Headed to a putter fitting tomorrow!

[GolfSpy BOS]

Well, its FINALLY that time of year in MA. A sun is feeling warmer, crap is already starting to grow out of the leaves from last fall in my flower beds, and my golf league draft is happening on Sunday.

 

A few years ago I was ready to upgrade my clubs and went down to Spargo Golf in Cranston, RI to be fit. I already had a G30 driver and FW, and a Scotty Cameron Newport Select Putter that I liked, but was there for an iron fitting. I really enjoyed the experience and have seen clearly that the fitting has helped me play better golf. As I’ve been reading more and more about putter fittings and stability shafts and alignment aids and Rory switching to a mallet, then a blade, then a mallet, then... well you get the point. I said I wonder how many strokes I’m leaving out there? I FEEL like I am a good putter, but am I as consistent as I could be with the proper fit? Who knows!

 

TLDR; I’m going down tomorrow AM for a 90 min putter fitting and am really looking forward to seeing how consistent my stroke is now with my putter and what, if any, other options I should look into.

 

I figure there has to be others out there on this forum with the same questions as me, so I’ll report back with any of the data I get from the experience and things that I learn.

 

Currently I would say I miss equally to the left and right, and feel that my aim and stroke is pretty consistent. I typically have fewer 3 putts than 1 putts, and feel like a 2-putt machine. I think the strength of my game is in lagging putts down near the hole, but perhaps that is just masking inconsistent aim or path. I certainly feel more dialed in on some days more than others.

 

Will the Scotty stay?! Or will there be something new in my bag this season???

 

 

 

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[Peterpc2828]

I just did a putter fitting yesterday at Club Champions and I got a lot out of it, basically my love for blade style putters was verified as the best option with the addition of some square backs, some adjustments to my loft and lie need to be made as well to a slightly longer putter to help align my eyes more over the ball, ironically enough I was fit for the overall winner of the recent most wanted blade putter the TMAG Juno copper, got to say in a standard demo configuration it was a great putter, I did decide to order one along with what the SAM system recommended, can’t Waite!


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[GolfSpy BOS]

Nice! I know that I should at least have my lie angle adjusted as in a normal stance the toe is a bit up.

That’s great that you got fit to the TM. Can’t say I would have thought that first myself either, but I guess that’s further proof that the most wanted lists and testing methods are legit!




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[PMookie]

Fun stuff!!! Good luck, and enjoy!


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[downlowkey]

2 hours ago, Peterpc2828 said:

I just did a putter fitting yesterday at Club Champions and I got a lot out of it, basically my love for blade style putters was verified as the best option with the addition of some square backs, some adjustments to my loft and lie need to be made as well to a slightly longer putter to help align my eyes more over the ball, ironically enough I was fit for the overall winner of the recent most wanted blade putter the TMAG Juno copper, got to say in a standard demo configuration it was a great putter, I did decide to order one along with what the SAM system recommended, can’t Waite!

Nice! I just booked a Saturday SAM Puttlab session at my local Club Champion. Figured they were the best bet to help get my build specs dialed in correctly for the Bettinardi SS38 Armlock (apparently CC is already stocking it for fitting) testing and it also never hurts to get an updated state of the stroke report.

Apologies for the temporary thread jack @B.Boston, looking forward to your fitting report. Are you headed back to Spargo? Do they utilize a Puttlab system?

[GolfSpy BOS]

Nice! I just booked a Saturday SAM Puttlab session at my local Club Champion. Figured they were the best bet to help get my build specs dialed in correctly for the Bettinardi SS38 Armlock (apparently CC is already stocking it for fitting) testing and it also never hurts to get an updated state of the stroke report.
Apologies for the temporary thread jack [mention=85402]B.Boston[/mention], looking forward to your fitting report. Are you headed back to Spargo? Do they utilize a Puttlab system?

Yup! Back to Spargo, they use TOMI according to the website.


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[GolfSpy BOS]

Well I had a great time at the fitting, and at the end of the day the Scotty will stay! (With some modifications)

After I first warmed up we got hooked up to the TOMI machine and Steve had me roll some putts with my current set up. The good news was my face at impact was dead nuts square. 0 degrees average, with one putt being open .4 degrees and one be closed .4 degrees. My path however, was significantly in to out, and my backstroke to forward stroke was quite loopy. (I forgot to save pictures of the output, but will add them later if I can).

After we finished with the baseline, he reviewed those results and what they mean and went over what the next step would be. He was going to hand me putters, not tell me how they were different in some cases, and have me putt again. Some would be what he thought would work well, others what wouldn’t work well so we could validate the results. We changed length, lie, weight, counter weight, head style, toe flow, offset, everything you can think of really. As we went on we would noticed some patterns and started to hone in on good results for me.

At the end we determined a few things and Steve presented a few options for me:

1. I putt best with medium toe flow and a full offset. This lends itself to the ANSER style Scotty Newport I have, as well as a few other PING models that ended up being options in the end. I also liked on PING mallet model, the TYNE I believe, but left the face on that open with both the double bend and slant neck.

2. My gamer was too long. I was on the right track though! I had purchased my Scotty at 33 inches, which was the shortest I could find and felt good. Just dropping down to 32.5 got my path in a significantly better place, without altering my face at impact.

3. My gamer was too upright (which I was expecting as all my irons were flattened). We settled in on going 3-4 degrees flat to 67 degrees. This made a huge impact in set up for me. It felt much more natural. We also decided 3 degrees of loft worked best for my stroke pattern and normal greens I play.

4. I prefer firm pistol style grips. The super stroke style it too soft for me, and I prefer to get a lot of feedback. I also like having my top hand full, but don’t need a large bottom grip. I have a pistolero on my scotty, but also liked both the GolfPride Contour and Contour Pro in 104cc. I’d consider getting one of those when I need to replace the pistolero.

5. I prefer a deep milled face. (With some exceptions). I HATED the sound/feel of the new Scotty Newport 2 with the insert. It sounded very clicky and that surprised me. Most inserts felt a little mushy, and I lost a little sense of distance control. One insert that I did like, and would consider playing is the PING Sigma 2 line. This had a great feel. Maybe it was a combo of the insert and face tech they use.

6. This one was by far the most eye opening. We put a 90 gram counter balance weight on.... WOW. My stroke became MUCH more consistent and smoother. It felt like an entirely different game. My back and through strokes started matching with little to no looping. It felt great. I was sold!

After this was finished, I was presented with a few options. Since all of the putters I liked in the fitting were close in style and head-weight to my Newport we could get one of those, or modify my Newport to those new specs. Since I liked the feel of my Newport the most we went with that. He was able to save my grip, which was great since they were out of stock on Pistoleros (They will only ship 2 at a time to the shop apparently). He adjusted the lie, cut a half inch off, and installed the 90 gram counter weight. After that we lined back up for some putts so he could check the lie and make sure we had it nailed.

The following is no exaggeration. I took 5 of the smoothest feeling effortless putts of my life. All hit center cup, and I was grinning from ear to ear!

So, if you read all this and you’re still on the fence about the benefit of getting yourself fit for your putter, GO RIGHT NOW AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. It will be worth your time just for the confidence you’ll gain while staring down that 6 footer to win your match.

Also can’t recommend the guys at Spargo enough. Steve was great to work with and talk to. He’ll explains everything each step of the way and they don’t roll the cost of fittings into club purchases, so there is no pressure to purchase there.

That’s all guys! GO GET FIT!




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[yungkory]

45 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

Well I had a great time at the fitting, and at the end of the day the Scotty will stay! (With some modifications)

After I first warmed up we got hooked up to the TOMI machine and Steve had me roll some putts with my current set up. The good news was my face at impact was dead nuts square. 0 degrees average, with one putt being open .4 degrees and one be closed .4 degrees. My path however, was significantly in to out, and my backstroke to forward stroke was quite loopy. (I forgot to save pictures of the output, but will add them later if I can).

After we finished with the baseline, he reviewed those results and what they mean and went over what the next step would be. He was going to hand me putters, not tell me how they were different in some cases, and have me putt again. Some would be what he thought would work well, others what wouldn’t work well so we could validate the results. We changed length, lie, weight, counter weight, head style, toe flow, offset, everything you can think of really. As we went on we would noticed some patterns and started to hone in on good results for me.

At the end we determined a few things and Steve presented a few options for me:

1. I putt best with medium toe flow and a full offset. This lends itself to the ANSER style Scotty Newport I have, as well as a few other PING models that ended up being options in the end. I also liked on PING mallet model, the TYNE I believe, but left the face on that open with both the double bend and slant neck.

2. My gamer was too long. I was on the right track though! I had purchased my Scotty at 33 inches, which was the shortest I could find and felt good. Just dropping down to 32.5 got my path in a significantly better place, without altering my face at impact.

3. My gamer was too upright (which I was expecting as all my irons were flattened). We settled in on going 3-4 degrees flat to 67 degrees. This made a huge impact in set up for me. It felt much more natural. We also decided 3 degrees of loft worked best for my stroke pattern and normal greens I play.

4. I prefer firm pistol style grips. The super stroke style it too soft for me, and I prefer to get a lot of feedback. I also like having my top hand full, but don’t need a large bottom grip. I have a pistolero on my scotty, but also liked both the GolfPride Contour and Contour Pro in 104cc. I’d consider getting one of those when I need to replace the pistolero.

5. I prefer a deep milled face. (With some exceptions). I HATED the sound/feel of the new Scotty Newport 2 with the insert. It sounded very clicky and that surprised me. Most inserts felt a little mushy, and I lost a little sense of distance control. One insert that I did like, and would consider playing is the PING Sigma 2 line. This had a great feel. Maybe it was a combo of the insert and face tech they use.

6. This one was by far the most eye opening. We put a 90 gram counter balance weight on.... WOW. My stroke became MUCH more consistent and smoother. It felt like an entirely different game. My back and through strokes started matching with little to no looping. It felt great. I was sold!

After this was finished, I was presented with a few options. Since all of the putters I liked in the fitting were close in style and head-weight to my Newport we could get one of those, or modify my Newport to those new specs. Since I liked the feel of my Newport the most we went with that. He was able to save my grip, which was great since they were out of stock on Pistoleros (They will only ship 2 at a time to the shop apparently). He adjusted the lie, cut a half inch off, and installed the 90 gram counter weight. After that we lined back up for some putts so he could check the lie and make sure we had it nailed.

The following is no exaggeration. I took 5 of the smoothest feeling effortless putts of my life. All hit center cup, and I was grinning from ear to ear!

So, if you read all this and you’re still on the fence about the benefit of getting yourself fit for your putter, GO RIGHT NOW AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. It will be worth your time just for the confidence you’ll gain while staring down that 6 footer to win your match.

Also can’t recommend the guys at Spargo enough. Steve was great to work with and talk to. He’ll explains everything each step of the way and they don’t roll the cost of fittings into club purchases, so there is no pressure to purchase there.

That’s all guys! GO GET FIT!




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4. Go apply for the GP forum test if you haven't maybe you can test out the Contour Pro for us and let us know how you get along with it

Do you happen to know the swingweight of your putter now? Just curious!

[GolfSpy BOS]

4. Go apply for the GP forum test if you haven't maybe you can test out the Contour Pro for us and let us know how you get along with it
Do you happen to know the swingweight of your putter now? Just curious!

I’ll check that out! It felt real nice on the ping they had it on.

I actually have no clue what the swingweight is now. I’m not sure it would be relevant anyway to be honest. Now I feel the weight between my hands, its smooth and stable. But I can still feel the club head in the stroke too. With the total weight being so drastically different you probably would just be able to compare its swingweight to another putter with a large counter balance weight in it. Going between my old set up and new with the weight feels like the old ‘apples to oranges’ comparison.

If you haven’t tried a putter with the counter weight in it give it a try you might love it! Or maybe you’ll hate it and call me crazy. Haha


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[GolfSpy Barbajo]

On 3/22/2019 at 11:37 PM, B.Boston said:

 

I’ll check that out! It felt real nice on the ping they had it on.

I actually have no clue what the swingweight is now. I’m not sure it would be relevant anyway to be honest. Now I feel the weight between my hands, its smooth and stable. But I can still feel the club head in the stroke too. With the total weight being so drastically different you probably would just be able to compare its swingweight to another putter with a large counter balance weight in it. Going between my old set up and new with the weight feels like the old ‘apples to oranges’ comparison.

If you haven’t tried a putter with the counter weight in it give it a try you might love it! Or maybe you’ll hate it and call me crazy. Haha


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Steve Colletta is one of the best around - he's a really good guy and, as you can attest, really knows his stuff. Glad the fitting worked well for you, and I'm impressed with Spargo for not trying to sell you something new just because. Sure sounds like they did right by you.

[GolfSpy BOS]

Steve Colletta is one of the best around - he's a really good guy and, as you can attest, really knows his stuff. Glad the fitting worked well for you, and I'm impressed with Spargo for not trying to sell you something new just because. Sure sounds like they did right by you.

I’ve paid for an iron fitting there before where we ended up hitting everything except the putter. He made recommendations for it all and worked with my existing driver (switched to the ping tour 65 shaft) and he advised me to sell my 3 wood and buy the 5 wood with tour shaft as well. He even gave me a print out of what my specs should be if I purchased elsewhere. I ended up having my irons built by them because I was interested in having them MOI matched, but there was definitely no pressure to buy from them if I didn’t want to. I even left before calling them back a few days later as I was still deciding between the titleist and mizuno heads.


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[ole gray]

On 3/22/2019 at 10:06 PM, B.Boston said:

Well I had a great time at the fitting, and at the end of the day the Scotty will stay! (With some modifications)

After I first warmed up we got hooked up to the TOMI machine and Steve had me roll some putts with my current set up. The good news was my face at impact was dead nuts square. 0 degrees average, with one putt being open .4 degrees and one be closed .4 degrees. My path however, was significantly in to out, and my backstroke to forward stroke was quite loopy. (I forgot to save pictures of the output, but will add them later if I can).

After we finished with the baseline, he reviewed those results and what they mean and went over what the next step would be. He was going to hand me putters, not tell me how they were different in some cases, and have me putt again. Some would be what he thought would work well, others what wouldn’t work well so we could validate the results. We changed length, lie, weight, counter weight, head style, toe flow, offset, everything you can think of really. As we went on we would noticed some patterns and started to hone in on good results for me.

At the end we determined a few things and Steve presented a few options for me:

1. I putt best with medium toe flow and a full offset. This lends itself to the ANSER style Scotty Newport I have, as well as a few other PING models that ended up being options in the end. I also liked on PING mallet model, the TYNE I believe, but left the face on that open with both the double bend and slant neck.

2. My gamer was too long. I was on the right track though! I had purchased my Scotty at 33 inches, which was the shortest I could find and felt good. Just dropping down to 32.5 got my path in a significantly better place, without altering my face at impact.

3. My gamer was too upright (which I was expecting as all my irons were flattened). We settled in on going 3-4 degrees flat to 67 degrees. This made a huge impact in set up for me. It felt much more natural. We also decided 3 degrees of loft worked best for my stroke pattern and normal greens I play.

4. I prefer firm pistol style grips. The super stroke style it too soft for me, and I prefer to get a lot of feedback. I also like having my top hand full, but don’t need a large bottom grip. I have a pistolero on my scotty, but also liked both the GolfPride Contour and Contour Pro in 104cc. I’d consider getting one of those when I need to replace the pistolero.

5. I prefer a deep milled face. (With some exceptions). I HATED the sound/feel of the new Scotty Newport 2 with the insert. It sounded very clicky and that surprised me. Most inserts felt a little mushy, and I lost a little sense of distance control. One insert that I did like, and would consider playing is the PING Sigma 2 line. This had a great feel. Maybe it was a combo of the insert and face tech they use.

6. This one was by far the most eye opening. We put a 90 gram counter balance weight on.... WOW. My stroke became MUCH more consistent and smoother. It felt like an entirely different game. My back and through strokes started matching with little to no looping. It felt great. I was sold!

After this was finished, I was presented with a few options. Since all of the putters I liked in the fitting were close in style and head-weight to my Newport we could get one of those, or modify my Newport to those new specs. Since I liked the feel of my Newport the most we went with that. He was able to save my grip, which was great since they were out of stock on Pistoleros (They will only ship 2 at a time to the shop apparently). He adjusted the lie, cut a half inch off, and installed the 90 gram counter weight. After that we lined back up for some putts so he could check the lie and make sure we had it nailed.

The following is no exaggeration. I took 5 of the smoothest feeling effortless putts of my life. All hit center cup, and I was grinning from ear to ear!

So, if you read all this and you’re still on the fence about the benefit of getting yourself fit for your putter, GO RIGHT NOW AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. It will be worth your time just for the confidence you’ll gain while staring down that 6 footer to win your match.

Also can’t recommend the guys at Spargo enough. Steve was great to work with and talk to. He’ll explains everything each step of the way and they don’t roll the cost of fittings into club purchases, so there is no pressure to purchase there.

That’s all guys! GO GET FIT!




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I like the fact that they can take your current putter and alter the specs to fit your stroke and style.   Pretty cool stuff!

[GolfSpy BOS]

Played my first round of the season today. A quick 9-hole round at Bungay Brook in Bellingham. It’s a nice WIDE open course to open the year with.

The putter felt great, and I recorded 3 one putts and 6 two putts for 15 total putts. I was quite happy! Ended up even par 36 with one bogey and one birdie.

Distance control felt awesome, and the 3 to 4 footers were nice and smooth with the added stability I felt in my hands.

If this round was anything like what the rest of the year will be, I can’t recommend going for a putter fitting enough!



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[GolfSpy BOS]

The putter has been behaving very well over the past few weeks.  I won't get into details now because for league play the greens were aerated and have not been in the best shape with all the rain we've been having here.  A lot of the time we've just been hoping for a straight roll and almost needing to lag putt down to the 5-6 foot range.  Unfortunate but everyone has been dealing with it so still fair game.

I can still feel the difference over those short putts, they feel much more automatic! 

Future updates to come...

 

 

 

 

[GolfSpy BOS]

A quick update...

The green's are getting smoother and my putter has become deadly. 

The last two rounds I have played resulted in:

1. 18 Holes at Maplegate Country Club which resulted in a good 1.7 putts per hole.  It was my first time out on that course this year and the green were rolling true, and I was very close to the hole most of the time.

2. 9 Holes of league play at Shining Rock Golf Club.  A personal best putting day for me... ever!  In the 9 holes I had 12 putts.  That's 1.33 PPG!! I had six one putts and three two putts.  I also dropped 3 putts in the 6-10ft range, none of which were straight.  The confidence I felt lining up my putts was great, and even my competitors were commenting on how well I was rolling it.  

The fitting certainly feels like it is paying off in spades, as It helped me save some pars and limit myself to a bogey vs double on a few holes.  I'm going to try to get some way to share data with you guys, but not sure on the best approach at the moment.  

 

[Peterpc2828]

I just did a putter fitting yesterday at Club Champions and I got a lot out of it, basically my love for blade style putters was verified as the best option with the addition of some square backs, some adjustments to my loft and lie need to be made as well to a slightly longer putter to help align my eyes more over the ball, ironically enough I was fit for the overall winner of the recent most wanted blade putter the TMAG Juno copper, got to say in a standard demo configuration it was a great putter, I did decide to order one along with what the SAM system recommended, can’t Waite!


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Update on my new putter from the Club Champions fitting, I have not been playing too much due to work travel and a 2 year old but I played last week and had the best putting round ever- 30 puts, some luck but also a ton of confidence with the TMAG Juno.


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[GolfSpy BOS]

Been a hot minute since I’ve updated here. I had an opportunity to get my hands on an Evnroll ER2B and had it adjusted to the same specs as my Newport. Although I currently do not have as much weight in the grip, but honestly It feels good and I noticed it sits closer to me and seemingly give me less arc in my path where the added weight was to help reduce my in to out path with the Newport.

I’ve been putting around this winter/spring and will give the Evnroll a go to start the year.



Did some practice today in advance of my first round of the season on Saturday!

[yungkory]

Nice pickup!!! Does all carpet break to the left? I just got my Puttout mat because my carpet was making my putts fall to the left. Problem solved now!

[GolfSpy BOS]

Nice pickup!!! Does all carpet break to the left? I just got my Puttout mat because my carpet was making my putts fall to the left. Problem solved now!

Seriously right! Haha there are a few spots it rolls straight in that room. But nothing really over 4 feet or so.

That carpet is pretty old though, so even after a vacuum it’s stays relatively fast and doesn’t get a lot of grooves. Perfect for these Work From Home days.


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[GolfSpy BOS]

Had a good round putting on Saturday. 2 one putts and 7 two putts.  The greens were verryyyyy slow as a result of not being normal speed yet and a lot of rain the night before.  Even my bump and run chips were basically 2 hops and stop.  But no three putts and Arccos gave me a +5 handicap for the day.

The Evnroll felt really good and the feedback from the AlignXL ball was great.  I just couldn't get myself to hit it hard enough to get all the way to the hole.  But I'd rather have that problem now than blowing them by 6 or 7 feet by in a few weeks.

[Sox Fan]

I was lucky enough to win a Club Champion putter fitting a few days ago so will be doing that sometime this summer.  Really excited about it.  Have never been through one and am tired of blindly throwing money at putters (currently own 12 in all different shapes and sizes) hoping to land the perfect flatstick, which I have definitely yet to do.

[GolfSpy BOS]

21 minutes ago, Sox Fan said:

I was lucky enough to win a Club Champion putter fitting a few days ago so will be doing that sometime this summer.  Really excited about it.  Have never been through one and am tired of blindly throwing money at putters (currently own 12 in all different shapes and sizes) hoping to land the perfect flatstick, which I have definitely yet to do.

Nice! That will be great! I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot about your stroke and they will find you the perfect flat stick!

What’s your preferred style now?  and Why do you keep changing?  

[Sox Fan]

1 hour ago, B.Boston said:

Nice! That will be great! I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot about your stroke and they will find you the perfect flat stick!

What’s your preferred style now?  and Why do you keep changing?  

I have about every style you can think of.  Was always a blade player until I started experimenting with a few mallets this year.  Was really liking my first full mallet (Indi Allison) until the sun brightened up and the darn thing became way too reflective.  I have been primarily gaming a Ben Hogan BHB02 (face blalanced blade with single bend shaft) the past few weeks and seeing some pretty good success with it.  I really attribute that to the Two Thumb grip I have on it (which was previously on the mallet) because I was so-so with it before.  Started using the Two Thumb grip, which also rrequired a putting grip change from conventional to prayer style, during the two month quarantine when my course was closed and really got comfortable with it.  My go to putter for the last several years has been a SeeMore mFGP.  So, as you can see, I am all over the board.  Definitely not the right answer, but I have always been quick to bench one and take out another when one went cold.