Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

Weapons of Golf

In this penultimate installment of the series, Weapons of Golf, we look at putters. The game of golf originated a long time ago. Golf equipment has evolved over the centuries. For a very long time, while scores were kept by individuals and tournament golf developed, golf was still a match between the golfer and the golf course.

In more recent years, we have seen golf matches become very competitive. The Ryder Cup is but one example.

In this series, I have presented articles on clubs and golf balls, clothing and golf shoes. The reader can see that the improvements made in these "weapons of golf" were designed so as to attempt to aid the golfer in becoming a better player.

That is not, disturbingly, the trend with the golf putter. You will recall that in the series entitled "Great Amateurs of Golf," I discussed the bigot Bobby Jones and his strange relationship with his putter he named "Calamity Jane," an innocuous-looking club that took him to great heights. Here is Mr. Jones and Calamity Jane:

The Wilson 8802 was a revolutionary putter, a club the legendary putter, Ben Crenshaw used for most of his career:

And club-maker Karsten Ping changed the way weight was distributed in putters with the hope that the golfer could improve his play with technology when he introduced the Ping Anser:

Somebody had the bright idea that in order to put a "good roll" on the ball, striking it with a cylindrical putter might be a good idea:

But I don't think that this was the real reason. Notice the shape. It is subtly reminiscent of a hammer.

Now, we get into the more sophisticated and threatening weapons that golfers, always prone to extreme anger aimed towards the opponent or fellow competitor, use to ostensibly improve their games. The real reason for this evolution of the putter is not to improve their games, but to intimidate their fellow golf competitors.

This is the Taylormade Ghost Spider, which is a hefty putter good for bludgeoning:

The Odyssey putters, well, I don't play with the golfer carrying one of these lethalities in his bag, the White Ice Blade D.A.R.T.:

Or the deadly Odyssey White Hot XG-7 Putter:

And I apologize for using the descriptive "his" in referring to people with whom I won't play, since I also mean "her," with this evil-looking entry in the competition by Tour Edge for the "lady" golfer:

And it appears that there is a similar "men's" model, the Taylormade Rossa Monza:

But the Odyssey XG Sabertooth is the ultimate decision maker:

One must be wary of imitators in the killer club derby -- less expensive, but probably equally effective for one-time use:

Beware the Weapons of Golf.

Posted by Bill at October 10, 2012 06:26 PM