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FASTLARRY
Simple you say, Bobby Jones,
From the desk of Top 100 Teacher Dr. Gary Wiren: "Nobody — nobody! — bags 13 majors in 20 attempts, wins 9 out of 10 matches in Walker Cup play, and does it all before retiring at the ripe old age of 28 without owning an all-time great putting game." The good doctor is right, despite how little is written about Jones' stroke compared to his full swing. In fact, Jones' putter, "Calamity Jane" has gained more notoriety, but, as Top 100 Teacher Jim Murphy points out, "Augusta's greens weren't built by someone who feared putting. They were designed to separate great putters from merely good ones."

Bobby Lock, How good was Bobby Locke? The South African actually came up with the phrase "you drive for show and putt for dough." He was also so good that his fellow competitors on the PGA Tour successfully had him banned after the 1948 season (the ban was lifted in 1951, but Locke had already returned to his home, and in between had bagged two of his four British Opens). In his first 59 events (following an exhibition season in which he beat Sam Snead 12 times in 14 matches and Sam said my greatest mistake of all time was inviting him to come over.

Then it might be Palmer who from 59 to 63 outputted everyone, Nicklaus, who one-putted six of the final nine greens at the 1986 Masters to roar from eight spots back to claim his record-setting 18th major as an over the hill old man. When all the pros were asked, if you had to choose one person to make a 10' putt, and everything you owned rode on it, who would you choose, and everyone picked Jack. Today they would say Tiger.

Crenshaw who at Augusta National won twice. During his 1995 triumph at Augusta, "Gentle Ben" either 1-putted or 2-putted all 72 greens — not a single 3-putt and many past champions have all 3 and 4 putted from 3' away including Player and Floyd. Stockton who is the top putting coach today, Faxon in 2000, when Faxon averaged 1.704 putts per greens in regulation, the best putting season ever recorded, or LOREN ROBERTS called the boss of the moss has a career Putts Per Round average of 28.3 and any round under a 30 is considered outstanding.

Tiger who made every putt on tour last year from 3' and in without a miss? He is the greatest putter of modern time.

Who was the greatest golf putter of all time? Who knows but all the golf experts even today, has him in their top 10 list and many say we was the best of them all.

Who can answer this one? I say, he is none of the above.....................


Greatness comes in many forms. On the putting green, it's the ability to make putts in clutch situations, and do it on a regular basis. It's about owning a stroke that works, not necessarily one that looks pretty or is fundamentally perfect (although many great putters are both smooth and sound). It's about wielding that blunt instrument as a weapon, not as something you use to mop up any mess you've made with your woods and irons.

Greatness can be found in many, but only a select few can claim to be one of the Greatest Putters of all Time.

His Father was not born in America, and made over 25,000 clubs by hand, the son never played in the Masters but did play on tour for several years. He was a golf hustler, made his money making bets on the putting clock. He once took a guy in Havana for $35,000 putting with only his foot. He could out putt most pros using a putter, with only his foot. He was the worlds 2nd biggest mooch, the biggest of all time was the Duke of Windson, former King of England.

Playing career: 1930-1945
Born just outside Baltusrol G.C. in New Jersey ("I was born on the 19th hole — the only one I ever parred"), He didn't win a lot of PGA Tour events, but was so good with the flatstick that he a) helped end Byron Nelson's 11-event win streak in 1945, cool.gif gave Arnold Palmer the putting advice he needed to win the 1960 Masters, c) designed one of the most victorious putters of all time ( Sportsman, used most famously by Jack Nicklaus in his prime) and d) won so much money on the practice putting green that he didn't have to worry about his place on the official earnings list.

Back then golfers made money like pool players do today, there was more money in gambling than in purses and tin cups.

Stroke analysis: Low felt that the best way to get a true roll was to swing the putter from inside-out. To do this, he set the ball on the heel of his putter at address and placed his weight on his left heel, forcing his stroke to pivot around his left leg, thumb and shoulder.

He began to coach the new amateur champion Arnold Palmer on how to putt and in 1959 AP began to win all the big ones, with his methods, and His IMG-5 XXX putter. He then designed his own putter and Jack Nicklaus won 15 of his 18 majors with it.

Everyone in that era agreed, he was the greatest putter of all time.

He said: that he considers himself golf's greatest putter, and he most likely is. He is not keen on giving out details about his system—not for free, at least—but he will offer some advice. "Everybody has a different putting problem," he says, yet there are certain basics.

"In putting, the best thing you can have is a quick left wrist. That makes you take the club head back on the inside. Most of your weight ought to be on the left foot for good balance. Another important thing is to keep both thumbs squarely on the grip for the right feel.

"The feel of the club may be the most important thing of all. When you reach in your pocket for a coin, the last thing that touches the coin is your thumb. You use it to roll out the coin. It's the most sensitive finger. That's why you grip the putter with both thumbs on top of the handle.

"After you get the feel of the club, the thing to do is be sure you get a good, solid rap on the ball when you putt it. And there's only one way to be sure of doing that. Take the club back on the inside—like opening a door—and then forward. When you open a door, you take it back slow. When you close the door, that is the way the putter should meet the ball.

"The worst way for the beginner to putt is to jab at the ball. You'll see some of the pros jab it because they get on so many bad greens. Then there are a couple of them that jab on any green. Billy Casper is a jabber and so is Bob Rosburg, and they are pretty good putters. But there are exceptions to everything. Besides, they jab the same way every time, which is the real key to putting, anyhow. Consistency. That's why I'm gonna beat everybody. I'm gonna hit it the same way every time, and they're not. And if we putt long enough for the luck to scare off, I got to be the winner."

FL comments, Gary Player was a jabber for a while, but today, most modern players roll the ball and Jabbing has been considered out for a long time because it tends to skid the ball if not done perfectly and then guaging the roll distance becomes difficult. Even in pool, we had players who poked, jabbed, and did not stroke, and the most famous and successful was Andrew Ponzi.

Back in the 20's and 30's Walter Hagen and other pros were not welcome in the locker rooms or dining rooms, they were considered low life trash, like pool players are today. Upper class amateurs like Bobby Jones played for honor, tin cups and never for money. Most of these guys were rough and came up from caddie shacks, they smoked, drank, got drunk, chased broads and played cards and gambled all night long. They were not gentlemen. This was true until after WWII and after Palmer won in 59, a new era came in. Pros finally got respect and were accepted. But prior to the war, guys like Hogan and Nelson were starving playing for peanut purses and George was living a lavish lifestyle gambling. We was one of the last, of an era, or a class of golfers, that no longer exists. Trevino might have been the last caddie shack pro to make good and to become famous. Today they are all cookie cutter all the same college brats from country clubs.

Here is the SI 1964 article about George, who today, is basically unkown by the younger golfing set.

A High Kind Of Low Life
The ebullient man at left setting all those celebrities at ease is George, an ever-present but still mysterious figure on the pro golf tour who has conquered two of life's sterner challenges—how to survive lavishly without working and how to putt
Dan Jenkins

In professional tournament golf the clubhouse veranda can be a noteworthy blend of rumble seat, wax museum, promenade deck, theater wings and courthouse steps. As the tour moves from one Crystal Rancho Happy Avocado Creek Country Club to another, the verandas undergo some severe botanical changes—for example, palm trees become pines and vice versa—but the human plant life remains practically changeless. Except for the occasional intrusion of a spectator, fully equipped with binoculars, periscope, chair seat, transistor and hot dog, and the almost invariable presence of at least one young girl in Capri pants beneath a large straw bonnet, the regular veranda standers comprise a remarkably homogeneous and identifiable part of golf. They are the in-group, style-casual, up-scale, hanging-in, cooling-it businessmen of the game. And as they spread across the lawn, gazing toward the nearest leader board while a tournament progresses, they are not unlike a cluster of military commanders watching the glow of shellfire from a distant valley.

To almost anyone who knows the difference between a Black Dot and a Titleist, the faces of these fringe personalities look as familiar as casual water, but only the true insider will be able to identify them by name, to know that the stocky, pink-faced man in the dark suit with his hands folded behind him, the one telling Sam Snead stories, is Fred Corcoran, Snead's lifelong agent; to know that the tall, blond fellow talking to Winnie Palmer is Mark McCormack, the Cleveland lawyer and agent for golf's Big Three; to know J. Edwin Carter of the World Series of Golf; Bob Rickey, the Brunswick-MacGregor vice-president; Ernie Sabayrac, the golf equipment distributor; Bob Drum, the freelance promoter; Jim Gaquin, the PGA tournament manager. And it takes an insider, too, to know the name that goes with the most familiar face of them all, the one belonging to a man called Bubble Head, a man who is always there and is never doing anything.

On or off the verandas, the man with the nickname that annoys him is George—stand-around champion of two decades, America's guest, comedian, consultant, inventor of the overlapping grip for a beer can and, of foremost importance, a man who has conquered the two hardest things in life—how to putt (better than anyone else ever) and how to live luxuriously without an income.

For nearly 20 years George has been the vaguest, most mysterious figure in all of golf. Usually decorated in a plaid jacket, his tall (6 feet 2), heavy (240 pounds) figure and his solemn, deeply tanned, immobile countenance have been seen around tournaments for so long that in those rare instances when he is not present sponsors have a tendency to get unsettled. When the Western Open was held at the Field Club in Pittsburgh in 1959, George did not reveal himself until the final round. A friend on the committee scolded him about being tardy and giving the event a bad name. George said, "Well, you got to understand that a man who don't have to be back to his office for 30 years is sometimes gonna be lax."

The only office that George has ever really had is the trunk of someone's automobile, which, if he borrows it for long, begins to look like a rummage sale of golf clubs, clothes and photo albums. For most of his 52 years George's home has been a convertible couch in a friend's living room, a rollaway bed in a friend's hotel room or, when he's "going good," the vacant wing of a friend's mansion. But always these places have been where the sunshine is. If that does not always turn out to be the PGA tour, it quite often will be Palm Springs, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz. or Miami Springs, Fla.

"Wherever," says George, "some rich guy's got a bed and a kind heart. Everybody ain't an if-come," that being a George expression, borrowed from the language of the dice tables, to describe someone who rates somewhere between phony and stingy. "I got to be where it's warm." says George, "because I can't afford no overcoat."

If a person is "straight," which is to George a man who manages to hold down a steady, respectable job, it may seem that georges existence is mostly a matter of survival. But he has never thought of it quite that way. On the contrary, George has always lived comfortably, and often far better than almost any "straight" who rides a commuter train or even purchases clubhouse badges for everyone in his factory.

The main reason why George has been able to survive in reasonable splendor is that he has one of those personalities that appeal to gentlemen of means. He has a sense of humor that makes him one of the great put-down artists of his age, an unobtrusive manner for being "around" and not bothering anyone and a crashing basic honesty, all of which can add up to good company. Aside from these things, George knows as much about golf as anyone, and a lot of gentlemen of means like to play golf, apparently while being put down unobtrusively, honestly and without being unduly bothered.

Among the celebrities who have demonstrated that they enjoy George's company, and have therefore been his happy hosts, are, just to touch on four different sports, Jimmy Demaret, Willie Shoemaker ("the best little man who ever played the game"), Horace Stoneham, the owner of the San Francisco Giants, and Del Miller, one of the biggest men in harness racing. George has Novembered with Stoneham near Phoenix, he has Christmased with Demaret in Houston and he has week dayed with Shoemaker, Miller and many other people while wandering off from his "steady job" on the golf tour. Paul Grossinger, of the resort of that name in the Catskills, is the man who nicknamed George " America's guest," and then, of course, provided a "freebie," or free room. Bob Johnson, when he was president of Roosevelt Raceway outside New York City, said it perfectly for all of George's hosts one evening when Low kept asking Johnson for another $100 to buy drinks for everyone at a Palm Springs party. "Just associating with George," said Johnson, "is better than having a Dun & Bradstreet rating."

One freebie was especially pleasant for George just last winter. Says George: "Me and Rosburg [Bob] was in at Julie London's in Palm Springs for november." And he adds, "You can't beat that price. Bobby Troup, her husband, is a friend of Rosburg and let him in, and I let myself in."

All of this helps make absolutely clear George's uncomplicated philosophy of life, or rather his blueprint for leading a life of ease. "There ain't no point loafing with a broke, because nothing falls off," he says. "The only time I pick up a check is to hand it to somebody." This, for George, sharply divides the world into two distinct categories of people—those who "come up," or pay, and those who "plead the Fifth" when the tab appears.

Since everyone who knows George knows him well enough to keep his pocketbook either handy or hidden, there are never any surprises or embarrassing situations. If George comes along, you prepare to pay or you prepare to leave. "It's an honor to pick up my check," says George. "How many true celebrities do you know? Anyhow, if you plead the Fifth, I'll go find a live one."

If a man has a reputation for being anything less than a wild spender, George will playfully put him down publicly as a "careful student of the dollar," which, for one example, is the way he likes to describe Sam Snead. "When I dine with Mr. Snead he always suggests that I order as if I was expecting to pay for it myself," says George. "There are many great destroyers of money, but Mr. Snead is not one of them."

Standing on a veranda with Low at a tournament is stimulating. If one of the players on the tour strolls by, say Al Besselink, and needles him with something like. "Loan me 50, Bubble," the guttural Low reply will be, "That's like sending lettuce by rabbit." If another player comes along, say Billy Maxwell, and says. "I wish I had your energy," George may say, "I wish I had a rock in each hand so's I could throw 'em at you."

Not all of George's remarks are directed at the players. If the tournament chairman happens along and wonders about the size of the gallery, George will cheer him up by remarking, "I seen more people on the back of a motorcycle." Once when Bing Crosby told Low that he could get him a room at the Del Monte Lodge during the Crosby tournament at a good rate, George said, "Thanks a lot. Can I loan you a dime to mark your golf ball?" Watching the scorecard in front of the Desert Inn at Las Vegas two years ago, George noticed that Arnold Palmer had just shot a 9, a 7 and a 5 on successive holes. He turned quietly to Wilbur Clark, part owner of the Desert Inn, and said, "That's 21, pay him." Outside the Augusta National clubhouse last April during the Masters, George called over to UPI Columnist Oscar Fraley, with whom he enjoys arguing, and aid, "I hear you didn't start no fight last night. Where'd you stay, in a room full of nuns?" And once when someone asked George how he enjoyed sharing a hotel room with a newspaperman in Philadelphia, Low quipped, "It's O.K. if you don't mind taking a shower with your money in your hand."

George may not have been born funny, but he insists that he was born "energetically lazy." That event occurred on July 5, 1912, not 300 yards from the pro shop at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. ("I like to say I was born in the 19th hole—the only one I ever parred," says George.) He was the son of a famous Scot, George Sr., who had been runner-up for the U.S. Open Championship in 1899 and became the resident professional at Baltusrol. As one of those Scots who came to America to teach the game to an intrigued continent, George Sr. had among his pupils a couple of White House sheers named William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding. "There were poor guys all around Baltusrol," says George. "The Toppings and them kind of charity cases. That's where my career got its start. Jimmy Demaret says that I was born retired."

Despite the fact that George was raised beside a first tee, he did not try to learn the game until he was 15. "And that was after the old man retired and took me back to Scotland. What else you gonna do in Scotland besides play golf? Wear a skirt?" and drink single malt.

George tried to fight it, but there were two things he came by as naturally as his wit, and they were a natural golf swing and an inborn feeling for the game. These things combined (conspired, probably) to bring George back to the U.S. in the early '30s for a series of jobs as an assistant pro and, finally, onto the burgeoning PGA tournament circuit.

"I'd try to win them tournaments," says George, "but it was too much fun in the old days. Card games all through the night during a tournament. Pitch and bridge, that kind of thing. A lot of characters like Demaret, Jimmy Thomson, Leo Diegel, Craig Wood and that Indian." Which was Ky Laffoon. "Only man ever to beat me outa something on the putting green," George says. It was during the old North and South Open at Pinehurst around 1940. Low and Laffoon forgot the tournament proper, something George did regularly, and got into a putting game. "We went at it all day and into the night." George remembers. "I should have known I was in trouble when we run outa daylight. Laffoon was a Indian and he could see in the dark. I didn't get put in that box no more."

George also made a feeble attempt to win the British Open in 1939, hoping to redeem himself for the last time he had played on his father's native soil (when he lost 8-7 to a cross-handed player in a British boys' championship in Edinburgh and was so disgusted with himself that he heaved his clubs out of the train window). In '39 George sailed with Johnny Bulla on the Transylvania for England. Always hopelessly sidetracked. George got into a high-stakes game of shuffleboard on the ship, which delayed his arrival for the Open. Says George. "I lost so much money I had to go to Perthshire instead of St. Andrews and bowl on the green. Shuffleboard is some game. My bankroll looked like a elephant slept on it when that earl or count or whatever he was got through with me. It took me three weeks bowling on the green to get even. By that time I didn't have any practice for the British Open. I think I missed the cut—if I showed up at all. I forget. In those days me and Heafner [ Clayton] had a bad habit of being withdrew."


If there is one thing that saddens George about the tour today it is the absence of colorful characters. "Know what they got out here today?" George asks. "Authors and haberdashers. All you got to do to write a book is win a tournament. All of a sudden you're telling everybody where the Vs oughta point. Them that don't win—they're haberdashers. They sell a few pairs of pants in the pro shop and win a couple of robins from some members, so right away they're on the tour. Half of 'em couldn't win if they had Dick Tracy for a manager." And George moans, "You think there's any of them that know how to do more with a club in the workshop than bend it until it looks like a boomerang? Not many. I done some work for them, but there's not one that'd give the ducks a drink if they owned Lake Mead. They'll pop for the handshake, but those I got plenty of."

One of George Low's last flings as an active tour player came in 1945, and history relates that he went out beautifully. Among the remarkable facts of golf is that George helped end the unbelievable winning streak of Byron Nelson. It happened in the Memphis Open that summer. Nelson, after winning 11 straight tournaments, finished behind Amateur Freddie Haas Jr. (who shot 270) and George Low (who shot 276). "Haas win the tournament but I get the front money," says George. Shortly after that moment of glory, George retired to the putting greens.

So many legends and half-truths have been written, spoken and whispered about Georges remarkable putting ability, he probably ought to be a folk song. There are wild tales of George putting with a rake, a shovel, a pool cue or a broom handle and defeating an opponent who was using a legitimate club. There are stories of George kicking a ball with his foot and acing five out of nine holes in one round on the practice green. Other stories hint that George has given putting "secrets" to people like Arnold Palmer, Bing Crosby and Willie Mays that have enabled them at certain moments to display divine touches on the greens. And there are stories that in the old days George took so much money away from the tour champs in friendly putting games after tournaments were over that, as George might say, "I shoulda been given a speeding ticket, I win so fast."

George only smiles when he hears the stories. "They get started because I live good," says George. "I spend $50,000 a year of my friends' money, that's all. Oh, there are some things that I could get into some kind of jackpot by talking about, so I ain't talking. Sure, I can kick the ball with my foot and get it down in two from anywhere. Like at Vegas this year. I'm walking around with Wininger [Bo] in a practice round, and he throws down a ball 75 feet from the cup on 16 and says three cases of beer to two I can't get it down in two. So I bet him. I kicked it two inches from the pin. I can also beat you putting even if I use a wedge. ["Don't ever try him," warns Byron Nelson.] And I shall have to admit in all modesty that I am still probably the greatest putter in the world. At least I'll try anybody for a nominal fee. That's because I've done more of it than anybody. Back in Scotland where we moved to [ Carnoustie], there was a 36-hole putting green right outside the house, and I putted for three or four years before I even played golf. I've always been able to do things with my hands. Then when I quit playing the tour, I just putted. I can beat any of these guys on the tour because they have to worry about getting to the green all the time. I'm already there."

While George is a proven master of putting, he prefers to down-play anyone's notion that he has developed any secrets about it, or is the only human who has ever learned how to stroke a ball properly. Still, when Arnold Palmer won his second Masters championship in 1960, Georges name burst into print as some sort of weird genius of the greens—and all because of a comment Arnold made. That year Palmer sank dramatic birdie putts on the last two holes to win; already he had become a marvel at long putts and fast finishes. At Augusta, Arnold said, "The only thing I did on those last two putts was keep thinking what my friend, George, always says: 'Keep your head down and don't move.' " With that exposure, George was suddenly more than a mystery man and began being sought out too much by sports-writers around the country.

"Well," George would tell them, "it's like the doctor who sits and smiles at the patient, and then hands him some sugar pills. The guy thinks he's got a miracle drug. If I ever helped Arnold, it was only with his confidence."

Nevertheless, George small but impressive notoriety resulted in a George mallet-head putter being introduced on the equipment market—"the putter with the built-in touch"—and one year later, when Gary Player won the 1961 Masters using that brand of putter, it looked as if George could not prevent himself from making some money, no matter how hard he might try to get out of it.

"I was lucky," George says, with more than a trace of his usual sarcasm. "It went so well they [the Sportsman's Golf Corporation of Chicago] fired me." Then he adds, "It's O.K., though. You get money in your pockets, it takes away the challenge of where you gonna sleep."

A George putter (there will be another group of models on the market soon, distributed by Ernie Sabayrac Inc.) is one thing, and a George putting a golf ball is another. Given a choice, any long-suffering victim of the greens would most likely rather buy George's advice than a putter. "But you ain't in on a hummer,"
george says. "You got to pop for something." This translates into, "Bring your wallet."

There is one recent change in the life that George leads as he follows the pro golf tour with meaningful side trips to Saratoga, Santa Anita and other recreational habitats—and that is that he is guaranteed 60 places to sleep a year. These overnight havens are available to George through the courtesy of Ramada Inns, Inc., which enlists his services as a sort of goodwill ambassador specifically in charge of guiding the pros, or any roomless veranda standers, to its motels across the land. The motel chain also furnishes George with a Cadillac ("The only Cadillac in the press parking lot, I'll guarantee you," says George) that has become even more cluttered than any he would own.

When the deal was first made three years ago, George was worried how it might affect his life. "It didn't feel right," he says. "Something was missing, the daily challenge that I'd grown used to. The challenge of whether I'd be able to bum Frank Stranahan's car and lose it to some guy in a coin flip, and maybe have to sleep in the park. But it ain't bad. Security grows on you. Besides, there's not always a Ramada Inn handy, and I get chances to call on my natural resources."

George also still gets to call on his natural resources for his clothes and shoes. Fingering a handsome plaid sport coat not long ago, he said, "Why you think I'm friendly with Joe Jemsek, a guy who owns more golf courses than Chicago has room for? He wears my size." Lifting up one foot in a rare explosion of energy and modeling a $65 alligator shoe, he said, "I'm a test pilot for Foot-Joy. I test their shoes to see if standing on them for long periods of time in a bar brings them any serious harm. What affect spilling beer on them has. I ain't bought a shoe in 30 years." Displaying a leather, Western-tooled, monogrammed chair seat, George said, "Bob Goldwater [brother of Barry] came up with this. Ain't no if-come about him."

George, affected by the prosperity of his 60 motel rooms ("automatics"), has even developed the habit of turning down invitations. Not often. But sometimes. When Fred Hawkins asked George if he would like to step into a clubhouse and have lunch recently, the answer was, "Thanks, but I'm saving you for something bigger."

There have even been—sad to relate—times when George has insisted on paying up himself. A year ago in Augusta, as George drank beer ("I can drink more beer and eat more cafeteria vegetables than anybody") in the Bull Bat Lounge, he was interrupted by an old acquaintance. The man identified himself as Madman Morris, a car salesman from Tampa. "Good to see you, Bubble," said Madman. "Where you been? I been all over, Pensacola, Miami and all. How come I didn't see you in Pensacola?"

"Madman," said George, "you either got to shut up or assume the financial obligation. I got my own lies to tell."

Madman kept talking. "Sure good to see you, Georgie. I knew this guy 30 years...."

"Are you gonna sit down and buy something, Madman," George said, "or are you just gonna stand there looking like an unplayable lie?"

By then George Low had forgotten the point of the story he was telling and so, as Madman kept talking, George impulsively paid the check and went to eat vegetables.

There are also occasions when George can be persuaded actually to play a round of golf. Naturally, the type of golfing companion George prefers is someone with money and only minor talent for the game. "Give me a multimillionaire with a bad backswing, and I can have a very pleasant afternoon," he says. "Yes sir, very pleasant."

One such afternoon occurred not so many winters ago at the Seminole Golf Course in Palm Beach, Fla. George was playing with the Duke of Windsor and the late Robert R. Young, the railroad magnate. George's putter was kind to him that day, as it usually is when something more than laughs is involved. When the round was over there was a small matter of $50 concerning the Duke and George. But the Duke had not yet "come up." There was an awkward pause around the 18th green, as George shifted his weight and cleared his throat.

"Oh," said Young, discreetly, to George. "I should have mentioned that His Royal Highness never pays money."

" Mr. Young," said George, "you take care of your railroads and I'll take care of my dukes."


Here is his picture on the cover of SI......................in 1964
FASTLARRY
His name is on the putter he designed, which today is like a Balabushka original, they use to sell for 25K, price is now down to 6K since none of the top pros are playing with it any more.

click the pic to enlarge it and yo see his name george low

I have 4 of them in my collection, the models 250, 300, 500 and the 600.

I have limited success playing with my IMG-5 XXXXX and my 600, the problem was, the sweet spot, was not in the middle, but back of center towards the heel, hell it was like trying to find the G spot on yo ole lady, when you found it, she let ya know, but when you were off it, nothing worked. It took a really talented person to find it, and stay on it, which was mostly pros. Few could master it, so its sales bombed, which means few were bought, and that made it rare and drove the price up. Most gave up on them and moved into the easier to hit 8802 and 8813, or moved into the new ping models, which were very forgiving. Nicklaus stuck with his and the rest is history. It made him famous, and he made it, the 600, famous.

FASTLARRY
The putter I had the most success with, won a lot of tournaments with, shot 64 with it, I bought when it came out new in the late 60's, I bought 3 of them, one rode in my bag, and I kept one at the office to putt on the rug, and one at the house for the same reason. So I always had one close, to keep in my hands, to keep the feel of the club, I would be on hold on the phone, and up I would go and begin rolling balls into a box that kicked the ball back to me. Now I have a device that does the same thing and does not require batteries or AC, It's called Jr, he chases the ball, picks it up and brings it back and drops it at my feet, and woofs, do it again, this is fun, chase ball, oh boy.

I've had it, played with it for now over a half century, that's is now amazing to me, its seem's just like yesterday Jug was talking me into buying it and coming off of my low 600. The white chalk was put in on the inside so the printing would show up, the late 60's models said Scottsdale, Ariz, and are the most valuable because few were made and they are rare and had to find today, in 1970 the same exact putter was made, but it said on the inside Phoenix, Ariz. Later makes will say 2 or 3 on the club.

click the pics to enlarge it.
FASTLARRY
Buying any thing that is old, you better know what you are doing, or you can get clipped badly.

When they stopped making the low 600, the price slowly went up, and rose to 25K and its now down to 6K. In the early 80's wilson did a remake of it, the copy was pretty good, close, almost as good, but its worth today, about $100. One guy is right now selling one for $500, hoping to snag a sucker thinking its an original. There are some real smooth crooks out there. Here is a picture of that remake 80's copy.
FASTLARRY
The same thing happened when they stopped making the 8802 and 8813, the price went up also, and they did a remake of them in the early 80's as well. They are easy to spot, the original had red in the letters, the copy is all black, the copy is 2" longer in the shaft, in the copy, they printed the name upside down from how the original is. You can take a coin, a nickle, and it will perfectly cover the face of an original, a copy, is a little larger and you will see space above the top of the coin.

Here is an original 8813 and the copy. The difference in price between the two, is significant.

Other than that, the two look the same all over, and play close to each other.

Note the pic of the copy, black letters, if you held the original in that same way, the print would now appear, upside down. Note the two clubs, are turned in opposite directions.

The only one who can answer the question, does the copy play as good as the original would be somebody who owns both, the copies and the originals, and that is me.

The copies of the low 600, 8802 and 8813 look like the originals, are about the same size and feel, but, things that were made in 1960 when there was a lot of time and low production and the finest materials were used, and 20 years later, when you just pounded stuff off a large production line trying to make it as cheaply as possible and still have it look good. You knew everyone who bought one, would not have a clue. They would have no way to compare them, as the originals were scare and all riding in the bags of the pros.

There is a definete difference between the two, the ball comes off faster and better on the originals compared to the copies, the Original plays circles around the copies, which was why the pros only used the originals and the ball bangers and hackers bought the copies.

There you have it, the rest of the story....
FASTLARRY
The 8802 and the 8813 are about the same, but the 8802 got all the fame, with Crenshaw and Palmer using it.

Note the black letter is the early 80's copy, and the red and black is the 60's original.
FASTLARRY
And because the original scottsdale putter had gone through the roof in price, and finding one was next to impossible, Ping decided to remake it and cash in in 1996. Just because it says Scottsdale does not make it a 68. It can be a 96.

SHORT HISTORY:
A PROTOTYPE OF THE SCOTTSDALE LIMITED EDITION PUTTER WAS USED BY PAYNE STEWART TO WIN THE SHELL HOUSTON OPEN IN 1995.
THESE WERE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC IN 1996 TO CELEBRATE THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORIGINAL PING ANSERS DEBUT IN 1966. MANUFACTURED WITH A SLOT LINE CUT IN THE SOLE AND AN INDIVIDUAL SERIAL NUMBER STAMPED ON THE INSIDE OF THE HOSEL, APPROXIMATELY 20,000 WERE MADE. THESE LIMITED MANGANESE BRONZE ANNIVERSARY ANSERS WERE PRICED @ $600.00 MSRP

I think that was an outrageous price at the time. Can you believe golfers bought 20,000 at that price. Hard to fathom in a world of selling pool cues.

My putter, shown in the picture, has never hit a ball and is brand new. After sitting on the bench for 14 years, I may toss it in the bag and break its cherry, and let it have one round under its belt, before it goes back up on the wall. I never needed to play with it, because I have 3 or the originals.
FASTLARRY
No remake of this one was done, the 8802 was used by Arnold Palmer, and they sold it with his signature on it. They are very rare today, and expensive.

click the pics to enlarge it.
FASTLARRY
I discussed earlier that the problem with the old low 600 and the Tommy Armour IMG-5's a lot of pros won majors with in the early 60's was to make it work, you had to hit, back of center, inside towards the heel, and then there was your sweet spot and it cooked. It was hard to find and to stay on it. The amateurs of course, hit it the middle, and it did not work. And the irons of the day I played with, the Wilson red dot and my VIP MacGregors, same problem, if you hit it in the middle, you sort of toed it and it came up short, you had to catch it back of center, which few could do. This was what seperated the top golfers from the masses, they could not find the sweet spots.

I could, and I liked being seperated from the masses, and being one of the 1% of the elite, but enter technology, and the sweet spots came back to center, they got much bigger and easier to hit, drivers easier, balls hotter, and now ding dongs and bozos are hitting it out there with me. I don't like it, but its all about moving clubs and balls. If you talk to Nicklaus and Tiger, they will both tell you what I am saying, go back to persimmon wood woods, bring the ball down to where the top players can only hit it 270-280 and bring back into play many of these grand old us open courses we once used but are now to short for the bombers.

Please note, this player put aim lines on the IM-5, note how far back they are. What he did not realize at the time, was this club would become a very valuable classic, with the XXXXX on the hosel, and when you change or modify a club, you badly damage its value.

click the pics to enlarge them...............
FASTLARRY
This is a Scotty Cameron and note how close an exact copy this is, of the original 66 ping.
FASTLARRY
The older putters had shorter shafts, many of mine are 33" long, I put a longer new shaft in my 8802 Arnold Palmer original which took it out 4 more inches to 37" and I can stand more upright with less back pain. Bending over now is killing me. I have to raise the toe up a tad, but I like doing that anyway. Ioki did real good with a big toe raise. My putter is from 59 so its had its share of wars and time in the bag, now being 51 years old. It's hard to believe that I have held on to putters and pool cues, for a half century?
FASTLARRY
When I became a caddy at the old Blue Hills CC in KCMO, in the mid 50's a member gave me an old set of clubs so I could learn how to play. They were all wood shafted clubs, and nobody wanted them any more as we had gone to steel. The only club and still have out of that bag is a copy of Bobby Jones putter, Calamity Jane. I used to putt real well with it. If somebody handed you one, you would think its a joke. It looks like a 1 iron, and you would not pay 50 cents for one. You would think it would take you 3 to get down from 3'. Looks are deceiving. It rolls the ball really well, and now and then, I take it up to the putting clock to hit a few, just for old times sake. When I got better, and into a set of steel shafts, I went to a bulls eye, and then into the 8802 world.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=3954571

http://www.pbagalleries.com/search/item.php?anr=194339
FASTLARRY
The George Low wizard 600, like I said, the only guy who could hit it was Nicklaus. It worked for him, because he putted on very fast slick greens. The greens I played on, were slower and the grass was not cut as short. So the 600 was a little light. What I used instead was the Low 300 mallet, it rolled the ball just as good as the 600, but you had more club, more meat behind the hit, and the sweet spot was much larger and easier to hit. You see all this high tech expensive putters, and I've tried it all, but none of them really play any better than my Low 300 or my 68 Scottsdale ping. To me, all the advances, are cosmetic.
Pictures are of my low 300.
Now on drivers, holy cow, the comparison to the old persimmon 945 and my R9 are dramatic and scary.
FASTLARRY
And when its all done and over, the most valuable of them all is the george low 600 which goes for $6,000.

I have a 600 Low made in brass, which is extremely rare, and I plan to put it up on Ebay in a few days and begin the bidding at $6,000.

It is the first time I have ever sold off any of my collection. Not that I need the money.
FASTLARRY
And when its all done and over, the most valuable of them all is the george low 600 which goes for $6,000.

I have a 600 Low made in brass, which is extremely rare, and I plan to put it up on Ebay in a few days and begin the bidding at $4,000.

It is the first time I have ever sold off any of my collection. Not that I need the money.


THE 600B WAS MADE BY KIRKPATRICK GOLF SALES
MANCHESTER CONNECTICUT IN 1965 AND 66..
3 YEARS AFTER NICKLAUS BEGAN USING THE G LOW
WIZARD 600 MADE BY SPORTSMAN/BRISTOL 1960..62.
KIRKPATRICK WAS THE THIRD COMPANY TO MAKE A VERSION OF THE 600..MATZIE GOLF EL SEGUNDO CAL.
MADE THEM IN 63 AND 64..



PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SALE WAS ONLY UP FOR A FEW DAYS AND WAS NOT SOLD, I TOOK THE SALE DOWN AND RETURNED THE PUTTER BACK INTO MY COLLECTION.
FASTLARRY
The actual putter, that Jack Nicklaus won all his majors with, the sportsman from the very early 60's, from my collection, I will be putting up for sale on Ebay in a few days.
FASTLARRY
QUOTE (FASTLARRY @ Mar 21 2010, 11:28 PM) *
The actual putter, that Jack Nicklaus won all his majors with, the sportsman from the very early 60's, from my collection, I will be putting up for sale on Ebay in a few days.




It was only up for a day, and it sold..........And then the sale collapsed, long ugly story, IT TURNED OUT THIS PUTTER WAS A FAKE AND A FRAUD AND HAD BEEN TOTALLY DOCTORED, and the putter went back into my collection, and will not be offered for sale ever again. I also took down my 600-B Brass low, and took it off the market. I decided I did not want to sell either one, and doing so, was a move, I would later regret. I do not sell off things I love.

Of all the pool cues, golf clubs, this is the rarest of the rare, in 1958, only 200 sportsman were made. Jack Nicklaus picked his up in 1960 and won 15 of his 18 majors with it, driving the price through the roof. The going price for one today, is 25 to 30K. If any one comes in for a 1 or 2 day lesson, and wants to play golf later, I'll pull it out and let you play with it. The club of clubs. Just beware, any time anything gets real valuable, the crooks will make copies of it and try and con a fish.


I keep it, with other valuable things, in a commercial facility, behind 3 doors you have to get through with codes and keys.
Every move you are filmed.

Here is the story, which appeared on a golf forum this week.


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fastlarry
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Posts: 5

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Twitter Name: @fastlarry
Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #14 on: March 27, 2010, 09:55:16 am »QuoteHi, this is Fast Larry, ebay flepool2003, I was the one who bought the putter and won the bid. Yes it is absolutely a fake, no question exists on this. Here is the story on it, yes it looked too damn good, and in the beginning, this kid put up blurred pictures on purpose, to hide it, his first deception. His story was his dad died and he was selling off his collection and knew nothing about them. I wrote him saying if you want me to bid heavy, I have to see clear pics, and he then put them up. First red flag. If this was the real deal, then this putter would have been worth at least 6K, up to 25K, as only 200 of the early sporstman's were made. A bunch of big boys began bidding on this and I figured it to go for at least 2.5 to 3K, but they must have got wise late and backed out leaving me with the bag. I won it for $1,100. I thought I stole it, now and then you peal on off and get lucky, but I was nervous about it. This one fooled a lot of bidders, I was not the only one here.

I own several 600 copies from the 80's, and a low model 250-300-800 and two mallets with no ID, and one late 50's or very early mallet which is a sportsman, so I know what the actual shafts look like, What the grip looks like, what the hit feels like, he used a soft metal back then. I am not an expert on this subject, just a collector who owns all of the classic putters and woods. I have a 1965 Geo Low 600 in brass. I have a lot of pics of the real deals, and I guess the only reason I went through on the bids, was all these big guys with tons of sales or buys, went after it as well. That is what pushed me to go after it.

I had just met with my accountant and we had been discussing my taxes.
I was told to put up a couple of high priced items on eBay, and if they did not sell, they could then be written off as inventory for my company. I put up my Low 600-B which was a authentic 1965 model for a high price I knew nobody would pay, $3999 and when I won the Sportsman, I put it up in my store also for $4999. I had no intentions of selling either one, they would not sell, I would not renew the listing and they would be listed as inventory which did not sell and would then reside in my private collection. I have about 40 putters and 300 classic persimmon woods. So far, all I have done is collect, up to this 300 Low, I have not tried to sell any of them.
The next day I get an offer for $2500, who I think was one of the bidders. I am now thinking, why would he pay $2500, when he could have won it for $1200. I think he got cold feet on the buy, then saw me buy it, and then thought he made a mistake and figured it must have been the real deal, and $2500 was still a steal. I thought, turn it over for a fast $1400, why not, and we made a sale, with me coming clean with him that the putter was on the way in and if he did not think it was the real deal, he could back out. He was going to drive up from Florida to Atlanta to check it out and we were to have dinner together. I told him he could take it to any place in Atlanta to check it out with me going with him. I told him not to pay me until he saw the putter in person.
Then I got an email from Court telling me it was a fake and I immediately got my buyer on the phone to explain it to him and sent him a copy of court’s email. He did not believe it, and thought I was being hustled, I never did. I reported it all to the fraud Dept of EBay and told them everything that happened; they opened a case in the background.
EBay then told me to cancel my sale which I did. In shock, I took down my sale of the 600-B. The sale of the sportsman came down with the sale cancellation. I was now off the hook and I explained to my buyer, now that I was told I owned a fake, for me to resell it, would make me a crook, just like the guy who sold it to me. I said, I would be marking the putter as a fake; it would go into my collection and never be sold unless it was as a fake copy for $200.
I sent the kid a copy of courts letter and then got him on the phone. I gave him 3 options, One, he can salvage some money, courts assessed the value of it at $50, I will pay $200, you refund me $962. Two, or you give me a full refund and I return the putter. THREE: You do nothing, which I expect you to do, and you pull a negative, and the fraud dept will probably freeze your account, throw you off eBay, and they will refund my money, but this will kill all of your current sales underway. He was giving me this song and dance about how he did not know and I went BS, court in writing said he sent you a full report informing you it was a fraud and you ignored him and went on with the sale, and that makes it fraud and that alone will get you kicked off. He hung up on me, and an hour later, he calls back and took option Two, he sent me $962 on PayPal as a partial refund and resale of $200. I then would post him a positive, which I did, but with a warning for others. Once he makes 10 sales, it will go to page two and nobody will ever read it again.
I do not think this kid can be trusted, and my advice would be, buy nothing from him, no matter how good the deal looks. Caveat Emptor.
The putter came in and it’s the 95 model, the grip looks almost brand new, the main tip off, a 60 year old grip will look awful. Ok, it could be said, it was re gripped. They took a shaft off of an old low Mallet which you can buy for $50 from the early 60’s and replaced it, and that made it look really legit. The apparently sanded off the top and re stamped it and then re chromed it. This original putter was not chromed, the final tip off. It was a really slick con job, and if you were not an expert, this bad boy would fool most. Compared to the way my 600-B and even the early 80's copies play, this one rolls the ball bad and is way too hard. Its a pos.
I don’t feel bad about paying $200 for it, I guess that was a fair deal, I knew I had to give the kid something to get him to bail out. Getting $962 back fast, was better than getting tied up in a fraud dispute for 2 months and having my money tied up. The kid got out of it clean. I am a power seller and have been on Ebay since 2003, with over 600 transactions and a 100% satisfaction rate. I do not sell fraud items or con anyone. Any questions, call me at 770-381-6609, Larry G.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((***))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) The letter I got from Court.

Hi. I am really very sorry but the putter you bought on ebay yesterday is not an original.


I have 2 Bristol Wizard 600 George Low putters. The only difference from a Sportsman is the stamp: one is stamped Bristol and the other Sportsman. Otherwise the putters are exactly the same, from the remaining stamps to the head to the shaft to the grips. I have an extensive Bristol collection and have been studying the putters and the company that made them for years. Bristol owned both the Sportsman and Bristol brands (and Kroydon) at the time they made them, which was 1958, and this was the only year they were produced. Sportsman and Bristol were their Pro lines and Kroydon was their Retail line.


The putter you bought was originally a Ram copy of the Wizard 600 made in 1992. Of course Ram was a company created by the same brothers, the Hansbergers, that designed and created the original real GL Bristol/Sportsman Wizard 600s. They made this putter in 1992 to commemorate the original putter. But a collector in Southern California purchased 300 of these putters and made the following changes to the putter. The toe of the original was filled and then restamped Geo Low (it originally was labeled "Original", you can see these listed to sell all over ebay) and then rechromed by a person myself and another collector know in Newport, California in the mid 1990s. He sold these putters after he altered them and my friend collector actually bought one from him (knowing it was a fake) for $200 out of interest. The person who altered the putter bought the mallet putters (you mention in your description) and switched the mallet's grip, shaft and hosel to the Ram's. This is why the shaft and grip look (and are) so much older than the head.


There are several differences between your putter and the original Bristol/Sportsman putters. The most glaring are:


1. The bottom of the flange is much thicker on the Ram Wizard 600 putter than the Sportsman.
2. If you look closely there are very tiny fine lines in the metal on the bottom of the Ram. The original had absolutely no lines on the bottom as the process to make it was different and of course more primitive at the time. Interestingly some of the original putters had lines running down the face because of process used to create a smooth face. Of the two GL Bristols I have one that has these lines.
3. The Ram putter is more bulky/substantial than the original. Not just the flange but also the topline is thicker. The bottom of the Ram is also a little thicker than the originals.
4.. The Ram putter weighs much more than the originals. Because of the metal used the originals were very light and this is one of the reasons the pros rejected the Sportsman and so only 200 were made (except of course Nicklaus who won 15 of his 18 pro majors with this putter - not 18 as you mention in your description).
5. The Ram putter is frosted on the topline and the top of the flange. The lines on the topline are also perfect. On the originals, the metal was so soft that the topline edges were very imperfect. Also the width of the topline varied on the originals both on the top and as you go down the topline toward the bottom of the putter. Most think the ragged edges are from use: they came out of the factory like this.
6. You are partially right on the metal. The original ones have a dark concrete like appearance over the entire putter head. The Ram is chromed a bright chrome. Also the Ram metal is very hard while the original putters had extremely soft metal (like the mallet metal - I think you said you have the mallets so you know how soft the metal is). This was for the pros - they tried to give the putter great "feel".


Overall, the original putters are all just a little different from each other because they were made in 1958 and the metal and moldings and process used to make them was much more primitive than in 1992.. The Ram putters are exactly the same because by 1992 the process to make them was perfected. I have 5 of the Rams and all look exactly the same. Meanwhile the 2 Bristols have small and even not so small differences.


Again I am very sorry and really hope you can get your money back. I emailed the guy who sold it to you before the auction was finished and told him it was a fake but he gave me no response. I also tried to contact the people who made bids but could not figure out how to do it.


You can call me if you like. I am at 425-374-3361. Court



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scottfarrell
Newbie

Posts: 12

My eBay items.

Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #15 on: March 27, 2010, 11:36:59 am »QuoteCourt: Thanks for the great info. At some point I would like to enhance my collection so when I am in a buying mode I would like to shoot you an email to see if you have anything for sale or know of anything interesting. Don't want you to post your email here but I would appreciate you sending it to scott at scottfarrell dot com. I have bought lots of clubs from Bobby Farino, Tom Fink and others through the years. TP Mills made me several putters in the early nineties etc so I love the game and collectibles and want to rebuild my collection. thanks

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scottfarrell
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Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #16 on: March 27, 2010, 11:43:58 am »QuoteBladeJunkie, thanks also for your comments. Could I get your email address as well? thanks

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BladeJunkie
Sr. Member

Posts: 376

Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #17 on: March 27, 2010, 01:54:37 pm »QuoteQuote from: scottfarrell on March 27, 2010, 11:43:58 am
BladeJunkie, thanks also for your comments. Could I get your email address as well? thanks

Scott


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BladeJunkie
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Posts: 376

Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #18 on: March 27, 2010, 02:01:28 pm »QuoteHi Larry,

Welcome to Putter Talk...

Glad everything worked out!


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Kent61
Full Member

Posts: 151

My eBay items.

Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #19 on: March 27, 2010, 02:37:31 pm »QuoteAnd then on the UK version of ebay we get this Ebay Item #120546760544
I have no idea about these, they're not a putter style I'd ever use but I would be very wary of this after what you guys have said about out of focus pic etc.
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fastlarry
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Twitter Name: @fastlarry
Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #20 on: March 27, 2010, 06:03:44 pm »QuoteAs Ann Landers used to say, if the deal is too good, then the deal is too good, run up a red flag, and put on a parachute. I thought I was the hunter there, and it turns out I was the hunted.

This is how the con works. set the hook in the fish. As WC said, ah yes, you cant cheat an honest man, and never wise up a chump or give a sucker an even break.

This 600 is a big bag of worms, 28 models and copies made, fakes all over the place, I'll never buy another one unless it has a letter from the friggen Pope saying its legit. I learned my lesson.

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fastlarry
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Twitter Name: @fastlarry
Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #21 on: March 27, 2010, 06:05:22 pm »QuoteI am a pro pool player, and a scratch golfer, my email, which was requested is fastlarrypool@bellsouth.net
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fastlarry
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Twitter Name: @fastlarry
Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #22 on: Today at 11:50:18 am »QuoteI just got this one come in:

Dear flepool2003,

Hello,
This regards the replica Geo Low Putter on eBay. I am VERY relieved you received a refund, as the seller was quite aware it was not original. I actually owned that exact club last year, and I purchased as a replica from dealer Randy Jensen in the mid west. I sold the club on eBay in mid July '09 where I clearly described it as a replica - it sold for approx $450 to a doctor in North Carolina. When I saw the club being offered again, I contacted the seller and made him/her aware the club was a reproduction - and was pretty much brushed off with "people will see the photographs and make their own decision", etc..I also contacted eBay and reported that the seller was misrepresenting the item. Ebay took no action. Anyway, glad to see you were able to get your money back.


- jimleapt

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((***))))))))))))))))))))))

FL RESPONDS: What a turn of events, I went from being the coned and swindled, to actually buying it at half its value, I ended up paying $200, I landed on my feet running on this one.
It’s a beautiful putter, and as such an amazing duplicate it’s definitely worth the $200, $450 I don't know about, I think that was a stretch.
It has a almost new 1988 leather grip in almost brand new condition and that’s the first tip off, a 58 grip would begin to have holes in it, or be really badly worn, and the grip has George Low printed all over it, which was never done. They only did that on the 88 Ram replicas. They should have taken an old grip off an old putter and rewrapped it with it. And there were no scratches or bag marks on the face, and players back then did not use head covers on putters and all of them have lots of small nicks. So be warned, if you are buying any old, 40-50 year old original putter, a 8802, a Arnold Palmer original and it’s called or is mint, almost perfect, looks too good, then it’s a good bet its some kind of fraud or has been re chromed. I hope we all got a good education on this one. Nothing that old is mint, it must show age and play/wear to be legit.




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fastlarry
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Re: George Low fake?
« Reply #23 on: Today at 01:23:42 pm »QuoteAnd the intrigue now gets more sureal. Now my buyer, is accusing me of cancelling the sale, to dump him to sell it to somebody else for more money, there seems to be no way I can convince this guy I told him the truth and saved his bloody arse here. He does not think I now have the putter. I told him I will bet him, or any one else, 5K, I do, and you can walk into my warehouse any time, with no notice, and I will unlock the doors and show it to you. If you think I am a cheat then bet me the 5K and make 5K on the deal. Or you can walk in with no bet, and see it as well, just by asking. I have put a label on the shaft marking it as a replica and worth $200 just in case I would croak, I don't want one of my grandkids putting it back up and thinking its valuable and a new fraud begins.

Because it is a fake, now verified by 3 experts, it is not for sale. I will not sell any fake. It will reside in my private collection with my other classic putters and collection, which is behind 3 doors, at my warehouse, two you have to punch in a code, the 3rd a key, and your every movement in your car or on foot is on film. I have a 8802 and a copy, same on the 8813, the arnold palmer, the 80's 600 low, and I like to show people the difference between the real deal and the remakes. I keep nothing of value in my home. It will sit there until I croak, I do not need the money, and I sell nothing, never part with anything, and I have a pool cue worth $25K from the 60's and many putters and woods I bought new in the late 50's and early 60's. Everything comes in, nothing goes back out. My most valuable putter is worth $2500.

We wants to buy it from me for $2500, and now that I won't sell it, he's convinced the putter is for real and I made a better deal and double dumped him. Momma Mia?

Oy Vey? I feel like Briar Wabbit, pounding on the tar baby, the more I try to get loose, the deeper I go, I should have expected this, silly wabbit.
My phone number is 770-381-6609, you all come see this bad boy, hell I may begin to charge admission and make some real bucks off of it.
I am glad I put this story up here, for it now shows, I have nothing to hide, and everyone is telling me I was a standup guy for the way I dealth with this.
"Fast Larry" Guninger
FASTLARRY
You sometimes think you are the hunter, and do not realize, you are the hunted.

As the pics show, it could always be worse, and as Kermit shows, some times you are da fookor, sometimes dee fookee........Some days you catch da coon, other days da coon does you.

Click Kermit and the goffer to see them come alive.

Yo Sarah was laughing her ass off saying she had been waiting 25 years to see somebody con me, and I always said, you cant con a real con, or hustle a real hustler, or grift a real grifter. I always said, any one can get put into a Hungrarian mortal lock, the real master, gets out of it and escapes.

Unfortunately to run a good con on Ebay, using pictures, the game gets real easy. There, you can catch anybody. Its simple.
FASTLARRY
The big 4 of the Geo Low 600 putters.

FASTLARRY
Most pics of the all time greatest putters, I have in my collection the 701 703 and all the 704's, plus the 705, 709 and 711.

These are pics of the real deal.

The 2nd set of pics, are replicas, copies made over the years. The bright ones.
FASTLARRY
The greatest golf clubs of all time, IMHO, are the Macgregor 945 persimmon head Tommy Armour woods. Just looking at one, gets me pecker hard as a rock. I have racks set up which display my 300 plus antique Macgregor clubs and every day when I enter my warehouse to pick up goods to ship on orders received, I pull a 945 off the rack, and take a couple of swings with it. Every day, we have our love affair in private.

They have always been very rare, because the best players, and pros used them, and played them into dust and trash. They had always been very expensive to own, hard to find, and every pro that saw one, bought it and hid it.

There was a time when they were made in American, by true artists, by hand. I grew up in KCMO and Kenneth Smith made persimmon woods for all the kings and movie stars, big time doctors and lawyers. They were all custome fitted and featured a lot of high lofted woods beyond a 5 which these older golfers could use as they lacked the strength to play long irons. They were known as the rolls royce of woods, and would sell for 300 to 500 a club, with the owners name engraved on every club. I have a set, one thru 10 wood, complete, very rare. 10 woods, all you need is a 9 iron and wedge. In the 60's it was worth a fortune, today, very little. I was in their shop in the early 60's when they were king, and in the albany macgregor shop. Persimmon, gone with the wind. It never leaves my sight, on my desk is a vase made out of a solid block of persimmon that holds my big pens, and 5 persimmon heads, hold 5 pens, a 693, a M-85 and others.

Now its all in china and metal woods, mass production, a era, long gone.

What I saw Jack Nicklaus do with these, was simply beyond belief. He began using the SS1W. A beautiful club. I have a set, driver rough, 2 nice, 3 semi rough, 4 nice, and 2 sets of SS2W that are just like them, which are refinished and primo. They are all from about 58.

Attached are photo of my matched set, all the serial numbers on the neck match, original shafts, leather grips and they have never been refinished, so the tommy armour is very deep. They even have the original blue suede head covers, which is very rare, for a 1953 set. Normally the driver has been trashed and is gone with the head covers and the 3 wood is in bad shape. It is very rare to find a complete set of matched clubs in fine shape. This set is very playable. Please note that the 945's began as a solid red insert, pictured here. The 653 and 693 were also like this. When the 60's began, the insert on them became red and white, which was the set Jack then moved to and won most of his majors with. He used a 693 3 wood, which few know about. I have decided not to refinish the set, but to maintain it as is, in original condition, to view it like it would ride in a bag in 53. 57 years later, I honor and perserve this work of art and masterpiece. The king of woods, the 945.






http://www.golfweek.com/news/2009/dec/14/m...erican-classic/
FASTLARRY
The 60's model, the red and white inserts I bought new back then, and still have them. One set I bought new, one set I bought used but was almost primo. I played with them for 20 years, and took very good care of them. I have a set of 925's which I played with the most, because they were easier to hit, with a larger head. So I have 3 sets of these put up, plus all kinds of back up clubs that do not match the sets, but are primos, mostly 2-3-4's, very few drivers, as I said, they were mostly wasted by the pros pounding them into dust. Every one I saw, I could afford, I snagged. Stadler and other pros where the same way. We were trying to stock, a life time supply of them, never dreaming them would cease to be.
FASTLARRY
The greatest and the most expensive putters were the George low wizard 600 from 1958 that Nicklaus played with.

Next would be the 1966 Ping, when it first arrived and was marked Scottsdale, only 4,000 were made, and I now have 4 of them, pictures of my lastest one, so you can see what the real deal looks like. It looks just like the Phoenix 1970's, or the Dale Head, but, having played all 3 at the same time, the Scottsdale has a different feel and makes a different sound. He must have changed the metal compound, probably made it harder. Mine has of course, the original 9 3/8" step and shaft, grip, and the original head cover, value, around $2500.
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