West Coast Putter Co.

Putters off for Review

Administrator — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:01:01 +0000

Today, four of our prototypes went to The Hacker’s Paradise for their Fall Golf Outing at PGA National Resort & Spa.
This will be our second review with THP, this time the review will be conducted by 50 golfers. This will be our ultimate test yet, we’re looking forward to what everyone thinks.
Stay tuned for pictures from this coming weekends event.

Introducing The mmmMallet

Administrator — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:41:04 +0000

As with all our putters, The mmmMallet has been CNC machined from a billet of 1081 carbon steel. It is a mid-mallet size, with a foot print slightly larger than the Macro-Blade. Weighing in at 475+ grams with maximum weighting, this hefty club has a smooth-as-silk feel when stroking a putt. The club almost swings itself on the down stroke and the golfer is rewarded with a solid impact sound as the ball leaves the face. The current prototype is a heel-shaft but a centre-shaft cousin is due out November 2010.

Introducing The Macro-Blade

Administrator — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:35:16 +0000

What is a Macro-Blade, you ask. Well everyone knows what a blade-style putter looks like, we made it Macro! Macro=Bigger … 200g bigger as a matter-of-fact. Who is this putter for? Anyone who struggles with their putting stroke. The weight of this putter head engages the bigger muscles of the upper body, slows the putting tempo and virtually swings itself on the down-stroke.
Bigger IS Better .. The West Coast Putter Co. Macro-Blade.

Prototype Testing needs Testers

Administrator — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:53:46 +0000

UPDATE: Many thanks to everyone, and that is a LOT of you that applied to be WCP Testers, the response was overwhelming! We are closing the open application today (Aug 12, 2010) because we have a huge group to choose from already. Thank you again everyone, we’ll contact our chosen Testers by August 31, 2010.

With the addition of 3 new prototypes, West Coast Putter Co. has openings for a few good testers.

Please email, info@westcoastputters.com with the following information:
Name:
Location:
Handicap Index:
Rounds of Golf/ Season:

Testers will be contacted by the end of August 2010.

Company Update

Administrator — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:59:57 +0000

August 3, 2010 – West Coast Putter Co. Announces the arrival of its’ three new prototypes to the studio. Later this week we’ll put up some raw images from the workshop in our gallery.

Balls! Wilson Staff C:25

Mobile Marco — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:34:03 +0000

I love trying new stuff out, especially balls. I should start by saying that I’ve been a devoted Callaway player for several years but I always like to try a new box of something here and there. I’ve given Srixon, Bridgestone, Volvik, Taylormade and Maxfli a try, but I always go back to my Callaway Tour ball (currently Tour i(s)).
I went to Golftown recently and grabbed a box of #1 Wilson Staff C:25. Before I took them out for a test round I wanted to get an idea of the balls’ feel at my indoor range. I popped out a sleeve and started swinging. When I first connected with my 7 iron I was very happy with the “butter” soft feel coming off the clubs face. Loved it! The net and padding gave way with a solid thud. So it continued; THWAK followed by THUD! I went through all my irons and wedges with the same result. To me this is pretty cool partly because most balls out there fell a little different as you go through the bag; soft balls don’t feel as nice as a distance ball on long irons and hybrids, maybe it’s me. Also, I wanted to judge the wear on the ball with my irons, I religiously sharpen the grooves every six weeks and had just done the maintainace. The cover held up rather well considering I hit those 3 balls roughly 35 times each and the cover definitely showed wear but I’ve personally seen worse.
This weekend I’m heading to my local 9 hole Par 30 to give them a playing test. So far they really seem promising.
More to come with pics.

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Tournament Bag Set-Up

Mobile Marco — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:33:13 +0000

There is always a lot of talk about “What’s in the Bag” at PGA tournaments. Everyone always wants to know what their favourite pro plays at a particular tournament. Have you ever picked up on the fact that the Top 25 players in the world change up a few key clubs depending on where and in what conditions they’re playing. If you think about it, it actually makes sense.
So what brings this on, you ask? Well, being US Open week there’s been a lot of WITB talk all over the place. I’m playing in the Malaspina Open in Powell River, BC this weekend so I’ve been doing a lot of tinkering myself. My set-up for the last year has been fairly consistent; Nicklaus ML-3 8.5* Driver, Claw 13* FW, Polarity 3h, 4h, TR-1 5-PW, Callaway X-Forged 50, 54, 58 wedges and of course whatever prototype putter I’m working on at the time. Recently, I made a slight change adding a Srixon 5 wood and Cobra Baffler TWS 4h; I dropped my Polarity hybrids. Now this is why the change:
D- 255, 3W- 235, 3h- 185 … You can see the descrepency in distance, 50 yards, far to big a gap. Adding the 5 wood bridged the distance at 205, choked down I can hit it 190. Last little change made was my 5 and 6 irons; I’ve had some issues getting my distance dialed with the TR-1 irons so I swapped out for my Polarity HCT 5 and 6 iron. The HCT’s have a wider sole and floating face technology that really helps get my distance back and help impact the ball solidly on softer fairways.
So my set-up for the tournament is as follows:
Driver- Nicklaus ML-3 8.5* or Cobra X-Speed 9.5*
FW- Nicklaus Claw 13* and Srixon 18*
Hybrid- Cobra Baffler TWS 24*
Irons- Nicklaus HCT 5&6
Irons- Nicklaus TR-1 7-PW
Wedges- Callaway 50, 54, 58
Putter- West Coast Putter Co. Plumber’s Blade

Wish me luck at the tournament. Malaspina Open @ Myrtle Point GC&C, Powell River, BC June 19-20, 2010.

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sorry for the absense.

Mobile Marco — Tue, 04 May 2010 23:39:34 +0000

Hi folks,
Just an update to apologize for my recent absense. I’ve suffered back problems most of my adult life and the last couple of weeks have been difficult up here.
There have been a couple of developments and I will post a full update this week.

Marco.

Jack and Me, actually …

Mobile Marco — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:53:16 +0000

I should have titled it Rick and Me but this has a lot to do with Jack Nicklaus too. More over it has to do with the people he has working with him, in this case Rick Gomes.
Rick and I met over a phone call almost a year and a half ago now. I had purchsed the Polarity HCT irons with Rifle graite shafts and had a question about trimming and flex for my supplier. To make a long story shorter my supplier couldn’t answer specifics so he emailed me saying someone from Nicklaus Golf would give me a call. Within in the hour the call came in from Rick. Here’s what I didn’t know about Rick at the time; Rick Gomes has been Jack’s clubfitter for 35+ years and is Nicklaus Golf’s Director of Technology.
After a long chat about my clubs and what I wanted them to do Rick told me he would call my supplier and have them send me a box of FST Silver Light shafts. In that conversation we talked about Nicklaus Golf, Clay Long NG’s Chief Designer and of course a newly formed company called West Coast Putters. Here’s where our relationship began.
Rick Gomes has been an excellent friend to me and West Coast Putters. He always had time to chat, always answered my emails and always took time from his busy days to offer a helping word. I asked, in time, if I could send Rick the first prototype for him to look at. I asked as a friend looking for some feedback from someone who knew golf clubs and has been the go-to guy for one of the legends of the game. Rick, as a friend, said he would have a look and give me his thoughts. Now to be fair, Rick was NOT acting on behalf of Nicklaus Golf, nor did I ask him to, but he still took the time to give me some feedback on the design and he found a few problems that I later rectified. This week I’m building a new putter for Rick; there have been a couple changes and the lines are cleaner, I’m getting the neck engraved with his name this time, I hope this one is a keeper for his bag.
I’ll say this in closing, Rick’s kindness gave me the energy to continue to dream big. I’ve never met him in person but we share something intangible and that’s a love for golf and the people that play the game.
Thanks to you Rick Gomes for your friendship and support, West Coast Putter Co. will always have a special place for you and those at Nicklaus Golf.

Just Another 2010 Masters Review

Mobile Marco — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:02:05 +0000

Well, well, well … I have to say that 2010 will go down in my memory for some incredible sporting events and it’s only April! We opened the year with the Olympics here in Vancouver, which has turned out to be one of the most celebrated Winter Olympics in recent history. Now The Masters has come and gone but what an event to watch.
Leading up to this weekend in Augusta you would think the name had been changed to “The Tigers” with all the anticipation of his return to the game. The man did not disappoint with good rounds Thursday through Saturday to remain in contention to Sunday. The biggest story from his rounds was the minor meltdown where he proclaimed to all the Patrons, “Tiger Woods, You Suck!” By past standards, pretty tame for Tiger. Then the final round, the pressure cooker that is Sunday, and the all important first tee shot. Tiger found himself in the 8th fairway with a stand of pines between him and the green. Foreshadowing for the days events, unfortunately yes. Woods never really looked comfortable out there, it was as if the smiling, confident and relaxed Woods was replaced by a Tiger that had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Still, he did manage to grind it out and finished off the tournament to the applause of the gathered Patrons.
The attention was squarely on the final group on Sunday, as it should be. The crowd favourite lefty Phil Mickleson and the dark horse Brit Lee Westwood. To be honest I was cheering for Westwood from the start, maybe it’s being in a Commonwealth Country maybe because I like an underdog. Both Phil and Lee found trouble while strolling the hallowed grounds of Augusta but both players also played two spectacular rounds of golf. When Phil took the lead, he never looked back, although Lee tried he just couldn’t take it back.
The one moment that will stick out in my mind will be the 5′ putt Phil hand lined up perfectly and as he took the putter back a small seed pod fluttered down landing directly on his line at the exact moment of impact. The ball skipped offline and he missed the birdie. You had to stop and think for a second, “Has Augusta already chosen its champion this year?” More like Bobby Jones played a practical joke on one of his favourite sons. That point couldn’t have been made more clear when Phil took a 6-iron out of the pine straw, under and through the trees and cozied the ball up to 8 feet or so.
Phil deserved his Green Jacket and Lee deserved to revel in being #2. Lee made a statement about world golf and its’ golfers while Phil conquered his own demons to prevail. This will undoubtedly go down as one of the most entertaining Masters this Century, well in my mind at least.

Marco.