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Posted 23 April 2009 - 07:17 PM
Golfers go through more good putters than Errol Flynn went through good women. The minute that club goes south, they are out at the bargain bin, trying to snag a new one cheap. Just about anything they pick up will work, for a week, then it goes south just like the little birdies of fall. They bounce from flower to flower like the bee. After you go through this round robin of jumping from this to that, it becomes like a good women, when you find one, keep her. Dance with the one you brung to da dance bubba. Never change horses when you are out in front.
I began with the Bulls eye putter. I frankly putted the best with it. Nicklaus won his first big events with it. Later so did Johnny Miller. There are a zillion models of it made over the years. I always felt mine was too short, and too light. It worked on the small greens I was playing, but when I hit Dubs Dread in 67, the greens then were huge and I needed something heavier.
http://www.golf-maui.com/BRANDNAME/Putters...-Oldies_1-5.php
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-his...ny-History.html
Jug showed me the brand new pings that just came out in 67 and said he loved them. I bought 3 of them from Jug. One rode in my staff bag, one I left at home to practice on my carpet. The 3rd one I had leaded taped on the inside so I could handle the slower Bermuda greens of Florida. I still have all 3. I never, get rid, of anything.
Later, I bought an original 8802, but never had any luck with it, but other big names did. It hangs on the wall. Ben could play it, I could not.
http://thesandtrap.c..._famous_putters
I got an original IMG-5 that Ap, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino used to win their big events. I loved that bad boy, and I made some amazing long putts with it. The sweet spot was a very inside, not in the middle, and it was hard to find. Because I did not play every day with it, it was hot or cold. Finally I gave it up because it was too inconsistent. 6 months later I would pull it out, make everything for a few days, and it would go cold on me again. That putter drove me nuts for years.
Then I got an original George low 600, because Jack had moved to it and was having success. It about killed me at the time, 1970 to pay out $700 . In today’s money that would now be $3,500. This sucker was expensive and hard to find. When I began flying full time as a sales manager I could no longer drag a golf bag around so I put 3 clubs in my clothes bag, 1-6 iron and a sand wedge?
No way I am putting that putter in there, and have some bag handler rip it off. In 1973, you could carry anything on a plane, pool cue, Tennis racket, the kitchen sink, it was wide open.
I am living at Atlanta at the time and the airport security is all hired out of the down town ghetto area and all these bozos have 9 iq’s. They don’t want them making decisions. They have a list of rules and are given zero wiggle room. Most were about as smart as an Atlanta Chimp at the zoo.
Bozo: Sir, you cannot carry that club on the plane.
FL: It’s not a club, I can see you are not a golfer, sir, it’s a putter.
Moron: It’s a club and it’s not coming on board.
FL: It is not a club, I have always carried it on board, and can I speak to the supervisor please.
Supervisor fully fledged nitcompoop, it’s a club and it can’t come on.
FL: Now getting pissed, see that guy, he just walked on with a T-2000 tennis racket, made out of aircraft aluminum, I can kill everyone on board with it, and 10,000 fookin Philistines, bash their head clean in, and it will still be in shape as a weapon. If I was Arnold, the Terminator, I could kill everyone in the airport with it.
Nitcompoop, sir, it’s not a club, it’s a racket.
FL, the racket, is the drunk tank they hire you idiots out of? I pull out that putter, the first wack, the head comes off and I am out of the wacking business. This fookin thing is harmless. I could not take out two 90 year olds in a nursing home with this worthless fookin thing as a weapon?
Sir it’s a club.
FL: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Finally Fl realized he could not win this argument with these ignorant people, nor did he have the time to even engage them. When they forced him to check it, he stopped carrying it out on the road. He always had limited success with it anyway, like the img, it also has a sweet spot inside, and it was even harder to find than the bigger img. Jack would find it and make it work, Fl never could. The problem is Jack had so much talent he could make anything work.
But the day would come, when Jack could no longer find that small low sweet spot, so he did something smart, take the ping design that most of the players on tour were now using, and make it almost twice as big, so anyone could find the sweet spot. Actually he was way ahead of his time, at the time, as that is what drivers would do 15 years later. The problem was, the thing was too light, which worked on the super fast greens of Augusta National. It did not work on slow greens well.
So Nicklaus in 86, when he uses his own putter he is selling, which was a copy of the ping, but twice the size, very light, Aluminum, and when he rolled in all those putts, everyone in American had to have one. If it brought fat jack back from the dead, it could do it for them.
Monkey see Monkey do, 350,000 people bought one of these POS. So did I, and 6 months later, everyone including Jack dropped it. You could not sell one then for fifty cents. Some putters make it, some end up in the trash cans of history.
FL just went back to his ping, put it in the bag and thought oh well, if they rip it off, I have 2 more of them, and there is plenty more for sale. The Low went on the wall and is still there.
Fl did not know at the time, that this putter would go crazy and explode in value. Many of his permission head clubs valuable at the time, went down in value. So his low putter, became like his original balabuska cue he bought around the same time. Now both are so valuable, he no longer keeps either on in his home or office, they are now in a bank vault. One day soon, both will show up on EBay when FL buys the farm.
An Ad: I have a great condition George Low Bristol Wizard 600 Putter for sale. This putter was made by the Hansberger Brothers in 1960. It is all original, and I have a letter of authenticity from the original maker Gary Hansberger. Please message me if you would like a copy of the letter or more pictures. I am asking $6500, and I am willing to negotiate.
If you are unfamiliar with this putter, here is a little background:
Jack Nicklaus used this putter to win 15/18 majors and 78/100 titles. This putter was designed by George Low a Scottish professional golfer who came to America to teach golf. This putter was also used by Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bing Crosby.
This is what National Golf News had to say about the Hansberger Brothers and this putter:
"During this time the brothers contracted with George Low to manufacture the fine-line Wizard putters under both the Sportsman and Bristol brands. The George Low autograph Wizard 600 is considered the most valuable collector golf club, carrying a $25,000-plus price tag. Jack Nicklaus used this putter during the most productive 20-year period of his career."
Golf Club Values - Collectibles, Wooden Shaft Golf Clubs, Golf ...
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While some old wooden shafted golf clubs can be worth over $5000, The George Low Wizard 600 putter used by Jack Nicklaus is probably worth close to $20000! ...
FL always had the most success with the original ping. He felt it was the greatest putter ever made. Guys like Watson and Seve agreed and won with it.
http://www.golfputte.../pingputter.htm
FL recently had to stop using his original ping after 42 years because his back is now collapsing and falling apart. He had to move to a longer shaft putter that allows him to stand upright. FL says, he could not hit bull in the ass with this turkey, but he’s stuck with it.
click the pic to see fl at the Atlanta airport.
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