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A POST OF DESTINY... A POST OF LEGEND So, before I get started diving in here I want to say something to all of you. I don’t have many friends around me in real life, most moved away after law school back to where they came from or have moved for other job opportunities. The outpouring of support in this thread has really picked up my spirits during this dark time in our history with the pandemic, the political strife, and the crappy winter months of Central New York. Just wanted to let you know that y'all are jam up folks in my book. If there’s ever an MGS get together anywhere and I can make it, I just shake all of your hands and say thanks. I’m going to take you through this day in the life of Berg as I only I can. Very slowly and building in anticipation until a late release of information at the end. Sadly, I do not have all the slides from the fitting at my disposal, but I do remember some of the pertinent information at hand. By the end of this, hopefully you learn something or at least enjoy yourself. First, let’s talk about the drive. Yes, the rest of the nation was under a deep freeze yesterday. My favorite descriptor was on Twitter that it was like putting a Hot Pocket in the microwave, warm on the edges, but frozen in the middle. Luckily for me, I was able to beat the weather, save for some flurries that dropped visibility, but clear roads the whole way. Also, NY has moved to cashless tolls, this was my first time on the Thruway since they did it, it was highly efficient. So, I left my house around 10:15 for the 12:30 appointment. I got to Victor with plenty of time to spare so I took @bens197's advice and hit up Tom Wahl’s for an early lunch before the fitting. What a choice this was. The building it was located in was a quaint old school little strip store front with wooden signs for the locations. The place had a cool drive in vibes, very 50’s-60’s motif. I had myself a basic lunch, cheeseburger with tomato and ketchup, fries and the locally made root beer. Bruh, that root beer was exceptional, a solid cream aftertaste with a rich flavor. The burger was large, the roll fluffy and after eating it I wish I had got two. The fries were fries, nothing wrong with them, solid crinkle cut. In all, a high recommend! This lunch was choice! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Berg, I’ve read 4 paragraphs, now starting on five and nothing about this has anything to do with a putter fitting or head shapes or stroke identification. Well, I bring up what happened before the fitting to bring forth one of my three learned thing about the fitting process. Make sure you’re comfortable before the fitting. Don’t bring stress into a fitting and make sure you’re on a full stomach. Don’t change anything about your usual day. Luckily a place like Club Champion has snacks and drinks for its customers if you go for the fitting, but some places don’t. So key number one for a good fitting, be comfortable and ready to go. I pulled up to the store at 12:15, because CC recommended we get there 15 minutes early and I met my fitter, John Kagel. John used to work in the metropolitan area as a club builder and rep for Callaway Golf but even he wasn’t ready for the Pipe. He had never seen anything like it, said it looked like a cannon. He took it away for some static measurements before handing it back to me and this is where I knew I had picked the right guy. You see, I had a fitting at Club Champion before with a guy who they brought up the road from the local Dick’s Sporting Goods when the store opened. His static measurements showed that I had a putter with a 72 degree lie angle and 2.5 degrees of loft. The testing at that time showed I needed to flatten the lie angle by a degree to 71 and deloft the club to 1 degree. Well, it turns out that dude didn’t know a wristlock from a wristwatch to steal a favorite Gorilla Monsoon phrase. John measured my club at 69 degree lie angle and 3.5 degrees of loft. This brings me to tip number two. Vet your fitter if at all possible. Knowing that John had experience in the field made me very confident in his measurements. If you have a guy you go to consistently, go to that guy. Please note, this is not a slam of big box fitters and employees. I was one of them, but I also knew my limitations in what I could and couldn’t do. If you are going to drop the coin to get fit, get a solid fitting experience from a solid fitter. Ok, so onto the Pipe and how it performed. In all honesty, it was pretty solid. On the 7 putts I took with SAM puttlab, I made 6 of them from around 10-12 feet. The one thing that John and I both noticed was that they were going with pace, more of a hit than a stroke if you know what I’m talking about. We discussed feel and I told him the firmness of the insert was ok with a softer ball, but since I was transitioning to a firmer ball this season, likely Pro V1X, I didn’t want that hot launch off the face. The good news here is that my stroke on the whole is very consistent. Sam Puttlab scores on timing, tendency, and consistency. I scored in the low 90’s of timing and tendency, but because I was putting with a face balanced putter, my consistency score only went in with a 75. Oh the face balanced thing, yeah, turns out exactly what I thought I was going in was what I was putter wise. The one surprise was that I wasn’t even a wide blade or blade style, I was a straight up mallet guy, but I needed some toe hang help, like 30-45% based on face rotation. My stroke was very straight back, but closing through the stroke so that toe hang was needed. Also worth noting, I was delivering the putter head 1.8 degrees up through the stroke, so we needed to flatten that lie angle to 68 degrees. The loft was solid at 3.5 so we worked on building around those specs. A length of 34.5 was determined to be the length needed. Our spec slide The next part was fitting the putter of my dreams. Luckily, as you can see below we had a wide variety to choose from. A winner is hidden among these photos. John asked me if there was anything I was heart set on or if I was totally brand agnostic. I’m a member of My Golf Spy, you know what I said. So we picked multiple shapes from multiple brands with multiple feels. Eight of them in total. Here’s a list of things that didn’t make the final head to head shootout and my thoughts on them. Ping Tyne Heppler: A good baseline putter, but nothing really spectacular to me in feel or performance. It didn’t inspire the type of joy and excitement other brands did in me. Maybe that’s a me problem, but it is what it is. A solid choice for some, just not for me. Toulon Las Vegas Slant: Fourth place finisher. That stroke lab feel is still so good, but the face was firmer than the inserts from the other Odyssey’s. The problem was that feel was very clicky on a Pro V1, and going with a firmer ball than that was going to push feel into unpleasant territory for me. Taylormade FCG Plumber’s Neck: This was the putter we tried in place of the Triple Track Blade. My stroke had an tendency to over rotate the more blade weighted putters, and that was evident in the in the FCG. Also, head light so stroke pace was sped up in my feel. Evnroll ER5: So the ER5 was the putter of choice for the Evnroll crew. It was ok for me, just fought it a touch since it was a bit below the toe hang suggestion. Solid speed control with the grooves like you would expect, but just a touch of inconsistency in the stroke due to that toe hang. Likely a 5th place finisher if we were ranking. LAB Golf: I asked the lab question of John and we tried it. He said it was too face balanced for my stroke and after trying it I agreed. A slight disappointment because it was one of the favorites in my mind going in but the numbers didn’t lie. Felt nice though off the face. Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5: 3rd place finisher of the group. It was the 2019 version, maybe if it was that inverted material version I would have liked it more. As such it was solid, felt nice and gave a nice pop off the face. The problem was compared to what we ended with going head to head, it just didn’t have the same confidence as those shapes with what we had. Now, you’ve seen 6 brands of putters, some of which you were probably expecting to see, some you probably thought may be one of the last two. Well, the time has come to reveal the putter that finished as runner up… and it was close between these top two. That putter is… THE BETTINARDI QUEEN B 11 Above all the other putters, easily the best looking and best feeling of the bunch. That Rose Gold is a stunner in person and the classic mid mallet head shape inspired some confidence in me. I used a face balanced mid mallet before, the Taylormade M2 Nubbins, and it felt like home coming back to something similar. The face was butter and it felt great. So why is it the runner up? Well, it comes down to those tiny little variables. The head weight of this putter is 362 grams, it’s light and I felt sometimes, and it was visible to myself and John, that my backstroke path could deviate from the consistency, bringing it slightly wide and having to fight it on the way through. If I was choosing on all the visual cues for a putter, no doubt it would have been sweet lady Betty… but it was not to be. Now, for the moment you’ve been waiting for, you’ve ready nearly 1750 words to get to the point, the putter that I will be gaming for the upcoming season and hopefully the foreseeable future is… THE SIK FLO Sometimes MGS gets it right with their Most Wanted Testing. The SIK Flo rated as the best putter for slight arc strokes in the 2020 mallet test and it was right there for me in this test. Is it as pretty as Bettinardi? No, and no one would ever claim it to be so. However, in person I will tell you the head is sneaky small compared to what you think it is and it has a very industrial look, which I kinda like. The feel is pretty solid, as you would expect from a one-piece milling, and the grooves do help that ball get rolling with decent speed. Now, let’s talk about the descending loft technology (DLT). I didn’t see any quantifiable in the testing for it, but I do think it can help. Also, alignment with the Flo was very easy for me, I was using more of the top line of the putter which has a nice thickness to it to show the face was sitting square. Lastly, and perhaps biggest for me was the weight. You see the lead tape on the Pipe, the Plumbers Neck SIK weighs 410 grams which really smoothed the backstroke out. No bringing it outside, no wiggle, just consistent stroke. This brings me to my third and final fitting point. Don’t fight the numbers, within reason. Look, if something appears to be a total outlier to you on recommendation, maybe go for a second opinion if possible. I go back to that Stroke Lab fitting, I gave myself completely over to the fitter and trusted him when I knew something was slightly rotten in Denmark. I wish now I knew then what I knew now about my stroke and my gamer and knew that an Anser style blade built upright and delofted was always going to end in a disaster. But with John and these choices, things added up and I felt confident in the two options, hell, even the Cameron would have been a fine choice for me. Don’t go completely number happy, but don’t be blind to them either. After we went through all the putters, we ordered the SIK at the following specs. Plumbers Neck hosel, 34 inch end of grip measurement, 68 degree lie angle, and 3.5 degrees of loft. Black alignment line on the back flange. I skipped on the customization of paint fill and what not for now, maybe a trip to Golf Garage in the future, but not for now. Also, standard size SIK grip, made by Iomic. I’ve been back and forth with John over the past few hours about the length build, but I wanted to keep it as close to what I was rolling at the store yesterday. It should be here in a few weeks once it goes through the CC build shop. I look forward to sharing the unboxing with you when it gets here and now that I’ve also got a Puttout on the way soon, it’s time to actually practice. Here’s to dropping that Arccos number this season! Again, from the bottom of my soul and heart, a thank you to all of those who have commented and read this far. I hope I’ve given you what you wanted. As always I’m here for more questions and communication. The pleasure was mine…

I'm just finishing up the draft to paste in here guys. Warning... it is loooooong. Probably my magnum opus and you know how much I write in review threads.

Yep. I'll make it official: as moderator, I'm claiming that Berg's putter update killed the MGS Forum like Most Wanted Driver takes down the blog each year.* * Pretty sure we were just applying a maintenance update. But I like this other version better.

This is like watching TV when I was a kid. Episode cliffhanger and having to wait a week for the next episode. No bingeing shows. My prediction. Berg will wake up, look in the shower where he see’s his faithful Nickent Pipe and announce it was all a dream. (God please let someone be old enough to get that reference.)

I'm still holding out hope that he's dropping $4K on a custom Tyson Lamb that has a pipe welded to it.

You're a kind and silly man Mookie. I'll dip in here before bed with a slight tease. The putter I selected was ordered today as well, and it's... one of the brands in the poll, including other!

@Berg RymanWhat if I don’t make it through the night???? I’ll never know which putter you chose!!!! I will haunt you on the greens, Berg Ryman... I will haunt you!!!!

Looks like the website update had different plans for us this evening The 404 error should have said “site maintenance in preparation for @Berg Ryman putter quest ”

Ok, lets get into this. When we were starting with each putter John asked me to talk to him about what it was I was feeling with each putter and what I was seeing. That's why I thought some of those putters felt harsh, or didn't fit the eye right. The three best feeling putters were SIK, Bettinardi, and Cameron. The head shape of Cameron just wasn't doing it for me on lining up, which was more a personal choice so that's where we got down to the two. Now the data had pointed me to these style of putters, but the feel was what was going to be the factor, and it was here where that grooved face spot from SIK shown through to me. One, and I think this would have been true if we measured against both of them, the fact that the grooves weren't across the hole of the face focused my alignment and contact pace instead of a similar feel across the entirety of the face like the honeycomb milling. Two, it led to my transforming my stroke into something smoother as far as distance control was concerned. I was feeling better pace through the stroke. So I guess, was it pure numbers? No. The numbers helped dictate what style we ended up in, but it came down to the more personal touches of a putter that set one over the other.

Seriously, this must be what George RR Martin feels like when people ask him when Winds of Winter is coming... at least mine will be out!

In my 63 years of living in Georgia, I have only had to shovel snow 2 times.

Welp, the world decided that we wait. I guess we wait until tomorrow

That’s ok... we can still be mad at Him for not posting. It’s not our fault he wasn’t furiously typing it out on his drive home. [emoji23]

The build up has been crazy.........you better start averaging 28 putts!

Plot twist: Berg bought a lefty.

personal foul on #1 @Bucky CC 15 yard penalty for taunting.

...what’s a snowplow?

Thank you for the confirmation. Lots of anticipation and refreshing going on in this one. As a side note... I think we need banner posts about pending maintenance updates. [emoji23]

I mean I’m blaming @Berg Rymanfor the delay. The site couldn’t handle the overload of information he was preparing.

A while back the company I work for merged with another company. We're both top companies to work for prior to the merger and the new company has been really working to keep that going. They worked to take the best of both companies benefits and comp plans and really gave us a great package of stuff, especially considering COVID (I have no more medical premiums taken out of my check, they cover 100%!!! -and the plan was basically the same as we had, no change in doctors either.) The only downside for me personally has been the 90 mile round trip commute before everyone began working from home. We're still not going back anytime soon, but its looking like I'm going to be able to be a 100% remote employee going forward. I just took an internal transfer to fill in a spot from the other company which is based in Florida. So now that my boss, and the rest of the team sits there it makes sense that I would be able to be fully remote, or not go in to the office nearly as much. Who knows... maybe I'll get to travel to Florida a few times each year! That's never a bad thing for a golf fan. At any rate, it was an awesome opportunity for me to take and a chance to really propel myself forward with my experience as our two company's continue to transition our systems and reporting.

Of course you're gonna post it while I'm out running errands, LOL! Can't wait to get back home to give it a read.

Who shot BR? [emoji23]

Still getting regular use, both by Kirke and by me. I posted this yesterday, in which Kirke shows off just ridiculous levels of skill that I cannot match: The wear on the board is obvious. Little bits of sequin come off each session; I don't think that the full sequin comes off the board, but the sequins appear to have layers (the different colors), and they separate. If you put in a half hour with it, you'll see three or four bits on the carpet that need to be picked up. But so far, there is no loss of functionality. It is still completely obvious where you've struck your shot. The wear, to this point, is entirely cosmetic. Sure, it would be nice if it looked nicer; the fact that it looks really worn even after your first handful of swings is not ideal. But we're still quite a ways from having to shop for the replacement panel. But right now, when it comes time to get the replacement panel, I have every intention of getting one (or two).

The street I live on is the primary route into a nursing home so our street is plowed early and often. People have gotten high-centered on the heavy, wet, salty crap the plows deposit at the end of our driveway many times. I have a really old snow thrower that struggles with that crap if I don't get on it quickly. Shoveling that stuff sucks! Can't wait until I'm at your stage and can go some place warm during the winters.

I was in Augusta in winter of 1984-85... probably one of those times!!

Going to be 60 today but drop back into the 30s and rain starting again tomorrow. Too wet to play golf; when I walked outside this morning I noticed that my front lawn is completely saturated from the rain we have had.

I don’t think I’ve ever really sought a reset, they just kind of happen. I’ve had a few times when I’ve been training for a new job and all of the studying and time at home offices took me away for a bit. With not being able to play when it’s less than 50*, and not enjoying cold weather golf anyway, January and February are pretty much a guarantee of not getting on a real course much. This year I’m in the midst of a swing-change, so I really don’t want these two months off. I never seek the time away from the game, it just naturally happens.

Those completing the task are always entitled to chime in with chortles, snickers, and snarky gloating . Honestly, I'm not sure how @Wedgiecan live himself... kind of like winning a tournament LD contest hitting a wormburner that takes the cart path part of the way back onto the fairway .

This is a very personal question. Not so much that I don't think many will share, but in that everyone has a different idea of how much money they will need in retirement. For me, I'm 44.5 and I have my sights set on retiring at 57, maybe. I retired from the AF in 2015 so I have the military retirement and my VA disability. At 57, I'll get a reduced retirement from my federal job and I'll likely take it. If I can get my TSP and other investments up to the amount I want them to be at by then, it's a foregone conclusion. I want plenty of years to spend with the mrs traveling and seeing the world (and the U.S.). With her being nearly 3 years older than me, I think that's gonna be the plan.

A day late and a dollar short... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I told my 3yo I guessed correctly and asked her what I won. She said I get to have a brownie. Not a bad day.

We are all here for a reason, love of golf. I am glad this site for I am sure almost al of us adds a little more than just golf but a friendship whether any of us meet in person or not. This thread definitly had the anticipation value as I am sure all of us want to go so a putter fitting (me being 1 of those)! that queen B is wonderful from my little putts at PGASS (plastic wrap and all), but you cannot deny what works and base everything on looks. hell of a write up and glad it what seemed like anyway was a fanstastic day from lunch to fitting and beating that storm out.

Dude. I saw you just posted and got so excited and found this. Not cool man. Not cool! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay, so I finally did what I should’ve done a year ago when I started my odyssey to replace my old Titleist hybrids. It has been a long and winding road, but today I ordered two Titleist TS2 hybrids, 19* and 21* with regular flex Kuro Kage Black shafts. Right now my bag is set up exactly the way I want it. Every club with the possible exception of my driver will be in my bag a long time, and even though I’m going to give the Epic Max, G425 Max and the PXG G4 drivers a try, they will have to be really good to displace my G400Max, and I don’t see that happening. The only “experiment” I’ll be doing is the comparison between my Vokey wedges and the set matching 0211 SW & LW with MMT shafts. Once that, and the driver is settled, I’ll be turning in my CHO card until next year....

I just nuked my lunch.....I even did it later than usual.

Definitely intrigued by this, but in the spirit of DIY (and cheapskateness and product unavailability) .. I put a "Flat Ball" (could also use a ball marker, poker chip, etc.) about 2 inches in front of the ball - the goal, of course, to make that the low point of your swing ...

I’m getting hungry.

Can I ruin it for everyone since you told us over the commissioner's Slack chat?

Don't need one but have a forced one every year.

Apparently you haven't had to shovel wet snow and especially after that #$%*&^! snowplow blocked your drive

BERRRRRRRRG!!! No WAY!!!! I cannot BELIEVE you went with that putter!!! No way!!!!! Seriously?!?! Was that even on your LIST?! DUUUUUUUUDE!!!! So awesome! Great story, and great fitting!!! So cool. Thanks for sharing that with me! So cool!!!! Folks on here are going to FREAK!!! Y’all, just wait! CRAAAAAAAAAAZY!

But, you’re typing now.... ”Do IT! Do IT! Do IT!” I need a new Edel brother!!!! Watch this......

Mookie, I accept this haunting. Hopefully you make one more sleep. Post goes up maybe around lunch tomorrow, depends on the caseload

Looks like it's done snowing for a couple of days and temps will be above freezing during the day with some sun. Overall, we got about 20" of fresh dry powder in two storms, the first with high winds. I was out shoveling my driveway again (my neighbor with the snow blower is at work). A snow plow came through our neighborhood and buried our access to the street. Now I have to drive through about 20 feet of snow that is 2+ feet deep to get from my driveway to the plowed street!! Here's a pic of half my driveway; I parked my truck in the middle. Enough room for my wife to get her car out of the garage, and my car in the garage won't leave until the snow does.

You create the narrative well follow

I’ve lived in Florida for 15 years. Prior to that it was CT, Ill, Upstate NY (that’s when I really started playing), IN and WI. I well remember the weather induced pause - I could handle Indiana where it was from Thanksgiving to St Patrick’s day give or take - Upstate NY and WI were inhuman - CT wasn’t too bad - mid November to the beginning of April normally. I think a month off is good sometimes - not keen on much more than that though. It’s been a weird winter for us down here too, way wetter than normal. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

NRA Invitational... word on the street is that it is a real shootout .

Wait a minute. Are you saying that, with a baby on the way, family matters take priority over reviewing a golf club? Why do I even come here.

Baked pork loin Saturday night. So juicy!!