Once upon a Time, the two best Golfers on the Planet played an 18 hole Match on TV, for the entertainment of the Golfing Public.

The Match was hampered by technology issues, and was won by the man that had previously come up short in head to head battles fought out at such venues as Augusta National and Riviera in Los Angeles.

Pride was at stake, and the two competitors were hardly friends, though their respect of the Game meant that no outward expressions of hostility would be detected.

I’m not referring to that utterly crass money grab concocted by Mark Steinberg and Steve Loy. I’m referring to Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf episode of Ben Hogan & Sam Snead. The winner was paid $3,000, and the other guy got $2,000. It was magnificent to watch.

If a Golfing Fan last week asked me how best to spend $19.99, to watch a great match between two Great Golfers, there’s only one answer… the Shell WWOG DVD.

Now let’s talk about the crass money grab fiasco from yesterday.

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo’s Sportswriter, called it worse than Caddyshack 2.

https://sports.yahoo.com/tiger-vs-phil-worse-caddyshack-2-013336864.html 

I’d say All Nail and No Thumb on that one. Nice work Dan.

Or how about this promotional shot…

Does this say money grab or what?

They tried to put earrings on this pig with so called “side bets” for charity. Of course, that was pool money from the sponsors too, and Tiger and Phil seemed to lose interest in that aspect, as Phil huffed and puffed and Tiger grunted and snorted their way across the back nine. Charity? Oh, yeah, much in keeping with the PGA Tour’s fig leaf of charity (I’ll tell that story on a later day), it’s used to mislead the real truths going on. Image and all…

$9M was not from their pockets. It also wasn’t all the money. So stop acting as if it were.

The coming class action lawsuits to claw back the PPV fees by clients that learned that the glitches forced TBS to let people see it for free should be more entertaining than the match, by a long shot. Are all you red-light chasing lawyers paying attention?

Back to historic matches… Let’s compare…

Ben Hogan, in Shell’s WWOG hit all 18 greens at Houston CC in regulation, including a par 5 hit in two. His 35 well struck Golf Shots were performed over several days, with delays because of weather and the mobility (lack thereof) issues of TV Camera equipment of their day. His 34 putts (he wasn’t known for his putting) were in keeping with his 52 year old nerves, and still, his 69 bested Snead by three shots. A real performance from a true professional and he did it at an age nearly a decade older than Woods.

Snead, admittedly unprepared, hit a number of excellent shots, really no bad ones, and his side-saddle putting was of a character of his career, poor by the standards then (like putting on Augusta’s fairways), but abysmal by the standards of green quality of today’s agronomy benchmark (billiard table like smoothness). Nonetheless, even missing a tap in on 18 because of lost interest, Snead posted an even par 72.

Here’s the contemporary Sports Illustrated (SI) take on that one…

https://www.si.com/vault/1964/06/08/606856/a-dream-match-produces-a-dream-round

Woods and Mickelson? Not so much.

Well, first of all, Hogan and Snead cupped all their putts (no gimmes). Woods and Mickelson must have feared shooting 80’s, because they gave each other putts no Golfer would give another after watching Tiger rim out his three footer on Hole Two.

Good-Good? Good-Good? This isn’t a High-School Team Qualifyer where buddies try to help each other get on the travel squad!

Tiger’s skanked heel shots off the tee gives the lie to the idea that he is some type of superior ball striker. Hell, with Hogan’s Driver Tiger would have had a few whiffs, or at least a zoink straight into the gallery at a 45 degree angle. Let’s say the truth here… modern equipment is so forgiving that never again will a Golfer attain the heights of the great ball-strikers of the last century.

As for Phil, he needs to spend some of that $9 million cash grab on some serious heart medical treatment and man-boob reduction. Don’t make Amy a widow before her time. His gasping for breath climbing small hills makes Hogan’s march across the Fairways at Merion in the 1950 US Open on legs and body destroyed by the Bus Crashing into his car a year earlier look like a Decathlete’s performance at an Olympic Games.

Look what the powers that be (money = power today) have done with a beautiful Game.

Where does Golf Go From Here?

Well, now that I will have thoroughly pissed off Tiger, Phil, their Agents, the TV Clowns that enjoyed their paychecks facilitating this fiasco, as well as die hard man-crush on Tiger and Phil groupies, it’s time I took the gloves off and set this right. So here goes…

Tiger, I know you’re still pissed off at the $68 Vince Covello took you for on the green at the Medalist Club in January 2012. You remember… Vince (a mini-tour player) took Putting 2.0 Lessons from me, and my Black Hawk Putter, and drove down from TPC Sawgrass to the Medalist (your home club) and walked up to you on the practice tee and challenged you to a match… remember? (Good Lord did Vince have stones for…)

And after he booted your butt on the green, you tested the putter, asked him where he got it. “David Kargetta at TPC Sawgrass” was the answer. You surely remember what happened next, only you don’t know the true version of the story. You “know” what your handlers told you, and it was surely not the truth.

You surely also remember me teaching at the Medalist the next week, watching me roll in 60+ footers for Ricky and Hugo and Hank… while explaining why making such putts was physically possible (actually, likely) with the right tool and technique.

Remember?

You want to know the whole truth of that period?

You want to try to get back that $68, plus a lot more?

Well here’s your chance.

I’m challenging you and your buddy Phil to a $1 Million per Man three-way Putting Challenge. Winner Take All. The Challenge would take place at Torrey Pines… you like the greens there, and Phil lives right down the road at Rancho Santa Fe.

This idea has been in my mind since you saw me putt at the Medalist. Only then it was just you. But seeing as Phil has an extra $9M in the bank (less the taxes… you will pay the taxes, right Phil? Don’t listen to the advisors that led you astray during that Walters fiasco)… so including him makes perfect sense.

Like I said, the Challenge will be at Torrey. We set up three Putts, all three about 33 feet in length… this is the distance of average proximity on the PGA Tour (check the stats) and it’s where three putts about equal one putts.

We each start at a station (A, B, C). Putt as many balls as needed to make ten, then move to next station (A-B, B-C, C-A). Your score is how many balls (putts) you need to hit, to make the thirty total putts on all three stations.

Pretty simple. Make thirty “33 Footers” in fewer putt attempts than I can make (or Phil manages) and you win. A $Million from me, and a $Million from Phil.

Tiger, I know you won’t say yes to the Challenge. You’ve got too much to lose, and only $2 Million to gain. Especially since your agent is still pissed he didn’t get to collect the $1 Million he was supposed to get back in January of 2012, when the deal that his go-between thought he had in his pocket didn’t happen. You remember that one too, I’m sure. But only… you don’t know the real truth of that aborted Nike deal, either. You want the truth? Well… I’ll tell you the whole story on the green at Torrey. Bet you fire some people once you know the real truth. You coulda won a bunch of Majors since then. Not my fault you didn’t.

Here’s a direct line to me Tiger… call 833-ONE-PUTT (833-663-7888) and we’ll chat. Tell Mark to take a rest on this one, I like doing things the right way.

Okay… one last stab at getting you to say yes to the Challenge. You and Phil only need to make Nine, not Ten Putts at each station. 27, not 30. I’m going to spot you a gimme on each of the three stations… your first putts at each are conceded by me. That gives you a 10% (or 11.1%, depending on which way you look at it) advantage on me. Still afraid to say yes?

In case you want to do some opposition research, check out my videos… even though I’m sure your memory is good about me making putts.

World Record at Fairbanks Ranch…

https://recordsetter.com/world-record/consecutive-golf-putts-holed-from-33-feet/38143

Vimeo site videos…

https://vimeo.com/oriongolf/videos

Oh yeah, for Phil… here’s a putting video at The Farms (your home course) you might want to check out… and ask the Members there about my putting when I was there to teach Putting 2.0… (on this video the green was aerated and bumpy). Go ahead and try to replicate it… I’ll give you two months filming to do it once (that’s the odds) on good greens.

https://vimeo.com/89709294

So… I’m waiting Tiger… call 833-ONE-PUTT (833-663-7888). Torrey Pines. You wouldn’t talk to me that day at the Medalist (your handlers saw to that). Meet me on the green though, and You’ll learn the whole truth. Isn’t that alone worth the Million?

Oh yeah Tiger, by the way, when I kick your butt way worse than Vince kicked your’s long ago, you’ll pay the Million straight to the Charity I’ve given my life (7 years and counting) and this project for… Children’s Bone Cancer research to find a solution. I don’t do cash grabs. And I don’t care what people think… I care about what God thinks of what I do. Maybe that’s why my Daughter got the Heaven Miracle. I stay true to Integrity because I’m asking Him to give me two more Miracles, both needed as much as the first.

 

 

Email me at oriongolf@ymail.com if you would like to receive info on how to…

… Make donation to SJCRH & get Gift Certificates for Putter purchases

12 ways for a Merry SJCRH Christmas

… Get Our Video series “Putting 2.0” delivered to your inbox, or mailbox

… Play a round of Golf with the Putting Engineer in 2014

… Have the Putting Engineer teach you “in-Person” all about Putting 2.0

… Learn how you can earn not only a Putter, but up to $1,000 in cash

… Arrange for chance for you and 11 others to Putt for $6,000 at your Course

… Follow the Putting Engineer’s day by day “on-the-green” Putting Video Log in 2014

… Tell Your Black Hawk or Black Swan story, and maybe feature in Our Videos

… Try a Black Hawk or Black Swan for a day, including the Putting 2.0 Lesson

… Trade in Your Old Putter, for benefit of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

… Earn up to a $100 credit on a new Black Hawk or Black Swan Putter

… Start your own “Putting Team” at your club, to compete with others, with our help

… Join Our Team of Enthusiasts… our “Pro-Exponents” in our “Putters Squared” program

… Put the Putters in Your Golf Team’s bags, if You are a High School Coach

… Help us Operationally or Professionally as a Team Member or Project Associate

… Help us with Our 2014 Golfer Education program

Or just to ask the Putting Engineer a question.

Enjoy the videos… click on the HD button for higher quality…

Making Long Putts is Fun…

The Putting Engineer making 9 of 12 from 27 feet. If other Companies COULD do this, wouldn’t they already have shown you?

Hit the ‘HD’ button on upper right for HD Video (it’s clearer)…

Here’s where to go for what’s new…

Our Video with Rukket Sports here … thanks to Jana & the people at www.rukket.com … they make a terrific Driving Net

Our Videos that Illuminate the Future of Putting (enjoy) here

Daily Putting 2.0 Talk by the Putting Engineer here

For PGA Professionals helping Grow the Game here

Invite the Putting Engineer to Your Club here

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Beginning today, I’ll be posting my daily thoughts on Putting, and directing you to information that is timely and relevant to the current issues covered. Hope that this will further the enjoyment of those who have already experienced Putting 2.0, and will help those who wonder what this really is to find a way to experience the Joy for themselves.

The downside is… I won’t be archiving this material for the public. So… to see it, you need to fit it into your daily browse moments. I have some pretty good reasons why… or… if you have a Black Hawk or Black Swan already, you can always have them emailed to you, as a monthly digest that will be tightened up. Just provide me with the details of your purchase if you got the Putter from a PGA Professional… or ask to be included on the mail list for other Putting 2.0 wisdom…

Remember… unless you already have a Black Hawk or Black Swan, this info may not apply completely to your current Putting capabilities. But, we’re happy to help even those who are temporarily cursed with Putters that do not Putt where they Aim, or with Sweet Spots so small not even Tour Pros can hit them.

The link to the Daily is here…  remember… each day the page will change… so view and save, or subscribe.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words… I guess a Video is worth a million then.

Or, how about… Black Hawk & Swan Videos that show what other Putters cannot do.

See the following…

Making 8 of 12 from 15 feet

Making 9 of 12 from 27 feet

Making 26 of 48 from 27 feet

Making 3 in a Row from 65 feet

Making 30 of 48 from 24 feet

Making 8 of 10 from 30 feet

Making 4 in a Row from 36 feet

Enjoy.

Unless you are a Putter Designer or Executive for some Golf Equipment Company.

We say it clear… You Will Putt Better with the Black Hawk, or Black Swan Putters, than You will with any other Putter, and better than You ever have Putted in Your Life, during the very first Putting 2.0 Lesson that we provide. Guaranteed.

In fact… We also Guarantee, that after You take the Putting 2.0 Lesson, and Putt with Our Putters, that You will clearly state to us that the Putter, and the Lesson, are the best two things to happen to Your Golf Game… Ever.

If the Putter & Lesson completely delights You, so much that You want to tell Your friends about us, then we’ve done our job. If not, we don’t want you even the slightest bit disappointed.

That’s why… if at the end of Your first lesson, you aren’t absolutely delighted, we offer to take the Putter back, on the spot.

Performance… Guaranteed.

Nobody else gives You what we do. One Putts. It’s not just our web address… it’s what we provide.

If You Designed a Putter to Make Putts…

… It would be designed to actually “Putt where it Aims”. Surprisingly to most folks, all other Putters… Don’t.

… It would have a Sweet Spot (or zone of effective strike) big enough that You could hit it every time. None Do… Except Ours.

… It would have Perfect Geometry, and be built for each Golfer’s exact Geometric positions. Only Ours are built that way.

… It would “Make Your Stroke Better”. Of course, that’s exactly what a 3-time Major Champion said… after Putting with Ours.

… It would have a Face that minimized to the greatest degree Strike Variance. Not like those poor designs with grooves and inserts.

… It would be totally balanced, with a straight shaft intersecting the head’s center of mass exactly. Why start with error?

… It would be designed to put You in the exact same position every Putt. Fixtured Consistency… only Ours do that.

… It would be so easy to swing like a Pendulum… because it was designed to BE a Pendulum. No stupid marketing gimmick backweighting.

… It would Roll the Ball perfectly every time, even on mis-strikes. Don’t believe that’s possible? Try Ours and smile.

… It would have far more repeatable Distance and Speed Control. Oh yeah… FAR more repeatable. Three-Putts just about Dis-appear.

… It would be Tested using advanced (Probability) Statistical techniques, proving it’s superiority. Ours were. They did. You’ll be shocked.

… It would be designed to be “Obvious” as to it’s fitness for the task, after you actually Putted with it. Try it and you’ll too tell us… “Obvious!”

It’s a Putter. In other words, a tool designed to Make Putts. Putt-er. Frankly, it’s the only Putter(s) in Golf today, by that standard.

Just thinking… Do You have a friendly wager riding? $5? $10? $20? More?

What’s a Stroke Worth to You then… would you change Putters to save a Stroke per Round?

How Many Rounds a Year do you play… Once a week? (50), Twice a Week? (100), Four times a Week? (200).

Multiply the two answers together… for example… a $10 wager level x Twice a Week (100 rounds) = $1,000 value for a Stroke Less per Round.

So, it’s worth over a Grand to drop a Stroke, if you play twice a week, with $10 wagers on the line. That’s just in the first year… not to mention all future years.

Oh yes… almost forgot. Our Putter’s Performance Data shows well over a Stroke per Round benefit. With everybody. Some Golfers far more than a Stroke.

Maybe that’s why the last three golfers I queried said they wouldn’t return our Putters, and use something else, even if we paid them $1,000.

Of course, the satisfaction of making more Putts is something you couldn’t put a monetary value on… actually, it’s priceless!

Just thought you’d like to know that.

By the way… “there’s No Gambling at Bushwood.”

But if You use a Putter that’s a sure thing… is it really Gambling?

Take a good look at this video… is the Putter being used about as close to “automatic One-Putts” as you can imagine? http://youtu.be/p3iVvhTpz1E

Just some thoughts on the USGA’s latest US Open Championship…

Congratulations, Justin Rose… a wonderful performance.

When Ben Hogan won in 1950, Merion was 6700 yards… and Hogan shot 287 (+7), then won in a playoff with a 69 (-1), for a 90 hole score of +6. Average score therefor was 71.2 for Hogan over 5 rounds, playing 36 on third day. Justin Rose won with +1 over 4 rounds, average score 70.25. Less than a shot under Hogan per round. One… Shot.

Modern driver / ball combinations are about 40 to 60 yards farther than 1950… in the hands of top professionals. Multiply 14 tee shots by 50 yards, and add 700 yards to Hogan’s Merion, you get 7400 yards, or 400 yards longer than it played this week.

Let’s not even factor in nicer greens, rounder balls, spinner grooves on wedges, 62* lobs, or hitting Irons 25 to 40 yards farther on average. Just 14 tee shots worth of distance.

Well… 400 yards is still several strokes per round (way more than 1).

Hogan was also on crippled legs too… walking those 90 holes, at four miles longer than the 2013 field’s 72. Not to mention his other injuries.

Hogan’s 1950 performance sure looks good from here. Greatest Golfer of All Time? Definitely not anyone active today. I’d take Hogan any day, against any of the players today, on any course, for any wager.

Oh yeah… Ben Hogan won just $4,000 of the $15,000 total purse in 1950. Four G’s. Nearly every caddy that looped a cut-maker made that much today.

By he way, Mr. Nager… it’s time the USGA right an awful wrong that is 71 years old. You know what I’m talking about. Time to finally ‘fess up… Ben Hogan won the 1942 USGA Open. He won FIVE USGA Gold Medals. Not Four. Oh yeah, he shot a 62 in that event as well. Open Record Low Round, ever since.

Time to start a Petition of the USGA to recognize Hogan’s First of Five USGA Open Victories. Comment here with your name and email contact, handicap and city (won’t all be shown, just initials and handicap) to be added to the Petition.

Had a fairly typical Day at the incredible Myrtle Beach National Golf Club, Tuesday. On the Putting Green from 9 am to 6 pm… enjoying helping about a dozen Golfers Make More Putts than Tour Pros. Just a sampling…

Five Golfers, all retired Military (thank you, gentlemen), came to watch a friend of theirs Putt with the Black Hawk. I told the Gent that he would be making 3 in a row from 20+ feet within minutes. As they all expressed astonishment, and said that nobody could make that many Putts, I volunteered to hit five 100+ foot Putts across the green, and make at least one. Tough Putt, because it was over a ridge, breaking right. Should have seen the looks on their faces when the first ball went in. Roars of astonishment… followed by “Magnets under the hole!”. All you can do is smile. The Gent? Yes, he made three in a row… twice.

A Senior Lady from North Carolina who had never hit a Golf Shot, or even a Putt, in her entire life, was convinced by her sweetheart to go ahead and hit a few Putts with a Black Hawk. What did she do? Well, she rolled in her first two Putts ever struck… from over 24 feet. She looked over at her astonished companion, and said… “This is easy!” Her companion then couldn’t wait to take the lesson.

A Senior Gentleman from Granbury, Texas, retired Military, took a condensed two-minute Putting 2.0 Lesson from me… and promptly proceeded to cup 7 out of 10… from 24 feet. That’s about 6x the Tour average at that distance.

Four Gents from the Knoxville region all came and learned a bit too. When one of them hit his first dozen attempts with the Black Hawk, he made four. His next dozen? Five. Their tee-time stopped that session, before he could make six… or more.

Another Senior Gentleman from New Jersey, with significant injuries and disability (surgeries on shoulder, spine, and hands), came and tried the Future of Putting. After a short orientation period, he holed 11 out of 36 from the same 24 feet. Lest you think the green was easy to putt, the grain had already become a strong factor late in the day when he putted. Thrilled with what for him was just “off the charts” Putting, he talked Putting for over an hour while stroking pure rolls into the cup. When I asked him repeatedly about fatigue, he said it was so easy and fun, he didn’t care about the pain.

A Senior Lady Golfer, 4 handicap, from Maryland, a Mathematics Teacher and Eight-Time US Army Champion, and Six-Time Inter-Service Champion, was complaining that she was having trouble getting her Rossa TaylorMade Spider Putter to hit putts “on-line”. I explained to her why… the faulty Putter Geometry of her TM was the root cause. She agreed to a short lesson… so we started by letting her test making a 24 footer with her putter, and no help from me. She missed all 12 attempts. Then, after a short lesson, she made 7 out of 9 using the Black Hawk. When she expressed astonishment that this was so impossible (math is her specialty, remember), and said she didn’t believe that a Putter and a Lesson could be the combination of success that it clearly was, I had her hit another dozen with her putter. When none went in, the light bulb went on. The next half-hour was very illuminating… and a lot of fun.

Just another day… at my office.

Can you drive the ball 285 yards on average, hitting 65% of the fairways?

Can you hit 11, 12, or 13 greens in regulation on an average day, playing a 7000 yard setup?

Can you get up & down from greenside bunkers roughly half the time?

If you’re like most golfers… none of the above.

But can you make 10% of your thirty footers?

Can you make 2 out of 5 from ten feet? 40%? If you do, you putt as good as the Tour players.

I’ll bet you can… and within the first five minutes of a putting session with the Black Swan. I’ll bet you repeatedly make 40%+ from ten feet, or longer, within minutes.

In fact, I’ll bet you do even better. I’ll bet, in a series of tests, with the Tour player averages as your new benchmark, you’ll putt just as well as they do. You’ll putt from all angles, all breaks, and from all over the green, in a simulated round drill. Never the same putt twice.

Bet you wax the Tour averages. I do. Every day. See me make 30 of 48 (62%) from 24 feet… http://youtu.be/p3iVvhTpz1E … that’s 5x the Tour average from that distance! http://www.pgatour.com/content/pgatour/stats/stat.407.html … the Top guy (at 15 makes out of 50) from 20-25 feet is still only 30%. The average is about 12%.

See the math on the probability of that occurring by a Tour Pro that makes 16% from 24 feet (few do, and we typically inflate the actual Tour Stats by between +25 to +33%, in recognition of hitting repeated Putts from the same spot… which replicate the best of what PGA Tour Pros did when we tested them with their own Putters)…

So here is the Binomial & (more importantly) Cumulative Probability of this happening in this calculator (stattrek.com)…

The P(X<30) shows the likelihood of a result less than 30. This is = 0.999999999999527.

Subtract this from 1, you get the probability of 30 or more makes happening… = 0.000000000000473. Or 4.7295 E-13 (the box cuts off the 3 in E-13).

Or… 1 chance in over 2 Trillion. Even if we double the probability (small safety factor) it still shows it’s over a Trillion to One odds against this happening with a typical Putter. So… it’s not a fluke, because we’ve done hundreds of such events.

It’s not me. It’s the Putter.

Why then, am I so confident that You can do it too?

Because the Black Swan & Black Hawk putters give the player a massive edge compared to all previous and conventional putters. It works every time.

Why?

Because if you had always had a putter that “putts where it aims”, and was designed only with making putts in mind, you’d always have putted like a Tour Pro.

Well, now you can. The Black Swan, and the Black Hawk.

You’re a Better Putter than You Think You Are. Guaranteed.

On Your First Session, You’ll Putt Better than You Ever Have. Guaranteed. Why? Because with our Putter, and our “Putting 2.0” Lesson (which I’ll be giving You personally), everybody Putts Far Better.

You’ll be so thrilled, You’ll tell me personally, on your cell phone how great You are Putting… because I’ll be on the phone with You when You do it. Guaranteed. Then, You’ll probably e-mail me, telling me again how jazzed You are about Putting Great.

Here’s my Triple Guarantee. Order a Black Hawk or Black Swan. Take my Lesson. On the very first session with it on the Putting Green, if you don’t Putt Far Better than You ever have, and if You don’t think the Lesson was Great too, and if You aren’t so excited that You want to e-mail me Your experience… just send it back, and we’ll refund your purchase.

Click green bar (5 sec GIF) to see reactions of Golfers to the Black Hawk & Black Swan

One of the interesting things we learned early on, in test-marketing the Putters, was that Golfers actually played more once they put the Black Hawk or Black Swan Putter in their golf bag. It was a shock early on, but then as time went on, it made perfect sense. After all, if you’re making more Putts than ever before, why not play more?

The National Golf Foundation did some research, and learned that 87% of Golfers would play more, provided one thing happened… that they played better.

Sounds like simple common sense to me.

We’ve done some research on the subject of playing better… and can state with certainty the following…

99%+ of those that take a Putting 2.0 Lesson from me, with the Black Hawk or Black Swan, Putt Better than previously with their old favorite putter. We’ve had no failures, if the Golfer actually applies the simple techniques we teach. It’s not difficult. In fact, because of the tool (Putter) that we provide, you really can’t help but improve.

Perhaps that’s why, last year, a three-time Major Champion & Hall of Fame inductee said to me the best comment I heard about the Putter on the green in the last two years. When he asked me… “David, do you know what this Putter does?”, and I answered “… tell me”, he replied… “It Makes My Stroke Better!”.

It’ll make your Stroke Better, too. That’s especially good, as you’ll be playing more… because you’ll be making more putts. Sure sounds like a virtuous circle, doesn’t it?

Putter-head Mass Moment of Inertia, or “MOI”, is one very important component of good putting results. Since the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters debuted, the Golf Industry’s participants and pundits have been scratching their heads and trying to find a way to deal with the fact that we’ve blown away the previous putter paradigm.

It’s fun to watch them twist, squirm, and try to ignore what stares them in the face. All of their putters are functionally obsolete, in light of what really works. They even say so themselves. Even to me. “All other putters are Junk!” is a common reaction when I put our Putters in their hands, and make them use their own right after.

The marketing behemoth in the equipment sphere has now done exactly what I had predicted to one of their VP’s last August. They took their biggest putter, and increased it’s size, renamed it, and painted it their corporate colors (white-red-black). As an example of marketing smoke and mirrors (what this company does best), it’s obvious and safe. But is it really a breakthrough? Let’s look at the facts. This new “Ultra High” MOI of the arachnid of note is touted as 8500 gm-cm2. Ultra high? Maybe by the standards of 1970. It’s still barely a third of the Black Hawk or Black Swan. Not exactly a breakthrough. Not even a catch-up.

It’s as if GM responded to the rear-engined Porsche 911’s far superior handling characteristics by saying they’ve improved their rear-engined Corvair’s handling by putting on slightly bigger tires. Ignoring the obvious is one strategy… but did anyone clamor for another slightly improved Corvair?

The Black Hawk’s vertical axis MOI is 21 Kg-Cm2, and the Black Swan’s is 23 Kg-Cm2 (or, 21,000 g-cm2, and 23,000 g-cm2). We measure in Kg-Cm2, because you can’t really feel the difference in increments under a Kg-Cm2. The “granularity” is such that a 8,000 vs an 8,500 value is effectively negligible, and not sensed by the player at all. So slightly improving what was the previous range of MOI values is simply not effective in creating a breakthrough Putting result.

Our breakthrough results are from creating Putters with “Perfect Geometry” (TM), as well as a “Whole Face SweetSpot” (TM).

They can deny or ignore this in public for a while (they sure don’t in private), but those who Putt with the Black Hawk & Black Swan know the Truth, and will eventually make Putting Greens look like Porsche New Car Dealer Lots, instead of Used Car Corvair Graveyards.

Oh, by the way… their Geometry of their new spider style putter is just as defective as their previous versions. Whoops. Plus, they violate another engineering principle by mimicking a different company’s back-weighting strategy. Counterbalance? As buzzwords go, it sound impressive. Until that is, you realize that it actually counters the ability of the putter to swing like a pendulum. Whoops again.

If you’d like to know the whole story, and why you should try a real Putter (because it really makes more Putts), give me a call. 1-407-844-7885.

We’re looking for three Golfers to feature in our Video Production of “Putting 2.0“.

Send us an email at oriongolf@ymail.com, with 90 words or less why we should pick you. What do you get? A VIP Day of Golf & Putting with the Putting Engineer, Putting Lesson included, and if you don’t already have one, a Black Hawk or Black Swan Putter. We’ll be filming, so you’ll need to sign a video release agreement.

You can attach graphics, photos, videos, whatever you think will help us choose you. Show us your old putter, and your technique if you’d like.

How good a Putter are You? Do You even know? Does it matter?

If you’re like most people I meet, you’re disappointed with your putting, and don’t truly understand why you can’t putt better, and are just a bit frustrated trying to fix it by buying another “new and improved” putter.

Here’s the cause… and here’s a true solution.

The cause of your “poor” putting is your old putter. The reason that buying another putter doesn’t fix it, is that other putters have the same fundamental defects as what you were using. You might putt better for a short while, but it’s because of blind luck.

The true solution? A Putter that doesn’t have the defects of all others. A Putter that was actually designed to do just one thing. Make More Putts.

Take on the Putting Challenge… find out how good a Putter You actually are. Roll 30 Putts from about 30 feet, with at least one foot of break, with your Putter, and count the makes. Then try the Black Hawk or Black Swan. Compare… repeat.

What you’ll learn is, you’re actually already a good Putter. If you have the correct tool in your hands.

The Black Hawk, and the Black Swan. Enjoy learning about them, at one-putts.com

We’ve collected enough putting test data to long ago know without any doubt that the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters are the Best Putters Ever Designed. It’s stunningly obvious. “Best By Far” is the only conclusion you can draw looking at the data, as well as the consensus opinion of everyday players (“amazing… so why didn’t the other companies do this?”), top industry professionals (“all other putters are junk!”), and the best Golfers (PGA Club, Teaching, and Touring Professionals) who try it (“Best, By Far!” or “Makes My Stroke Better!” or “It’s 80% better than any Putter if it’s fit right, but it’s still 60% better if it’s not fit right!”). (All actual quotes!)

But… I think the real view of the issue should be… are the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters the “Only True Putters” in the Game today? It deserves some serious thought… you’ll especially think so when comparing ours vs. all others.

Yesterday I was on the green with the classic putters I grew up with, plus a few of the “new” releases from various companies. Of course, I try to make every putt I hit… so to me, I want to know the peak capability of any putter in my hands. Trying to make putts with other putters is a brutal exercise in frustration. Of course I’m able to understand other putter design defects so that I can “compensate” against them to some degree. Even so, it’s frustrating to try and be unable to get the ball to roll on the line you envision, and roll true to the hole.

On the green at Orange County National Wednesday, I was with a gentleman who really was engaged in what “Putting 2.0” is all about. The Joy of Making Putts. So… Joy vs. Frustration. It’s what it boils down to. To see the Joy of a golfer making putts, just minutes after seeing their frustration, you have to wonder… are all other putters destined for the garages (to smack the rogue possums) and fireplaces (to poke the hot embers) of their owners? Wouldn’t those tasks be better uses for those “putters”?

That’s the real question… If a tool “Frustrates” you, in using it, is it really a tool? Are what golfers currently think of as “putters” really Putters? If you feel akin to trying to use a wrench to hammer with, is it really a tool in your hand? If you’d never had a hammer to use, and been pounding away with wrenches all these years, what would you be thinking after swinging a hammer for the first time! Use the right tool!

The Putter was named the Black Swan precisely for this reason… it is a “Black Swan” event in Golf Equipment… and obviously the right tool to make putts with.

Black Swan = Unexpected + Changes the Game + Obvious after the Fact. From the view of those who’ve used it… the only Putting Tools in existence are the ones that are truly “Black Swans” (and Hawks!).

Golf Digest & Golf World magazines have selected the “Black Hawk Putter” as the #1 Golf Equipment Story of 2012.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/2012-12/golf-equipment-stories-2012#slide=1

We’re not surprised at the selection. But they totally missed the real story. In fact, they never even asked us a question.

If you’d like the real story, a good start is to read the pages here on one-putts.com. Here’s the beginning of the story…

https://one-putts.com/about/the-story-behind-the-black-hawk-black-swan-putters/

If you want, you can send me an email, or request a call. You can hear more of the real story… in person.

Wait til they see what happens in 2013. It’s going to be a fun year. For us… and all of the Hawk & Swan Flock.

For a video sample of what these Putters can do for you, check out the Designer holing an astounding 30 of 48 Putts (62%)… from 24 feet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3iVvhTpz1E

I don’t do any controlled trials personally anymore. Usually I’m quite busy teaching others, and sometimes they will perform trials. My work in that area was mostly done over a year ago. However, once in a while I get a chance to have some fun stretching the envelope a bit.

Well, yesterday, at Litchfield CC in Pawley’s Island… I had a real good day.

After driving over 400 miles, I stepped out of the car, and had more than a few minutes to get ready for a demonstration for a dozen PGA Professionals. I dropped balls on the green, and rolled 5 balls at a hole 110 feet away. The third ball went in. But, as the green mower pattern was at right angles to the putt, the ball wobbled back and forth as it hit cross-grain about 20 times over the distance hit. So I decided to putt East-West instead of North-South.

I looked at a tough 50 footer, from the fringe on one side, over a slight rise and a tricky little break right at the end. I looked at the balls on the green, and counted out the 25 balls. Now, making one or two of 25 from 50 feet would be good. So I thought to do a short trial… but only had time for maybe 25 balls, not the 100 I usually do. So my goal? 5 out of 25 would be great.

The first putt went in. So did the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 9th. Five already, with sixteen balls left. I smiled. Two minutes later, on the 23rd ball, the 10th ball to fall went in the front of the cup, and the hole was full to the brim. I rolled the last two… they both hit the front of the hole rolling slowly, and bounced a few inches to the side after hitting the pyramid of balls.

Twelve. Out of 25. 48%.

I know it was a short trial… but here’s the math. Plugged into the Bernoulli… If a Tour Pro could make 5% from 50 feet on average, what’s the odds of making 12 or more of 25? Go to stattrek.com, load in .05 probability, 25 attempts, 12 successes, look for… Cumulative Probability: P(X > 12). It’s a whopper.

6.87653045616798 x E-10… or, in other words… 7 chances in 10,000,000,000. Seven chances in TEN BILLION. Over a Billion to One odds against.

It’s no joke. It’s no fluke. And it’s simply the function of a Black Swan on the green.

Hey, it’s not me. It’s Putting 2.0.

Well, the USGA & the Royal & Ancient have finally offered a proposed ruling on “Anchored Putters”. We’re not surprised by any of it. But then, we already obsoleted Belly & Long Putters… before the announcement. Why? Because of physics. Our standard length Putters out-putt all anchored styles… we proved it. Repeatedly.

An example … One PGA Professional, a multiple time PGA Section Player of the Year, and using his Long “Two-Ball” for over a decade, was a typical hard skeptic. But his result? 75% better in a head to head trial our Putters (standard length) than his favorite broomstick. No fluke. His exact words? “Your Putter just blew mine away in every test… how is that possible?”

Easy. Physics.

Long Putters move the balance point up the shaft, away from the head. Because of this, the radius of gyration of the putter is proportionally shortened, making the putter actually “not likely” to swing like a pendulum. Too bad for those who somehow think the long putter would dampen their stroke variances… actually, the right combination is a balance of multiple factors… a long radius of gyration relative to overall length, high swingweight relative to overall weight, and enough head mass to adequately serve the other parameters.

Everybody has been chasing their tails for so long, they forgot that God’s Laws Rule, not the USGA.

By the way… I even showed the Author of the #2 Best Selling Golf Instruction Book, a genius in Instruction, how to putt with a long putter (he has a bad back) without anchoring the putter with his upper hand, a year ago. We demonstrated it’s superiority to anchoring, if you have to use a long putter. He was so stunned, after nearly two hours, he shook my hand and exclaimed… “David, I’ve been teaching for over 50 years… and now I finally learned how to putt!”

What is the Core Function of the PGA Professional? Simple. To Make Golf a Better Game.

When the first Golf Professionals were imported from Scotland to American Country Clubs, they came to help the early and enthusiastic practicioners of the Ancient Scottish Game. They built the clubs, fashioned the balls, designed the courses, supervised the maintenance, and most importantly… taught the members.

From Haskell balls that replaced the Gutties molded in the back rooms of primitive Golf Shops, to the early persimmon woods with the first steel tubular shafts, to the graphite shafted modern 460cc drivers of today, Golf Professionals have embraced technological developments that help their members play better. Though the nature of Golf has changed significantly through the decades, one thing remains the same, or should… Golf Professionals help Golfers enjoy Golf more.

Consider now… a development that allows all of your members to experience the most important part of Golf… Putting… at the level of a Tour Professional. All of them… I’m not kidding… can easily Putt Like a Tour Pro. Why do I make such an outrageous claim? Because I do it every day… in fact, have been for nearly two years now. Better yet… YOU, the PGA Professional, has a key role in helping it happen.

Best of all? It works every time.

I’ll give you two examples of my recent activity. An elite Private Club in the Mid-South hosted me on their green recently, and 24 of their members came to the Putting Green to experience Putting 2.0. The result? Sixteen Golfers of the twenty-four immediately placed the Black Hawk or Black Swan in their golf bag. One member actually made his first 5 thirty footers… no joke. He steps up on the green, asks me… “is this for real?”… and cups five straight. He looks at me, and all I can do is smile. Except for going to the grocery store, it’s hard for me to think of any other example where 2/3rds of the persons exposed to something new actually buy it on the spot.

I then visited a great facility in North Carolina. It was cold, wet, and windy, but 18 hardy souls came out to learn that they too could make putts at extreme frequencies. The Director of Golf, who has been suffering from yips for 28 years (and was using a long putter he got from Orville Moody long ago), actually rid himself of yips in less than 5 minutes on that cold wet morning. With our standard length Black Swan. His members didn’t want to stop putting… from 8 am to 5 pm, they stayed on the green. We’ve placed 11 Putters in those bags so far, with more of the 18 waiting for my return trip. The Teaching Professional, a two-time Irish PGA Champion, immediately took to the Putters also, and put on demonstrations for the members on the green himself, making everything he putted. Of course, a few hours before, he too, was a hard skeptic.

So… if you are a PGA Professional, interested in getting your members excited about Golf again, and having a key role in the process, contact us. Invite me to your Putting Green, send out an email to your members, and watch the magic happen. You’ll stick the Putter in your bag, your members bags, and give them the Lessons we provide to all who embrace Putting 2.0.

Often, when searching for an answer to a problem… I’ll go back and browse my copies of books written by those whose genius I respect the most. One of those books is Henry Ford’s “My Life & Work”. It’s a wonderful look at the thinking that probably did more to create a Middle Class of Working Men in this country, than anything else… all while providing Americans with low cost reliable transportation. My Grandfather was a Toolmaker for “Mr. Ford”, and taught me much as a boy, as did my Father, who taught me to be a Design Engineer.

Ford’s successes were built upon the basic truths all Manufacturer’s should understand and live by… Creation of Value, Serving the Customer, Rewarding Workers, Simplifying & Improving the Processes, Designing for Quality & Performance, Elimination of Waste.

For the coming year, 2013, I thought perhaps to Simplify and make more Robust my “work”. What is that work? Making You the Best Putter You’ve Ever Been. When I do that, I create a Friend, and perhaps… an Advocate of What We Teach… Putting 2.0.

I’m traveling a lot now… and will be available in quite a few regions this winter… North & South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Now… there are 26 million of you out there… and just one of me. I can’t design a Time Machine… so I need to leverage the process.

I’ve committed the rest of “My Life & Work” to raising funds for a cause I’ve been guided to embrace. I’ll do so in the way I think is best… on Putting Greens… One to One. If you’d like to be One who experiences this incredible feeling of finally Making Putts at a frequency greater even than Touring Pros, contact me and ask for the chance to experience it now.

Here’s what I’m offering for all who request it until the end of 2012…

Order a Black Hawk or Black Swan… meet me at any of the Putting Greens I’ll be on this winter (Pinehurst, Myrtle Beach, Atlanta, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, Hilton Head, Columbia, Charleston, Wilmington, Savannah, West Palm, Boca Raton, Naples, Tampa, or Ocala), and not only will you receive the Putting Lesson (from me personally) that helps You Putt Like a Tour Pro, but receive Golf & Putting Lessons for a Lifetime. How? Register as one of our Putting 2.0 Advocates.

Each time you refer a friend of yours to what it’s like to Putt Like a Tour Pro, and they also put the Black Hawk or Black Swan in their bag, you’ll receive a $30 Certificate for a PGA Golf Lesson, that you can take to the Professional of your choice… accumulate as many Certificates as you wish, there’s no limit. You can take any type of Lesson you wish… Driving for Distance & Accuracy, Iron play, Wedge & Bunker, or Putting (you may take the added Putting Lessons from me anytime). We’ll also send one to the Friend You refer to us. You both can enjoy improving your game in 2013.

After taking the Lesson from a PGA Professional, show them how you Putt with the Black Hawk or Black Swan. If they decide to place the Putters in their bag, and Golf Shop, we’ll send you Two more Certificates.

We want You to Enjoy Putting, and the rest of Your Golf Game too. Here’s to Your 2013 Golf Season… the Best You’ve Ever Had.

Wow. We’re finally done testing.

It’s time to finally call it for what it is… it’s Putting 2.0.

Putting 1.x is done. RIP all you Ansers and their Questionable (and Numerous) Knock-Offs. Goodbye Gimmicky Mallets. Farewell to Funky Flanges, Platinum Teutonic Stainless Steel Series, Oilcan Brown Blades and Hot White Spiders. So long to all Heavy-in-the-Wrong-Place Putters too. All Gimmicks. All Marketing. All Defective.

All existing putters have now been rendered… obsolete. You might want to use them to poke the coals in your grill or wood in your fireplace, or chase a possum or wolverine in your garage, or put them on your wall as momento of by-gone days. But… you are simply costing yourself putts if you use anything other than the Putters that have proven repeatedly to be better, by a stunning margin, than all others.

The Black Hawk, and the Black Swan. So much better, we make this simple declaration. You will Putt Significantly Better with either a Black Hawk or Black Swan. Actually… it’s God’s Physics & Geometry that guarantees this. We’ve simply proved that Geometry & Physics beats Marketing & Gimmicks… every time. On all Greens. No matter Who is Putting. Tour Pros. Club & Teaching Pros. Top Amateurs. Single Digit Handicaps. Club Champions. Everyday Club Members. Middle & High Handicaps. Beginners. Everyone.

Sooner or later, you will use a putter that solves the problems that exist in every putter extent except two. We have the Two that do… today.

Lots of people ask me questions… here’s a set of links to answer some of them…

“Is that Putter USGA legal?”

See… https://one-putts.com/2012/03/18/50/

“How did you ever come up with the design of a putter that works so well?”

See… https://one-putts.com/about/the-story-behind-the-black-hawk-black-swan-putters/

“So… how good is it compared to my putter… really?”

See… https://one-putts.com/putting-trials-data/the-proof-is-in-the-putting-the-importance-of-data/ … then see … https://one-putts.com/2012/07/16/how-much-better-55/

“MOI… what the heck is that?”

See… https://one-putts.com/putting-science/moment-of-inertia/ … then see this… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/22/moi-the-what-why-29/

“How come I never heard of your Putter designer before?”

Maybe you have… see… https://one-putts.com/putter-design/our-engineering-team/

“Why is it called a Black Swan? Is it because it’s black, with this goose-neck looking tang on the back?”

Nope… see https://one-putts.com/2012/03/18/what-pga-professionals-say-about-the-black-hawk-black-swan-part-i/

“This is too good to be true. I’m making everything. If it’s really true, why didn’t all the other equipment companies do this?”

See… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/07/so-why-didnt-the-other-putter-companies-do-this-6/

“So what is this PERFECT GEOMETRY all about? Doesn’t my putter have it?

Only if you use our Putters… https://one-putts.com/putting-science/perfect-geometry/

“Yeah, I know all about MOI & stuff, but putting is an Art, not a Science!”

Well, see this for a better view of it… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/09/is-it-art-or-science-21-2/

“Can you make me a Belly-length version?”

First See… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/24/anchors-away-16-2/

… then email us at oriongolf@ymail.com

“Do you make a Three-Ball version?”

See… https://blackhawkputter.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/the-real-three-ball-putter.pdf

“What’s the hard black coating? Is it a paint?”

No… it’s an artificial sapphire coating, see … https://one-putts.com/putter-design/black-swan-surface-treatment/

“Do I have to take the Lesson to get the Putter?”

See… https://blackhawkputter.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/why-you-need-a-pga-putting-lesson.pdf

“What about Tour players? What do they think?”

See… https://one-putts.com/putting-trials-data/tour-professionals/ … and here… https://one-putts.com/for-golf-professionals/touring-professionals/ … and here… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/10/black-swan-video/

“Who’s the best player using it?”

Well, in my eyes, my favorite player using it is a real gentleman who won the USGA & British Amateurs in the same year, 1967. He’s Bob Dickson. I currently have put the putter into the hands of winners of over a dozen USGA, R&A, or other major championships.. see https://one-putts.com/2012/03/25/what-pga-professionals-say-about-the-black-hawk-black-swan-part-iii/ … and see… https://one-putts.com/2012/07/18/an-extraordinary-pleasure-18/

“Can you design me a Driver?” (actually first heard this one from a Touring pro, after he made a bunch of putts)

Not now… but… 🙂

When we show the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters to Golf Professionals, we get pretty much the exact same reaction dynamic every time…

Before they know the facts, and have putted with the Black Swan, the Pro is skeptical, from mildly doubting to wildly opinionated. We understand why. When nobody in the world can make more than 20% of their twenty-footers over any serious stretch, and then you hear a guy saying he’s got 5 balls from 90+ feet, and asks how many you’d like to see made, it’s a shock to the system. Typical response? No way pal… you can’t make any from this distance! You can’t make one-of-five from twenty feet! Much less ninety!

Of course, it’s a bigger shock when he actually sees me make one, or even two, or more… all while hitting it from all over the putter-face. Plus, the misses darn near go in too, with perfect speed. Then when I ask him to do it, and he too make long putts repeatedly, then the sudden conflicting emotions and thoughts come rushing in…

How the heck is this possible?

Is this USGA Legal?

If it’s really true, why didn’t the other companies do this?

Why isn’t every Tour player in the world using it right now?

Can you make one do this that looks like my putter?

Right.

We hear these things every day. They are perfectly rational reactions to seeing for themself what one Hall Of Famer calls… “Black Magic”.

Now, Putting had a Past. It started with the Ancient Scots, and long-nose wooden putters. Old Tom Morris made wrought iron heel shafted putters. Then, when Walter Travis won the British Amateur using the center-shafted aluminum head “Schenectady Putter” (designed by A.F. Knight, an engineer, who worked at Thomas Edison’s Schenectady, NY, General Electric factory). Interesting enough, but when the Royal & Ancient banned it, and those like it (for nearly half a century), it was the beginning of a long cycle. History doesn’t necessarily repeat, but it does tend to follow cyclic rhymes. Read about the Schenectady putter in “American Golfer” magazine, circa 1911… http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1911/ag55i.pdf

Other putters were of course famous… Bobby Jones soon won a baker’s dozen Major Championships with Calamity Jane… a putter not much better than Old Tom Morris’ creation. Along came the Spalding Cash-In, MacGregor Silver Scot Tommy Armour IronMaster (Nicklaus 1960), the Acushnet Bullseye, and the Wilson 8802 (Palmer, Crenshaw). All classics.

Did putting fundamentally change? No. The Proof is in the Putting. Golfers did not appreciably improve their putting with any of these putters, or any others. Rounder balls and better greens were the root causes of most of what little improvement there was in putting proficiency.

Karsten Solheim (another GE engineer, from Arizona) brought putters into a new age, with the modified heel & toe weighted “Anser”. An Investment Casting, it opened the door to a cheaper way to make putter-heads, in high volume, of various alloys. You didn’t need a factory with forging and machining capability… you just needed an Invest-Cast foundry as a supplier, and an aerospace engineer would know of many. It was brilliant, and it opened golf manufacturing to a new age.

Did the Anser work appreciably better? Is 5% significant? The Anser, by any rational measure, was something less than 5% more proficient than the contemporary putters of the day. The real breakthrough was in the production method employed, not the improvement on the greens.

The fact that it is nearly impossible to prove a putter is even 5% better than any other is obvious to practical statisticians. For example, if it was completely known that a certain putter was capable to a defined level of performance (make % at a given putt), then that same putt, with a different putter, would need to hold up under a long enough trial to give a high enough confidence level to the assertion that it was better. How much? Well, using the science of statistics, even a 20% capable trial, to acheive a 21% result (5% better), requires the performance to be in a test that lasted 5000 putts (each) to get above the 95% level of certainty that it was not due to simply random cause. If it was even a 500 putt test at 5% better, you would not even be close (under 70%) to being able to determine it’s superiority.

So… forty years later, there are roughly 700 knock-offs (inspired by) of Karsten’s work. It is entrenched in the public’s mind as what a putter should look like… “the Anser Putter” is, in the main, “what a Putter is, or should be”.

But… for 150 years, putter designers forgot their basic physics, geometry and trigonometry.

Now… my first invention (1983, and patented) was assigned to General Electric, where I was an Automation & Robotics Project Engineer. It dealt with Inertial (low) Tooling for Robotics. Two years later, I solved a complex geometry (trig) problem for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines, that dealt with compound angle orientation (error) of turbine compressor blade tooling… it was in the engines of the 767 and 747 aircraft that Pratt started kicking their compressor blades at a compound to the engine axis. I solved the problem, and wrote computer programs to prove it… (3D Cad was fairly recent, and not able to solve this). Nine senior engineers, the Chief Inspector, and the entire technical staff at the most elite turbine blade manufacturer fought me tooth and nail through the process. I was 25 years old… they had on average 25 years experience. But math is what it is… and the truth wins in the end… so I ended up training all of them, and all their sister facilities. I became their ‘Go-to-Can-do” troubleshooter for over a decade.

Why does that matter?

It’s an example of the foundation of the thinking in the design of the Black Hawk & Black Swan putters.

Putters with “Perfect Geometry”.

Putters without the major Geometry Defect of other putters. 

Putters with adequate Inertia… in short… far higher “MOI”.

Putters without a stupidly small Sweet Spot.

Putters that Eliminate Bias.

Putters that Actually Putt Where You Aim.

Putters that Roll the Ball Better than Any Others.

Putters that Reduce Variance.

Putters Designed to Make Putts.

Putters that made 43% more putts when tested by 60 top players.

Putters that help you Control Speed & Distance.

Putters that make Far More Breaking Putts.

Putters that Greatly Reduce Three-Putts.

Putters that Swing Like a Pendulum.

Putters with Balance Point Closer to the Ball.

Putters with Total Balance.

Putters that “Make Your Stroke Better!”

Putters that Help You Read Greens Better.

Putters that Do Not Compromise “Makes” for “Conventional Look”.

Putters that Make You the Best Putter Possible.

What do we call such thinking?

The Future of Putting.

Enjoy.

Often, as I work my way through this project, I think of my Grandpa and his stories of working for “Mr. Ford” as a Tool Maker at the Highland Park, then Rouge Complex, then Willow Run Ford Plants over a 40 year career. I have his Gold Watch for 40 years of service… he retired the year I was born. He was never “Henry Ford” to him… he was only “Mr. Ford”. After Grandpa went to Heaven, Grandma would re-tell the stories.

One thing Mr. Ford knew very well, was that if an object didn’t perform properly, it needed a re-design. In other words, time to look for ways to change completely, and as necessary, the original thinking that created the “deficient or defective” version, and come up with a completely new and thought out solution for the problem at hand.

Though the majority of the work I did over three decades was not solely as a designer, it was the root of my engineering career. The skill that is most evident in all good design, especially evident to one who spent a lifetime searching & finding robust design solutions, is actually simple, basic, Common Sense. Mr. Ford had this in abundance.

The highlight of Mr. Ford’s “My Life & Work’, was surely, his Model T. It served it’s purpose. But we don’t drive them any more, for a good reason. It met his design goals… for that period. Genius.

Mr. Ford looked to create a solution for “the masses”. The Farmer, the Shopkeeper, the Tradesman, the Factory Worker, the Engineer, the Country Doctor… all would benefit from simple, robust, efficient, dependable Personal Transportation. It revolutionized Manufacturing, and his policy of Sharing the Benefits with his Workers (the $5 Day) helped create the Middle Class in America. It was the great “leveler” of society… all who worked, could pretty much afford the $280 Model T in the Roaring Twenties.

Of course, it only came in one color… as Ford said, “They can have any color they want, so long as it’s Black.”

The Black Swan & Black Hawk are simple tools. They are designed to do just one thing, and do it extraordinarily well… Make Putts.

They don’t look like conventional putters for a reason… physics and geometry can’t be disregarded and still have the putter perform. All previous putters disregarded the elements of good design.

Mr. Solheim designed a putter for his time… the Anser. It’s major impact was in bringing Investment Casting (lost wax process) into the golf clubhead manufacturing mainstream. A flood of castings followed. Was the Anser significantly better than all other contemporary putters? Only if you consider something under 5% significant.

But… 40+ years later… they’re still copying it today.

You don’t drive a 1965 Dodge Dart with a new fancy paint & graphic scheme, and consider yourself advanced on the road, do you? Then why do you use a S-Xerox version of Mr. Solheim’s 1960’s thinking, dressed up with red dots and a $359 price tag? It essentially putts no better… this phenomena of endless “inspired by” (knock-off) pretend magic collectible putters was beginning to resemble collecting Beanie Babies… ludicrous from a golf performance standpoint. Innovation? Exactly how? Different colors? It’s like somebody thought a Red Model T in 1980 was what passed for “innovative change”.

If you’re a player who cares how well he putts, there are exactly two choices in the game today. Both were designed to do it’s assigned job perfectly. Make Putts. Both are clean, functional, purposeful tools. Both are designed to perform as good as the Rules of God (physics & geometry) & the USGA (and please don’t tell the USGA we put them second because we fear them any less) Rules of Golf allows.

Of course, you can have the Hawk & Swan in any color you want, so long as it’s Black. You wouldn’t expect me to disregard that precedent, would you?

Thomas Edison was a genius at the Art of Innovation. Repeatedly, he shocked the world with his inventive developments. They changed the way people not only lived, but thought.

His friend, Henry Ford, said this about the public accepting True Innovation…

If I had asked the public what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

Another perceptive quote, regarding Innovation and it’s Acceptance, that explains what natural skepticism creates for the Innovator’s attempts to bring improvement to all…

Innovation by definition will not be accepted at first. It takes repeated attempts, endless demonstrations, monotonous rehearsals before innovation can be accepted and internalized by the public. This requires “courageous patience”.

There comes a point, where the repeated demonstration of “Improved Performance” as fact finally hammers down the wall of disbelief. I’ve known that, from the beginning of this project. That is why my method, for dealing with the inevitable raving skepticism, has been to put the Designs to the Test, by not just everyday players (who should benefit most from this in terms of simply putting better) but in the hands of Top Players… PGA Professionals who are Instructors, Head Professionals, and a number of Touring Professionals.

And what happens when I do?

Every single person putts far better. Not a little better. Far Better… or, to turn the phrase around, the putters are, as a Hall of Famer said… “By Far the Best.”

In two or three years, putters as they are today, will be nearly as rare as persimmon woods, on golf courses throughout America. This is fact. The only people who currently know that fact, are the ones I have had the privelege of watching undergo the magical transformation from total disbelief to stunned awareness of the Truth… that Finally! A Putter has been designed and built that simply Makes More Putts, all the time, in any hands, with any technique, on any greens, at a rate so much better that it can be immediately discerned and appreciated.

This website & journal is my way of telling this to those who have not experienced putting at a level “Better Than A Tour Pro”.

Enjoy the Experience. I certainly did, and the number grows daily of those who also do… as in every time I’m on the green with a new “rational skeptic”.

Never Before in Golf History has there been a Putter …

… that is even 5% better than all other putters in existence…

… that makes “scoring range” putts in a long test (60 top players) 43% more often…

… that it is possible to test and prove statistically that it is Significantly Superior…

… that tests better the longer you test it… because it actually improves the Golfer…

… that makes Golfers say… “You’ve ruined my (brand Xerox) putter!”…

… that is so Easy to Align… and then actually Putts Where You Aim It…

… that is so “Strike-able” you can make long Putts even off the extreme heel or toe…

… that Swings Like a Pendulum… Because it is Designed to be One…

… that you can Make Breaking Putts with a frequency approaching Straight Putts…

… that is nearly Impossible to “Decelerate” before the strike…

… that is nearly Impossible to “Yip”, even in the hands of some extreme cases…

… that Breaks “More Consistently” on side-hill putts…

… that actually helps teach you to Read Greens Better…

… that makes one Hall of Fame Legend say “It’s 80% Better than any other Putter”…

… that makes another Hall of Fame Golfer say… “It Makes My Stroke Better!”…

… and makes a third Hall of Fame Inductee say, it’s roll is… “By Far, the Best”…

Until Now.

The Black Hawk, and the Black Swan Putters. They’ll Change the Game.

For the Lucky Ones Who Putt with them, it’s Already Happened.

Your Turn.

Golf’s biggest controversy right now is whether “Anchored Putters” (Belly & Long Putters) should be banned. It’s interesting to listen to both sides of the argument… and at the same time, it’s simply not necessary.

Why? Because a putter already exists that obsoletes any belly or long putter… and we see it every day do exactly this.

Our standard length Black Hawk & Black Swan is far more stable than any other belly or long putter, by a long shot. We’ve had top professionals who swear by their long putter, and then putt phenomenally better in testing with a standard length Black Swan than their long putter, in head to head testing.

We have several Tour players who previously used long and belly putters, who immediately switch to our standard length putters, and improve their proficiency.

Why is that?

Because taking an ineffective, unstable, inaccurate, and unforgiving putter, and sticking a longer shaft on it, doesn’t solve the basic problems.

Another big problem, the longer the putter, the farther the balance point is away from the ball, which magnifies errors in the stroke velocity and impact position geometry.

I’ll leave you with one short story… a top PGA Professional in the Met Section (who I caddied for as a boy) agreed to test our standard length Black Hawk & Swan against his beloved long (50+”) “2-ball”. After the test, his exact comments were… “Yes, I did your test (a series of ten putt head to head segments)… and your Putters blew mine away every time… if my putter made one, yours made three, if my putter made three, yours made seven… how is that possible?”

Physics & Geometry. Those two will ban the belly and long putters. It’s fact, and we know it today. The Black Hawk & Black Swan… obsoleting every putter known to man. Including the anchored kind.

There are approximately 26 Million Golfers in the USA… and currently less than 1000 of them actually have a Putter in their bag that works. Boy are they lucky. They get to make putts. Lots of them. From all distances.

It’s fun to watch.

Of those ” under a thousand”, how many do you think actually believed a putter could exist that was significantly better than all the others?

Zero.

But then they putted with the Black Hawk, or the Black Swan.

Boy, did they ever change their minds in one big hurry.

Of course, we’re doing it the right way… with a custom fit, and a putting lesson that makes you Putt Like a Tour Pro. Free.

Only 25,999,000 to go. What a fun future for putters everywhere. Hang on guys, we’ll get to you all eventually.

Mass Moment of Inertia. MOI. It’s key to Newton’s Laws of Motion, and for the sake of simplicity, it’s the measure of an objects “stability”.

Unfortunately, MOI (as a term) has been hijacked by the Marketing Whizzes and used to confuse, not to enlighten. Such as claims by other putter companies… “Our Brand X 8572 g-cm2 MOI beats the other guys Brand Y 8463!”

Well, all that bull ends today.

Let’s start with a basic fact… measuring MOI of putter-heads in “grams x centimeters squared” is a bit silly. Of course, when typical putters were 3000 – 4000 g-cm2, maybe it made sense. But… you can’t sense the MOI differential (blindfolded) in typical putters even if you were a cyborg. To sense in increments of 1000 gm-cm2, with your eyes closed, is difficult, much less in 100, 10, or 1 unit increments.

So let’s stop the nonsense in metric incremental “fine-ness”. Putter heads (for purposes of comparison) should be measured in kilograms-centimeters squared, not grams. We do this. Our Black Swan is 23 kg-cm2, the Balck Hawk is 21 kg-cm2. Typical putters are between 3 (old style) to maybe 7 (most high-MOI putters) kg-cm2.

Sweet spot size is dictated by MOI. So, we have roughly 7 times to 3 times the effective “sweet spot” of other putters. Think it doesn’t matter? Think again.

The USGA governs MOI (vertical axis, heel & toe twist) in Drivers at 5900 gm-cm2. They do it for a reason. More is Better. Period. (… again Tom, this might stress you a bit to hear, so you better go take your statins).

Think of it as though Our Creator actually could make the “perfect putter”. Using the USGA limits on putter design, and of course, God’s Own Laws (described so elegantly by Isaac Newton), what would it be?

Let’s first take maximum concievable “MOI”, about the vertical axis of a putter, that has a mass of 440 grams.

Well, if it was God, he could add two elements to “Mendeleev’s Table”, he’d add a metal (call it “Toskiite”, after Bob Toski) that was as light as helium, but a solid, not a gas (that we would use as the putter’s “body” or “frame”), and another (call it “Oliverite”, after Ed ‘Porky’ Oliver)  that was about as dense (heavy) as the center of the Sun (162 g/cc, or about 9 times denser than tungsten, but solid at atmospheric pressure), to be used as a “pin”. We’d make a putter body of Toskiite, and post four pins of Oliverite (each would be 110 grams) on the extreme corners…

The MOI in such case? About 60,000 g-cm2, or 60 kg-cm2. Theoretical max, only acheivable by God himself, by adding fanciful elements Toskiite and Oliverite to our choice of materials.

Well, what about using the materials we actually have available? Use tungsten for the pins, and design a thin wall composite frame, and you might get one that is about 55,000 g-cm2, or 55 kg-cm2.

Would you putt with such a putter? Probably not. But you shouldn’t putt with a putter one-tenth as capable as to sweet spot size, either.

This brings us to these questions…

Do you design simply to extend MOI higher, to the detriment of the other design features or putting success factors? Heck no.

How much MOI is too much? There is no such thing, so long as you don’t compromise good design and physics principles in achieving it.

How much MOI is enough? Good question. Is 3 kg-cm2 enough? No chance. Is 9 kg-cm2 enough? Not likely. Is 21 kg-cm2 enough? You tell us… putt with a well designed putter that has 21 kg-cm2 MOI or higher. We have two for you to try. The Swoosh has one that doesn’t work very well, admitted by their own designer’s public statement to the press. Chances are, they won’t let you try it.

Now, we’ve told you, (and all those wanna-be golf club designers out there, including in R&D labs) about all you need to know about MOI & putters (well, not all, but that’s for a future post!).

We like full disclosure, and open source thinking. We’re not afraid of the truth being known. We don’t have Marketing Whizzes spinning the buzzwords to advantage. You come to our site, you just get me, an engineer who couldn’t putt, but now, makes 90 footers at insane frequency in front of pros, while telling them it’s going to happen in advance.

Truth is a wonderful thing. So is making long putts. We give you both… so get a Black Swan or Black Hawk, and go have fun.

For more on MOI… https://one-putts.com/putting-science/moment-of-inertia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia

The single most important factor in putting is the player’s ability to control his “speed’, or distance control. A close second is the ability to hit the ball on the correct line. But without distance control, you’ll never be a good putter.

Distance control doesn’t just help you avoid three-putts… it helps you make more, especially on breaking putts.

The function that largely governs speed, or distance control, is the strike. If you repeatedly strike the ball on your putter’s “sweet spot”, your speed control would be excellent. Is it?

The big problem… you can’t hit the sweet spot on a conventional putter. Not consistently. But don’t feel bad… nobody else can either… and it’s not your fault.

Conventional wisdom in putting is that this issue isn’t really “all that important”.

A major company’s top equipment chief actually made some absurd comments in the national golf press this year, saying that sweet spot sizes on a putter aren’t so important, and that MOI (mass moment of inertia) that directly creates the size of the sweet spot is…  “like cholesterol–there’s good MOI and there’s bad MOI.”

We’re still laughing at that morsel of supposed wisdom. Maybe he simply had to lay down a smokescreen, while they heated up the Oven.

The same wizard actually claimed that he, too, had also designed a 23,000 gm-cm2 MOI putter, but that “I have a 23,000 MOI putter that I’ve designed, but it’s not very good. It’s hard to get back to square.”

Wow. Imagine advertising your inability to design an effective putter even while making a “me-too” claim on the Black Swan’s distributed mass function, all in one sentence… it couldn’t be much more comical if I was writing fiction.

The Sweet Spot on all other putters is comedic as well… it’s an absolute joke that putters are designed with sweet spots so small, that even the best Tour players in the world can’t hit it consistently. So the fact that it’s “always been this way” is all they are left holding on to.

Our Putters give you a sweet spot you can hit every time. When we demonstrate the putter, we make long putts at an insane frequency even topping the ball off the extreme heel & toe. The Sweet Spot on a Black Hawk or Black Swan? Basically, it’s the entire face.

You’ll have Superior Distance Control, Make More Breaking Putts, Reduce Your Three-Putts, and Make More Long Putts with the Black Hawk and Black Swan Putters.

And don’t forget to take your Statins, Mr. Stites.

This post is directed at the Tour players… but everyday players will do better by observing these lessons too.

If you suddenly had a more capable tool, would you work like you used to? Probably not.

If the tool is better, the first thing you’d examine is your tactics (or technique)… how you do something. Then, you’d probably re-evaluate the entire revised process (tool + technique combined) to see if further study, refinement, or enlightenment would create a “breakthrough event”, which would render old thinking (tactics and strategy) obsolete.

We believe that that moment has come… in Putting.

Let’s start with the basic premise… in the modern (XXI Century) game, it takes Superior Putting Proficiency to beat your competition… there is no substitute. With all due respect to Mr. Hogan (who I admire more each day), you cannot repeatedly separate yourself from the pack with tee to green performance anymore. Not with modern equipment (ball & driver) being the great equalizer.

Look at the issue strategically… is every putt the same $$$ value if you make it? Not even close… they’re worth a lot more the higher up the leader-board you are… and to compound this (because of the Fedex and Charles Schwab Cup effect) they matter more the higher on the Official Money list you are.

Winning even has an additional bonus beyond “official money”. Winners get invitations to elite events (Masters? TOC?), as well as Tour exemptions, and perhaps, even prestige selections to Ryder Cup or other events.

In it’s simplest… there are more benefits from a “one-putt” than there are losses from a “three-putt”. Arithmetically this sounds incorrect… but Algebraically, it’s true.

So… how to change how you putt, and increase your chances of winning?

Get a Putter in your bag that has reduced bias, and reduced variance, at a breakthrough level. There’s only two choices there, and we make both of them.

Using the tighter dispersion of that reduced distance variance, get more putts to the hole. All the time.

With that pattern of balls going past the hole more, think aggressively to try and focus on making more putts. No fear. The upside of (repeated) success dwarfs the downside of failure. Inside of three feet (come back putts) you’re at 95% anyway. Use this knowledge to help you separate yourself on the greens.

Strokes Gained even proves this. Make a 33 footer, gain a stroke on the field. To actually gain strokes, you need to make putts, especially the longer ones. If in a hundred putt stretch, you roll twenty added “30 foot” putts up to three feet by the hole instead of being short, you’ll have maybe at most one more three-putt… but you’ll gain two or three more “one-putts” just by getting your putts more chances to go in, and surely more than that (proven by your peers testing), if you are using our putters.

In the 1980’s, Tour players hit their Drivers with well less than 100% of their physical capability… ask the old-timers who used persimmon… maybe 85% to 95% effort depending on circumstances was the normal range. Today’s 460 cc titanium? You’re at 95% to 100% of capability all the time now, right? The equipment changed… so the way you use it changes too.

It’s the last frontier in Golf Performance Gains. Putting… what you use, and more importantly than you’d think… how you’ll use it.

Tour Players are shown on TV all the time making long putts, right? So they must make a lot of ‘bombs’, right?

Not exactly.

They show those long made putts on the highlight reels, yes… but they’re not showing the thousands of putts that don’t go in, for the few dozen that do. It turns out, that Tour Players make about 1 putt of over 20 feet, for every event that they play. That’s about it. Hard to believe? Want to know why?

We tested putting “make %” drills for the last two years, from various distances from 12 to 36 feet. We observed a number of phenomena… in the statistical sense… of what is done on a putting green, versus what is done in tournament play on the highest level.

One of the metrics we created was what we callled “degree of difficulty”. We multiplied the make %’s of any common data set (from a single tester) times the distances tested at, and observed the “curve” relationship created. By assigning a relative factor to the numbers (12 footer was benchmarked at a 100 index), we saw the fall-off relationship of longer putts being more difficult to accrue “feet made putts”.

What did we observe? Well, double the distance, and of course you drop your make % by over 50%… which is intuitive enough. But what we observed was that the fall-off with distance was greater on the Tour, than observed in “make %” testing on the green, proportionally.

It’s fairly simple to see why. During the “make %” testing, the focus is just “makes”. Three putts are not in the equation at all, so the tester basically disregards them. Because of this, testers try to make all their putts.

Are Tour players trying to make longer putts? It appears not all the way. Common sense would say the same of course, but to what degree?

We even observed this in green time with Tour players. They don’t think about making long putts (over 36 feet), they think of two-putting as a primary objective. Does this hurt their overall performance? We think so. They leave too many putts short, for example.

With conventional traditional putters, you couldn’t make a large percentage of longer putts… the tool used was not capable. We’ve changed that.

Soon enough, somebody on Tour is going to light it up… not once, twice, or three times… (as in the debut events at the Sony Open, or the PGA Senior) but a dozen times in a two month stretch, by using our putter, with the right approach to strategic putting. When it happens, just remember, you heard it here first.

Until then, we’re here to help YOU putt better. Light it up at your course, as dozens already are with the Black Hawk & Black Swan putters.

The Tour finally has gone to statistical record-keeping that allows us to see how good … “These Guys Are Good” … really are.

Let’s take one of my intermediate benchmarks in testing… 18 footers. The Tour “make %” average from 18 feet is actually 17%, but as we modify upward all Tour averages to account for the repeated same distance (but different line) putts effect, we boost that up to 18% in our models. If we were to boost for “reading break” advantage, the number goes to approximately 21%. But for this example, we’re sticking at 18% for our benchmark probability.

Now, suppose a Tour player (who was a composite, or average of them all) hit all 18 greens, and had eighteen straight 18 footers for birdie. This would of course be a (near) impossibility, but it’s illuminative for our purposes, so imagine it happens. How many birdie putts should the Pro make?

Simply put, 18% of 18 = 3.24, so on average, the number would be… Three (and maybe Four on a good day). But, will he repeatedly make 3? Nope.

The way to estimate the “spread” of results, is simple mathematics, courtesy of a Calvinist minister turned Mathematician named Jacob Bernoulli long ago… (you can learn about it here… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli_distribution).

If we plug the probability (0.18), and trials (18) into the formula, it yields these probabilities (rounded)…

0 makes… 3%

1 make… 11%

2 makes… 21%

3 makes… 24%

4 makes… 20%

5 makes… 12%

6 makes… 6%

7 makes… 2%

8 or more… 1%

So the probability of making 7 or more is about the same as making 0. About 3% each. But both are fairly likely, at any given round.

Oh yeah, the odds on making 17 of 18? Three in a trillion… try to make that many!

What does the above tell us? It tells us that it is not possible to find causality in a single round, for an “input” factor, like for example, changing the putter used. You need statistical data that is of significance… enough to give a level of confidence to your assertion. Just as you wouldn’t flip a coin three times, observe two heads occurances, and declare that two-thirds of all future flips would be heads with that coin.

The make values here are quite a spread… graphically, it looks like this… and on another post, I’ll show how many rounds are necessary, and why, to draw valid inference from the data.

We believe in making Golfers into Better Putters and Happier Players.

We share what we’ve learned freely. We’re offering this help to all who try our Putters, whether they acquire them or not.

Step on a putting green with the Designer, and take a putting lesson from him, while being introduced to the “Future of Putting”. You’ll learn more about putting in 30 minutes than you’ve ever learned in your life. In fact, you may say the same thing we hear repeatedly…

“This makes total sense…”

“It’s so brilliant because it’s just so stupidly easy…”

“Why didn’t somebody else make putting so easy years ago?”

“This is so obviously better…”

Try for yourself. Then try not to keep it a secret… tell your friends, and even (gasp!) your “fellow competitors”.

Process is what engineers who work hard to improve quality focus on. Results take care of themselves, if the Process is correct, repeatable, and robust.

We counsel Golfers to think in terms of their entire careers, or at least a whole season, instead of focusing on the immediate “make or miss” anxiety of any one putt. There is good reason for that, even if that make or miss is critical to their year, or career.

Imagine you are an 17 year old high school golfing phenom… you would be facing something like 90,000 first putts in competition for the rest of your career, should you play a full slate of amateur, collegiate, professional, and senior competition. 90,000 putts. That’s a lot of “makes or misses” to sweat over. Make any particular one that you would otherwise miss, or vice-versa, it affects your overall scoring average by 0.000011 strokes… not much.

But improve your putting process, and make percentages, and watch the windfall pile up. Make just an extra 1% of those putts, and gain 900 strokes over a career. Now that is something worth thinking about, and gearing your strategy toward.

How, exactly, do you make more putts? Simple. Use a Better Tool, and a Better Technique. We provide both. Put the Black Hawk or Black Swan in your hands, and take our Putting Lesson. We can promise you thousands of added “makes” over the course of your career, if you’re willing to Focus on Process. Even if you’re not quite 17 any more.

We hear lots of commets on the “appearance” of our putters, mostly before the person commenting has ever even put one in their hands on a putting green.

We also understand that “look” is the first thing you notice and react to…

Well, nothing in the world is quite so “pretty” as a 90 foot putt rolling all the way into the hole. We do that daily.

And nothing in the world is quite so ugly as a putter repeatedly making a Three-Putt at the same distance, or any distance.

I loved the look of my 8802. I also admired the design appearance of the Bullseye I had for 40 years. My TP Mills and Anser putters were also instantly recognizable as “putters” of course, but I never putted well with either, except in rare cases, like my 8802 or Bullseye. I made a bucket-full of three putts and missed short birdie and par putts with all of them, far worse than I should have.

Now, I didn’t design the Black Swan to sell. I designed it to play. My sole criteria was “Make More Putts”.

I now laugh when I putt with other putters. Why? Because I really know what Pretty vs. Ugly is. Our putters made 43% more putts in extensive testing (60 top players). So in reality, we’re 43% more beautiful, or 43% less ugly, than the other guys. 

The Black Swan. Beauty Is as Beauty Does. After you make putts with it, it starts looking like the only putter in the world. It might look like an Ugly Duckling before you hit putts with it, but to all who do, it becomes what it truly is… a Beautiful Swan.

Sometimes, an Ingenious Design Solution trumps all the gobbledygook that passes for commonly believed, or marketing driven “popular-scientific” (Pop-Science) “fact”. Lots of companies and gurus out there touting their so-called “solutions” for poor putting performance. Do they work? No. Why? Because they overlooked the root of success… truly effective Tool Design. The Putter is your Tool. Until now, it’s been poorly designed, and we prove this, daily.

Thomas Edison believed that Genius was 1% Inspiration and 99% perspiration. Well, nobody sweats the details like a Tool Designer. Henry Ford knew that his elite workers were best employed as the Tool Designers and Tool Makers… why? Because if the Tooling was ingenious, capable, effective, and efficient, his workers would be also.

It’s the same in Putting. Give a great putter a poorly designed putter, and he putts worse than otherwise. I’m here to tell you today, that not one single putter built, with the exception of the Black Hawk & Black Swan, was designed with the sole purpose of MAKING PUTTS.

I am, at my basic core, a Tool Designer. Our “work”, as Tool Designers … has to work. Nobody rates Tooling primarily on it’s “Form” (appearance), they mainly consider it’s “Function”. Likewise, you should judge “What a Putter Should Be” by it’s Function. It should make putts. The Proof Should Be In The Putting!

The requirements of Putting well should be fairly simple to observe. A Putt is a Simple Vector Exercise. If a Putter “makes more putts” by a statistically significant measure over all others, it’s a slam-dunk. Smart guys see this right away. The rest will see this eventually. But it will be undeniable… that better design will Win.

Our’s perform better, proven in actual player testing. Test it for yourself.

It’s Golf… it’s Putting. It’s not Rocket Science… it’s more important than that… 🙂

In my lifetime, Golf has swung from a traditional game that hardly changed over the span of decades, to a hyper-intensive quest to utilize technological advances to gain an edge (even if infinitesimal, or imaginary).

For all the launch monitors, lab-coats & lasers, the object of Golf remains what it always has been… it’s either done for Fun, or Competition, or both.

Now, it’s not Fun to Three-Putt. It’s not Competitive either. It is Fun to One-Putt… and as any Tournament Player will tell you, that’s how to win.

The Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters do exactly what you want a putter to do, whether for fun, or for competition. They make putts. And they leave you a tap-in, if they don’t.

The Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters solve many problems in current putters… and they do it the right way… by Design.

Our Putters are the only Putters to “Putt where they Aim”. And they’re the only putters you CAN aim. Easily.

Our Putters are the only truly “Sweet Spot Striking” putters in existence. Virtually 100% of our putts are well struck.

Our Putters teach you how to “Read Greens Right”. Less Variance in result means a tighter closed loop feedback.

Our Putters truly “Swing Like a Pendulum”… as our competition proved with their iPhone application.

Our Putters will have you saying “It Makes My Stroke Better” … a Three-Time Major-Winner said exactly this.

Our Putters “Roll the Ball” far more effectively than any others… as was proven by another competitor’s Putting Lab.

Our Putters “Putt the Right Speed”… as is easily seen from the proximity of repeated putts… all the same.

Our Putters “Break Same As You Read It” … because you no longer have to “Out-Guess Your Miss”.

Our Putters “Make More Putts” … 43% more in the scoring zone (12-36 feet) in a test of 60 top players.

Read… Aim… Swing… Stroke… Roll… Speed… Break… Make… all Better with the Black Hawk & Black Swan.

The Proof is in the Putting. See for yourself.

How much better does a putter (the club) need to be, for a player to make the decision to change?

Good question. But it needs to be seen from several perspectives…

In the past, how much better was even possible? Well, all putters were within just a few percentage points of each other in make probability. In fact, no putter in the world was even 5% more likely to make a putt (in the scoring zone, from 12 to 36 feet) than the average putter.

Now, how would you even know if a putter was really even 5% better? If a Tour professional makes just 18% from 18 feet, then making 19% would be just more than 5% better… (19/18 = 1.0555 = 5.55% better).

One big problem though… to see something as “true” at that level, you need a mountain of data.

If a Tour pro was on a putting green with the Dean of Mathematics (Professor) at a top University, and said, “Hey Professor, I just made 16, 18, 20, 14, and 22 of 100 from 18 feet with my putter (500 putts), and then made 17, 19, 21, 15, and 23 (500 putts) with this new “Offset White Coated CNC Milled German Rusty Steel Fanged Flange Blade Belly Hole Hunting Incredible Iomic Insert Heel & Toe MOI Super Stroker Tour Special… with a Compass in the Grip… so I’m always one putt better, and I’m too tired to hit another 1000 putts. What should I do?”

What should the Professor say in reply? (Besides the obvious… shades of Ralphie…)

He should say… “So Pro, you made 90 of 500 with one model, and made 95 of 500 with the other. If I follow the formulas that were established by the smart guys several centuries ago, that deal with this issue, here’s what they tell me.”

He’d whip out his calculator, and run the numbers in his pre-programmed Binomial Probability Distribution Application. Plugging in probability of make being 0.18, trials at 500, and successful makes at 95, the data spits out the numbers…

Before replying, the wise Professor asks… “So Pro, how sure do you want to be, before you decide to switch?”

The Pro, ever mindful that his reputation, livelihood, and house payment are all on the line with this decision, says… “99%. I need to be 99% sure.”

The Professor simply nods no… “Sorry Pro, you’re not even close to collecting enough data for this level of certainty. In other words, if it stays like this… 18 to 19 score, you’d be putting for a while.”

“Well, it’s my life on the line here…how long would I have to stand here to get to 99.95% sure? Twice as long?” says the Tour Pro.

The Professor looks at the Pro, then back in the calculator, and thinks… well, at 500 trials, he’s only at about 70% certain that the new BB Gun is better. Time for some iterative calculations… “No Pro, it’ll be a lot higher… maybe 10x the test might do it.”.

The Professor plugs in 5000 putts with each… 900 makes vs. 950… but… “Not quite there yet Pro… that would only get you a bit higher than 96% sure.”

“Shut the Front Door!” yells the pro. “I gotta stand here and hit 10,000 total putts, at a 5% differential, and I’m still only just 96% sure?”

“Yup”…

“Wow. I’ll be here forever.”

“Right, says the Professor… and the other variables involved will dominate, rendering the whole exercise questionable.”

“Forget the other variables Prof, just tell me how long at 5% better would I need to test… I’ll do it on my indoor putting carpet.”

“OK Pro… lets try this… 6,000 putts with each… no… 7,000… no… 8000… no… 9000… no… 10,000 putts with each…

“How about this pro… at 10,000 putts each, you’re up to 99.5% sure. How’s that?”

“Not enough… I need 99.95% sure!”

“Sorry Pro, you’ll never get there. You would need to hit 10,000 putts with each, and be at 18% with one, and 19% with the other, in a fair trial, to have enough differential that one putter was actually superior to the other, by the 99.5% certainty level… it’s not some small margin to go from 99.5% to 99.95%, it’s huge.”

“That’s OK Professor… 5% more one-putts is worth about a Million Bucks to me… I’m doing it. I’ll hit a Million putts if I have to. I want to be 99.95% sure it’s better.”

The Professor warns… “Well pro, even if you do it, there are some problems when testing for that long… one thing is, your own performance variable will probably dwarf the putter differential. I advise instead you consult with our Physical Sciences Department… but good luck anyway.”

Now… what did the above teach us? With putters in the past, it was basically impossible to determine which was better, in actuality. So, it largely WAS a “feel and look” exercise!

But not any more.

We actually tested one future Hall of Fame Tour Pro. He doubled his makes (100% better) with the Black Swan in a test, over his own putter. He even said “I don’t want your putter to win, David”. That was fine with us… and when he made 26 of 120 (22%) with our putter from 30 and 26 feet, and 13 of 120 (11%) with his own putter… we gave him the Professor’s numbers… they weren’t understood, obviously.

He was at the 99.95% confidence level that the Black Swan was superior. How much superior? Clearly not 100%. But at a 99% level, how much better would he have to have been? If he had made only 22 instead of 26 with the Black Swan, we could easily state that he would have a 99% certainty that the root cause of the increased makes were the putter. All the same… he did make 26. He doubled his makes. 11% from that distance was good… about Tour averages. So he didn’t putt poorly with his favorite putter. He just blew it into the weeds with ours. All while he was breaking his routine every time he made two in a row with the Black Swan. He really didn’t want it to win, you needed to be there to see it.

Then, he walked over to another Tour Pro who was using it, hitting nine-footers and making them all. He says… “so, it works on long ones, what about those short ones?”

“Better!” came the answer from the player who debuted the putter right after this occurred.

If the Tour Pro understood the math, he’d use it and have an edge on the field. Some do (and use it), some don’t (even if they proved it to themself)… until the rest of the world starts beating them with it. It will happen. For as little as it’s been tried, it already has.

Was the PGA Tour Sony Open debut of the Black Hawk a fluke? Not likely.

Was the PGA Senior debut of the Black Swan a fluke? Not a chance.

We did test with 60 top players (the 100% better example above was the 60th). The average of all 60?

43% more one-putts.

The certainty our putter is better? Well, let’s put it this way… it’s 5 billion to 1 odds in our favor… and Your’s… if you put the Black Hawk or Black Swan in your bag.

Putter manufacturers put a lot of marketing emphasis on their “roll” characteristics. Very interesting marketing idea. Confuse the market with claims that are not science-fact based. Unfortunately, they do not tell you what is the simplest way to get a ball to roll consistently.

We will. Right now.

Let’s clear up all this nonsense about face effects on a putt… grooves, polymers, dimples, ovals, inserts, etc.

First of all, putters do not compress the ball enough to have any significant deformation take place. The time that a ball’s cover is in contact with the face of the putter is typically somewhat less than .001 seconds… under a “millisecond”. A putter traveling at 4 feet per second at impact is in contact with the ball for about 1 millimeter of stroke distance. One millimeter is about the thickness of the cover of the typical ball.

In that short distance, the cover of the ball slightly compresses, accelerates the ball mass forward, and springs off the face of the putter. That entire process is the “impulse” of momentum transfer… when some of the kinetic energy of the putterhead is transferred to the ball.

What is the rotational displacement of the ball in that tiny window? Essentially zero forward roll… more often than not, actually a slow rate of backspin. Why? Loft. Now… in that tiny time frame, can you put “roll” on the ball with some friction element or grooves, or insert softness similar to a ball’s cover? Not a chance.

Do you want that impulse time to vary? Not if you want to putt the ball the right speed (distance), and make putts.

The Ball & Face Lock ??? Take the crew that brought you the 1-2-3 ball. Can you have some magic occur that allows the depressions in an insert line up with dimples and somehow spin the ball? Really an “Odd” concept from the #1 putter seller. Get Real. Computer generated TV images aren’t. The only thing that will happen is the vector of the putt will change based on the particular strike point interface to the cover… not a good thing.

Trust A Better Roll ??? How about that from the team that confuses cholesterol with MOI? If you fill grooves with polymer, what hits the ball? The polymer filled groove? Or the metal face? It’s a crapshoot… hard to believe their #1 player actually stands for such marketing nonsense in a putter he uses, after attending Stanford. Must not have studied science much, probably accounting and marketing instead.

What you are really looking for in that brief “impluse time”… is consistency. Otherwise known as “minimum variance”.

If there are grooves, punch marks, dimples, friction coatings, inserts, etc., how does that contribute to reducing variance in the strike parameters? They don’t. They only make you putt worse, after spending more.

What you are really looking for is a very hard, very consistent, very smooth, very low friction face, that doesn’t change over time, or due to location of strike.

That’s exactly what we designed into the Black Hawk & Black Swan putters. A low friction sapphire surface (Rockwell “C” 70), polished smooth. No grooves. No inserts. No marketing nonsense. Pure Putting Performance.

Now, would you like some objective truth? An incident happened that I did not even know about until after the fact, yet shows the truth of what our putters do perfectly…

Two of the greatest putters of all time (I’d put them against any two others ever in a putting match), took the Black Hawk & Black Swan to the TPC Swagrass Tour Academy Putting Lab. I wasn’t there until after they completed their tests. They rolled balls, and checked the performance of our two putters, against every putter in the rack. The results? Our two putters far and away outperformed all others, it wasn’t even close. The professionals there were stunned. How could our putters roll the ball so much better? No grooves, no inserts… but simple applied physics. Those two great putters? One of them said to me… “…it’s not a Black Hawk… it’s Black Magic!”

Putters are built way too light to be effective. That’s a fact. 360g in a putter head are not nearly enough for an adult to properly swing the putter… and results in too much stroke and strike variance.

One of the best ways to look at this, from a pure physics perspective, is relative mass.

There are 4 different “mass” or weight factors to consider.

The weight of the ball (never changing), at 1.62 oz, or just under 46 grams in most cases.

The weight of the putterhead (by previous standards) usually between 330 and 380 grams.

The weight of the putter, overall, including shaft & grip, and sometimes, a weight plug high in the putter.

The weight of the player, especially that of his upper body (upper torso and arms).

Now, for a good example of what happens to an elite player who experiences proper weighting, compared to traditional putters, you can refer to Mr. Bob Dickson’s comment after putting with the Black Hawk… https://one-putts.com/2012/03/25/what-pga-professionals-say-about-the-black-hawk-black-swan-part-iii/

…took out my old putter for one round.  The old putter is back in the closet – I’m pretty sure now it’s for good!  The old putter felt like I was putting with the shaft only – no head on it.

Now, for an example… I was once a twelve year old, weighing perhaps 65 pounds, when I used my Bullseye putter for the first time. But as an adult of over 200 pounds (three times heavier) does still using a 350g putter head make any sense? Either the putter mass to player mass ratio was way too high then (it sure didn’t seem so at the time) or way too light now (the likely case).

The ratio of head mass to ball mass also is important. Now, diminishing returns kicks in, but a heavier head has an easier time striking the ball with a more effective momentum transfer. Why? Is it simply Newton’s classical Second Law “Conservation of Momentum”? Mostly… but there is more to it than simply that. You truly need to consider the impulse involved in the collision, the properties of the ball (and putter face perhaps) to get to the whole truth here… let’s simplify all that though… Newton’s Law explains why a heavier putter head can swing slower, and still strike the ball the same distance. That’s a good thing.

Now, about overall club mass, and location…

There is a company that sells putters that have a far heavier overall mass. It’s an interesting theory, from a marketing standpoint. You have to give them credit as marketers… they definitely exploit the inability of most golfers to discern between common-sense physics and simplistic (first order) “popular science” type thinking. Their theory? Adding weight high moves the balance point farther from the head. Supposedly this helps the “pendulum stroke” occur.

Interesting theory… unfortunately dead wrong. We prove it every day. Here’s why…

A “pendulum” swings effectively based upon it’s “radius of gyration”. That’s a fancy engineering term for the distance of the balance point away from it’s pivot in a pendulum device. Galileo figured out in 1602, that an “ideal” pendulum actually would have a weightless string, and a heavy bob.

Here’s an easy way to see it… try putting by swinging a sledgehammer from the wrong end. What happens? The (normal) grip end (simulated clubhead) swings all over the place, it’s tough to control, much less putt a golf ball. Now putt by swinging it with the hammer down… wow. Now that’s a pendulum stroke.

So, if you were blindfolded, I could place in your hands, either a so called “Heavy” putter (with backweighting), or a facsimile of one. The fake would be the same overall mass as the actual (Heavy) putter, but shorter, with a weight on the end of a (very light) stick, and the balance point the same distance from the grip as the putter. All I would need to do, was replicate overall mass & radius of gyration, and you wouldn’t know which was which. As a design engineer, such a device would be fairly simple to design, especially with computers doing our iterative calculations for us.

In either case, your stroke errors (angles, displacements, velocities, vectors) would be translated thru the CG of either object. Niether of which is anywhere near the ball. The consequence of such, is that the errors are “leveraged”, or magnified by the distance the the CG is away from the ball.

Not only does back-weighting make the putter “Less Effective” as a pendulum device, it increases the severity of the stroke errors you naturally will experience. Not a good way to putt better.

Bottom line? Heavier putters (where it counts, in the head) are more effective. But, in the grip end? Don’t bet on it.

Straight Back? Straight Through?

Simple physics and geometry says no. Putting observations say no. But the mental image of straight back actually helps some players… and here’s why.

Most players don’t actually “do” what they think they are doing. They have a mental image, but the physical reality is something different.

Now, the physics and geometry are this… the USGA sets a minimum limit of 10 degree lie angle from the vertical, for a reason. They do not want a player to be able to swing the putter in a true “vertical plane” with what would be a pure “gravity pendulum” motion. Therefore, the shaft will incline at least 10 degrees from the vertical, placing the hands inside the putter head (towards the player).

This fact, and the fact that the human anatomy results in a likely pivot origin roughly at the spine between the shoulders and neck, means that the pivot plane leans back toward the player, and the putterhead swinging on this plane will naturally swing “inside” the straight line from the target (hole on straight putt) back through the ball.

However… that relative “opening” isn’t really an “opening”. Especially from the view of the player. In fact, the easiest way to understand the player’s view of it, their hands and arms should never manipulate the face angle at all. No “opening or closing” is ever needed. The putterface stays “square” in relative terms, to the pivot.

You just need to allow the structural elements of the posture to control the path and rotation, without “trying” to control the putter in any way. This is why the “grip” we teach, and stance and posture, and the making of a pendulum stroke, is all important. The system of putting with the upper body is what works, every time, if you let it.

We have a different term… one that lets the player focus on what is necessary…

“Let the Putter Swing”

We’re looking for 100 first-pass public readers of our soon to be released “E-Book” on the science and fundamentals of putting. We’d like these 100 to read it, and provide us with helpful feedback and critique, so that it is as robust and simple as possible upon final release.

The E-Book is to be available after review period as a free download to anyone who donates directly to our cause, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. With every donation, not only will the generous reader get the E-Book and putt better, but they can get a free Personal Putting Lesson from the Designer of the Black Swan & Black Hawk putters. Tour Professionals walk off the green after the same lesson stunned how much better they putt.

For the first 100, who submit a review back to us, we will award gifts commensurate with their contribution… including VIP putting time with PGA Professionals or the Designer.

If you’d like to be considered, contact us at oriongolf@ymail.com … thank you. And if you’d like to donate to St. Jude, here’s the link… https://shop.stjude.org/GiftCatalog/donation.do?cID=13522&pID=18290&fnl=FaceSuperNav

We hear it all the time.

The player is on the green, scratching their head as to why they make more putts with our putters. They ask if it’s legal. We tell them… of course, the USGA ruled on them long ago.

Then, they say it… “OK, if this really works, then tell me, why didn’t (fill in brand X) do this, tell me that?!”

It’s a great question.

We simply reply… “Great question. But ask them. And when you do, ask them two questions… first, if they knew all along about the science that makes this work so well, why in the world didn’t they give it to you. And second, if they didn’t know about the science, what in the world are they doing in the putter business to begin with.”

No good answers will ever come from those two questions.

William Benjamin Hogan was my hero as a boy… as for many golfers, he took on a mystical presence in my life… stories told by my father and others of Hogan’s rounds in US Opens. I first experienced him as an eleven year old caddy, with a copy of 1949’s “Power Golf” as my guide to the game. Next came seeing the movie “Follow the Sun”.

Later, working in the golf shop as a 14 year old boy, I was given a copy of Hogan’s “Five Lessons…” from the Head Pro, Don Barber. I was told to go do like Hogan… go practice and “dig it out of the dirt.” Actually, for me, it was mostly on rainy days that I played, as the Pro let us off work when it rained. So maybe I tried to dig it out of the mud. It was the most fun I ever had…

Henry Ford was also my hero as a boy, both for his writings (his My Life & Work was the first book I read on industrial issues, in Junior High, before beginning as a junior drafter in my first non-golf job) and his connection to my grandfather, a toolmaker for Ford from 1919 to 1959… and Ford still is my example of genius grounded in common sense and justice, after seeing his wisdom played out (more ignored than followed) in over thirty years of an engineering career in many industries.

“Mr. Ford” had definite ideas about many things. Mostly, he learned them through hard experience… as he didn’t study under management gurus or college professor mentors. He did like Ben Hogan did… he dug it out of the rocks of applied industrial combinations… materials, men and machines.

What both men had in abundance, was robust common sense, a love of work, a drive to improve, and the humility of a monk who adheres to his chosen endeavour for it’s own sake, instead of the accolades it may bring.

Hogan enjoyed practicing with nobody watching… a 4 iron shot’s perfection for it’s own sake, even after winning Five US Opens.

Ford enjoyed working with his toolmakers on solving problems, or discussing steels and tool designs, even after becoming the wealthiest of Industrialists (I know this from Grandpa’s experiences).

From that combination of qualities and the outlook of focusing on work over recognition, their common idea of “Continuous Improvement” stands out… and both may rightly be considered the best examples of what a focus on “CI” can do. It makes us all better off… Improvement.

Now, sometimes, a long stretch of Continuous Improvement happens because of a catalyst. New materials science is usually the cause… a breakthrough in properties, processes, or production, or even pricing, changes the way all previous examples of engineering should be re-evaluated. Use of Vanadium-alloy steel by Ford helped him make lighter and better vehicles. Titanium processing advances in aerospace made modern golf clubhead advances possible.

Metal (first steel, then eventually titanium) drivers took a while to get as good as they are, we can use that example… it took twenty years for drivers to get 10% better, when you strip the ball effect out. Twenty years of Continuous “Driver” Improvement was pretty much needed to get where we are, and the USGA setting limits on COR, MOI, and CC volume brought that period to a happy closure (players don’t need to change their equipment as often now, as in the recent past… and that’s a good thing for golf, though the manufacturers surely enjoyed that period… have you got 5 or more drivers in your closets?). It cost billions of dollars in products that were soon obsoleted, however. Advances are usually costly to the early adopters.

But sometimes, a new push on the CI front comes from a breakthrough in design due to a period of absolute blindness to a fundamental physical reality. Take for example the car industry in “automotive vehicle design” and the reaction of the market to the Chrysler Mini-Vans… suddenly “Station Wagons” (named for taking persons and luggage to a train station) became obsolete nearly overnight. Auto Designers needed to sharpen their pencils, and innovate upon the platform of what the market now expected. So-called “Soccer-Mom-Mobiles” became the new game changer for Detroit. Designers had to start thinking of what their customers really wanted. Station Wagons were uncomfortable and cramped… Mini-Vans were roomier and more comfortable and versatile. One just flat out out-performed the other where it counts… in the mind of the user… usually a Mom.

Now, Ben Hogan & Henry Ford weren’t perfect… they were human. But what was perfect about both was the idea that you can never stop improving. Here’s some of their wisdom in practice, distilled…

Ford (My Life & Work)… “If we have a tradition it is this: Everything can always be done better than it is being done.”

Hogan (Five Lessons)… “Every year we learn a little more about golf. Every new chunk of valid knowledge paves the way to greater knowledge.”

That brings me to Putters, and Putting.

For decades, Putter Designers have repeatedly focused on the marketing aspects of slight modifications in “look” and “feel” parameters, while wholesale ignoring the fundamental “physics” and “geometry” factors. All to your detriment, if making putts is the goal.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always  got.” Henry Ford.

Now, I loved classic shaped golf clubheads. 8802. Bullseye. MacGregor Eye-O-Matic. Tommy Armour 693. Wilson Staff or Hogan Apex forged blades. Beautiful. But do you see many of them on courses anymore?

But you see millions of knockoffs of the 40+ year old Ping Anser. Is it because they perform in superior fashion? Not really. It’s because the golfing public was fed a steady diet of them, because they are cheap and easy to make, and the designers didn’t design putters to “Make Putts”, they designed putters to “Sell Putters”. They turned “look” into the goal… not making more putts. Any one of those low priced “Anser-Inspired” models works about the same as any other one, or an original. Or “Two-Balls”. Or any other style.

Why? Because designers completely missed that the products they were putting in shops were defective in two fundamental ways. They were brutally unforgiving, and they did not putt the ball in the direction they appeared to aim. Not because of some “optic” flaw, to be fixed with a trick… but because of fundamental geometry.

So… in the spirit of Henry Ford’s robust common sense, and Ben Hogan’s pursuit of perfection… you may now learn about, putt with, and win with… Putters Designed to Make Putts. And They Do. The Proof is in the Putting.

If everybody does something for years, for decades, and everyone thinks it’s good enough… well, maybe it’s good enough.

But maybe not.

In The Beginning Era (1860-1930), there were wooden shafts (hickory). Everyone thought wooden shafts were good enough… and they were. Until. They weren’t. Steel tubular shafts put those hickory shafted clubs forever onto pub walls and museum displays. Got any hickory lying around? I thought not.

In the Modern Era (1930-2000), there were three-piece wound balata covered balls. Everyone thought they were great. And they were. People would buy them by the dozen, for the cost of a decent lunch for three at the club. Until… Something better happened. Three, Four, and then even Five Piece balls that went farther, flew straighter, and spun at different rates based on the club that struck them. Got any wound balls in your bag?

In the Modern Era (1930-2000), there were persimmon drivers. Boy, were they pretty. You could look at the grain and just feel the crack of that tee shot. See many on the course lately? No? Oh yeah, they’re now the second coming of hickory on pub walls.

Well, what of putters?

Old Tom Morris made a bent wrought iron putter head in the 1800’s. It putted OK… better than the old wooden heads they used.

Bobby Jones used Calamity Jane to great effect in the 1920’s. It was maybe 5% more effective than Old Tom’s last putter.

Jack Nicklaus used an Iron Master as a young player around 1960. It wasn’t even 5% more effective than his idol’s putter, Jane.

Along came the Anser, and it brought investment casting into the golf club business in a big way. It wasn’t 5% better than the Tommy Armour models.

Jack won the 1986 Masters with an oversize Anser look-alike, the Response ZT. It wasn’t 5% better than the Anser.

What, may I ask, are the clubmakers building for putters today, in the Technology Era (2000-????)?

Putters that aren’t even 5% better than the Response ZT.

1500 Putters on the market. All about the same. Same performing 700 knockoffs of the Anser. Same performing 300 Blade styles. Same performing 500 mallet styles.

Same-ness. See the same thing over and over, and you get to thinking that’s all there should be.

They fooled you. With Same-Ness

Then, you putt with the Black Swan.

Things will never be the same, to you, again.

Everyone in the golf business knows what putters are, and what they must look like, and do. They are a bunch of white swans. Indistinguishable as to performance.

Except us.

Everyone in the golf business (1500 designs) thinks a putter should have a ridiculously small sweet-spot, essentially one dimple high and three dimples wide. Too bad for you you can’t hit it seems to be their thinking (don’t feel bad, the Tour Pros miss the sweet spot over 80% of the time in testing).

We don’t. We want the whole face to be sweet enough to make a lot of putts. So our putters do.

Everyone in the golf business (all the big companies, and not a few small ones) makes a knock-off (they call it “inspired by”) of an Anser putter.

We don’t. The Anser is no longer the Answer.

Everyone in the golf business thinks one, two, or maybe three lie angles is enough for you.

We don’t. We build the perfect lie angle, for you, to 1 degree increments, from as upright as the USGA allows, to as flat as you ever needed.

Everyone in the golf business builds putters that don’t “putt where they aim”.

We don’t. Every Black Hawk & Black Swan goes exactly where it aims, on every slope, every time.

Everyone in the golf business thinks you’re fooled by talk about MOI being something like “we have 8562 gm-cm2 MOI, higher than the other guys 8473!”

We know you couldn’t feel even 1000 g-cm2 increments in your hands, so we measure ours in kilograms… as in 21kg-cm2 MOI on the vertical axis of our Black Hawk, or 23 kg-cm2 on the Black Swan.

Everyone in the golf business thinks claiming their designs shift the paradigm is something they can talk their way into your bag. They even think heel toe forgiveness is all there is. But they don’t realize that the up-down sweet-spot is four times more important in making putts. And that players usually have no idea they are topping most of their putts. Would you buy a driver you topped most of the time?

We build putters with more up and down sweet spot than their heel to toe! You can’t hit a bad putt with our putters.

Everyone in the golf business seems to think you’re a sucker for collectibles and you’ll buy just one more version of that Xeroxed brand X copy of the 1960’s design but with the new Oil Can finish, if it has the name of the designer on it, just like it’s another Beanie Baby to collect on eBay.

We don’t put the Designer’s name on our putters. But we will put your name on it, if you wish. We think you are more important, and should be so recognized.

You see… not all Swans are white. The ones that Change the Game are Black.

We teach sound putting fundamental techniques. One of the most important fundamentals we teach is the putting grip, and what it needs to accomplish.

The hands should do one thing during a putting stroke… they should be your connection to the Putter Head. Think about that for a moment. The shaft and grip of your putter are an extension of the head to where your hands are placed.

To maintain a controlled putter-head, with a face angle that is consistently at the target at impact, you need to resist the forces that would otherwise allow the face to twist relative to ideal. So your hand grip is in effect the fundamental technique that assures proper face angle at impact… which is one of the main keys to outstanding putting performance.

So, what should the hand grip actually “do”?

First, provide resistance to rotation. Second, create a lever arm from the top to bottom, to resist pivot. Third, allow the hands, wrists, and forearms to be in a neutral position throughout the stroke. Fourth, provide maximum feel or feedback to the player, allowing a sensation of movements, and forces. Finally, the proper grip should be something that naturally works regardless of hand structure, and repeats easily, not subject to day to day feel variations (swelling, stiffness of joints, joint pain, etc.).

With these things in mind, we’ve pretty much standardized on teaching the simplest grip imaginable when a player is using a Black Hawk or a Black Swan putter… the Ten Finger Grip. Whether putting traditonal or cross-handed, the Ten Finger actually works, and it does so because of some sound reasons. It best satisfies all of the requirements above.

More regarding the grip, why, and results, will be posted in the Putting Instruction section.

There’s a thought process that “More (and Complex) Technology is the Solution” to solve most problems. In the main, it’s a good start, at least people are considering how best to improve something… but can be quite deceiving. Sometimes there is a better way.

We’ll just talk for a minute about Putting Technology…

For example… high tech putter fitting and alignment checks… stroke analysis and ball roll monitors… lasers and optical alignment aids… all quite interesting, and while not useless, at least they all suffer from a fundamental flaw…

You can’t use it on the course. It can’t help you a bit at the “moment of truth”.

You need to “build the technology” into the putter itself.

We’ve done exactly that.

The Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters solve the setup and alignment bias problems… on the green.

Not in a lab.

They put you in the same correct position every single putt. No matter the environment, or circumstances, or pressure effects you may be under.

It’s what we call “Perfect Geometry” (TM).  Try it and see for yourself… you’ll never go back to faulty putters ever again.

We call it “Extreme Putting”.

Making longer putts, with more break, more often, than you could ever imagine.

Making Ninety-Footers so often, that you start expecting it to happen.

Making long bombs day after day, round after round.

Making opponents pucker a bit while watching your ball roll toward the distant hole.

Extreme Putting. Makes 20 footers look like short putts. 10 footers look like gimmes.

Try some Extreme Putting, with a Black Hawk or Black Swan. You’ll be shocked at first.

But soon, only your opponents will be.

We say the Proof is in the Putting… the data should speak clearly as to performance.

In a Year Long Trial, 60 Top Players, including Tour Professionals, Top PGA Teaching & Club Professionals, and Top College Amateurs, performed a data study on our Putters. The results were, to say the least, stunning.

Hitting equal number of Putts, on “make%” tests, at distances between 12 and 36 feet, alternating Putters per their own preference, the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters outperformed their own “favorite” putter by an astounding 43%.

That’s right. 43% more makes. 521 Putts were made with “their” putters, and 744 were made with the Black Hawk or Black Swan.

Even more shocking, these results occured “before” we provided instruction on the Putter’s features. In other words, we had to “bite our tongue” as we watched the Professionals hit our Putter “right & short” early in the trials. In fact, if you observe the individual testers data, the only players who putted even marginally better with their own putter were the ones who performed the shortest duration tests.

See the Results…  Hawk & Swan Putting Trial  (click)

Chicago, 1942. Ridgemoor Country Club. Ben Hogan wins the Hale America National Open Championship.

http://www.usgamuseum.com/about_museum/news_events/news_article.aspx?newsid=216

The USGA should finally do the right thing, on the 70th anniversary of his victory. They should officially declare the event as the US Open of 1942.

There’s an argument that the medal awarded Hogan was not identical to the other Open medals. Nonsense…They created a Jack Nicklaus medal for the winners of US Opens from 2012 onward. Does that mean these winners don’t have Opens on their resumes?

It was the “National Open”. Admit it USGA.

Back in the “good old days”, they routinely referred to the US Open as the “National Open”.

Congratulations to Mr. Hogan… the only Five-Time Winner of the “National Open”.

Breaking Putts… the More the Break, the Tougher to Make.

Unless you’re using a Black Hawk or Black Swan.

You see, the reason you can’t make breaking putts very well with any other putter, is that You Can’t Out-Guess Your Miss.

Everybody mis-strikes their putts. Even Tour Professionals miss the sweet spot more often than they hit it, on other or traditional putters.

What happens on a mis-strike of a breaking putt? The ball takes a different roll… line and speed, than intended.

For example, you’ll strike your putts ‘low-heel’ or ‘low-toe’. The ball paths of these strikes will diverge on a breaking putt, and your speed won’t match your intended, due to inefficient momentum transfer. Of course, occasionally you will strike the CG (sweet spot), and you’ll just blow it through the break on the high side of the hole. Frustrating!

With the Black Hawk or Black Swan, your small (and very normal) mis-strikes will roll exactly the same as your CG hits. The result? Breaking putts track the same intended line and speed, every time. This equals MORE breaking putts made.

In tests, we routinely see players making 2x, 3x, 4x or more breaking putts with our putters, than their own. To learn about an extreme example of this (14-0!), see the post You Can’t Out-Guess Your Miss

One Putt Per Round. It’s Huge.

One good view of this, is to compare the best 150 players in the world (PGA Tour players) across several metrics. Let’s pick strokes played total (scoring average) minus total putts = strokes to the green average, versus total putts.

In 2011, the 1st place in scoring average was Luke Donald at 68.86 strokes (adjusted), and 150th place was Garrett Willis at 71.46 strokes. The differential was 2.6 strokes.

Let’s take the “Putts per Round” of these same two… Luke took 28.03 putts per round (4th), and Garrett took 29.20 (90th). A difference of 1.17 puts per round. This was 4.7 putts per tournament.

Now, Luke was #1 in “Strokes Gained Putting”, at +0.844 putting strokes per round. Garrett was 109th, at -0.018 (essentially at Tour Average). The difference was just about 3.4 strokes on the greens per tournament.

So… comparing the Best Putter in 2011 (Luke) against a proxy for the Tour Average Putter (Garrett) shows something very interesting. To be the best putter on Tour, an otherwise average Tour putter needs to make only about one added putt per round. Just one.

Now, ball striking matters of course…

By a simple subtraction, Luke took 40.83 strokes through the green, and Garrett took 42.26… a 1.43 stroke per round differential.

But even if Garrett struck the ball no better, what would that one putt per round equate to?

Let’s take the scoring average of Garrett, subtract one shot… he becomes a ” 70.46 ” scorer… which would be 40th on the Vardon list. Now, scoring correlates at a very high level to earnings, so where would Garrett be at 40th on the Money List? Roughly $2.3 million… compared to the $528K of his actual total money earned. Almost $2 million = 1 putt per round. Now, Garrett played a fairly light schedule, so he was not truly representative of an average Tour Player. But this small putt per round differential would have quadrupled his earnings.

Repeat this exercise, in a more statistically valid way, with the entire tour, and it comes out to roughly $2 million per 0.7 shots per round (3 shots in a four round event).

One more made Putt. Changes the Game.

If you roll a dozen balls at a hole from thirty feet away, it’s likely that you will notice two things…

1. The overall size of the pattern (the greatest distance between two balls) = Variance = Precision

2. The apparent “center” of that pattern (where the balls would all gather by rolling the shortest distance to each other) = Bias from the target = Accuracy

You can use this as a simple proxy for your “Putting Capabaility”.

Some factors affect both result metrics… some factors affect accuracy more… some factors affect precision more.

You can use the quick visual feedback of the pattern to help you diagnose what is going on with your “Putting Process”.

You can also evaluate your pattern as it logically affects your actual putting performance in terms of “Strokes Gained… or Lost!”

Meet the Real Designers of the Black Hawk & Black Swan Putters…

Pythagoras, Galileo, Newton, Pascal, Edison, & Ford

All we did was apply their collective genius.

Geometry.

Motion Physics.

Classical Mechanics.

Statistics & Probability.

Ingenuity.

Common Sense.

What our Putters actually do is put the truth of these geniuses into your hands, in a tangible expression of these Truths in Putting.

The Ball should Go Where It’s Aimed… (and you should know that the aim is true)

The Putter should Swing Like a Pendulum… (as a result of it’s design)

The Strike should be as Efficient as Possible… (with no wasted energy transfer)

The System should be Robust & Repeatable… (to increase the user’s capability)

The Design should be Innovative & Ingenious… (not be limited to past examples)

The Putter should Inspire Confidence…  (due to Common Sense design focus)

Skepticism. It’s healthy. Engineers are usually the most skeptical… except maybe… Golf Professionals!

Hey, I was skeptical too… of the results. When I started out testing prototype #1, I had no intention of ever putting this in anyone’s hands but mine. It was a personal project, to make me a tolerable putter, so that I could compete again, as 30 years ago my putting (lack of) forced me into a life-long engineering career. But after 4 months of putting so good (in secret) that the results just had me amazed daily, my over-abundant healthy skepticism turned into something else. Immense confidence with a putter in my hands, for the first time ever. Increasing your make % by 50%+ will do that to you.

The interesting thing is though, the more skeptical the player is BEFORE he hits putts with the Black Swan or Black Hawk, the more likely he becomes an “apostle” afterward.

At an early test market site, the Men’s Club Champion was a very good player (ex-pro, reinstated amateur) who not only didn’t try the putter for over two months, but actually was a bit… how do I say this gently… hyper-critical?

After several months, I was at the club one day, fitting a 70-something senior lady player, and watching her roll in four 14-footers in a row in the first minute. She dropped the putter, and called to her husband “Hey Bill, come see this putter!”. I turned around, and instead of noticing “Bill”, I saw this Club Champion (“J”) draining a 30 footer on the 4th green. With, what was unmistakeable at that distance, a Black Swan.

I thought, that can’t be “J”, he’d never touch my putter… but when he drove by in his cart, he waved and said… “Hi Dave!”

Now, he’d never said Hi, or Dave, or smiled at me in several months. Something happened. So I waited for him to finish the round, and find out what was up.

“J” came into the club after the round, and was eating lunch. Here’s what came next…

“Hi “J”… did I see right, did you make a long putt on #4?”

“Yeah, I’m making like five long putts every day…”

“Did I see wrong, or were you actually using a Black Swan?”

“Yeah David, it’s your putter… it’s the greatest club in history. I make a bunch of long putts, every putt is the right speed, I never three putt, in fact, I can’t hit a bad putt with it.”

“Wow… thanks “J”… but what happened, I don’t get it… you said you’d never even try the putter?”

“Hey, I got tired of looking at the other three golfers in the foursome making all their putts with it. So I tried it one night on the practice green after everybody left, and I made everything. I stuck it in my bag the next day.”

Wow.

Then I found out, he’s taken a bunch of my cards from the local pro, and hands them out to players he plays tournaments with, when they ask “how to get one”. I know, because I keep getting calls… “Hey, I played with this guy, and he made everything…”

Saul to Paul.

We’re looking for 60 “Everyday Amateur” golfers to perform a comparative putting trial under controlled conditions, just as we did in 2011 with “Top Players”.

The testing will be done at convenient locations in Florida… I need to attend to set up test and record data, so it’s likely that Orlando, Boca Raton, Daytona Beach, Tampa and Jacksonville will be the locations chosen. If possible, Michigan would be added, and perhaps a site in the Carolinas.

We’re looking for golfers who never used (yet) our putters, but are interested enough to want to putt significantly better. The players should have the mindset of the Professionals we tested with, that is, an honest effort to try and make as many putts as possible, no matter what putter they have in their hands.

Contact us at oriongolf@ymail.com for further details, and scheduling.

A Men’s College Golf Team Captain won a tournament last year, then shortly after saw me at LPGA International fitting a Senior Tour player. He asked if he could putt with the Black Swan… “Sure” … and I fit him for a putter… a 21* Swan.

He putted great… basically made everything. “I’ve got to get my whole team to try this!”

The next day, we have 11 men, 7 women, and two coaches on the green at Orange County National. The players (unfortunately it was tough to have enough putters with all the needed lie angles to fit them all) hit 30/30’s… thirty balls each with their putter, and ours. Then repeat.

The Captain, being the best putter on the team, was being watched carefully by the coach. He was better with the Black Swan than his Cameron, but in the first test, the edge wasn’t massive, like the day before at LPGA. “It’s better, but not as good as yesterday!” he exclaimed.

That’s OK, I told him… just one small test, not much data yet. Do your next test…

“Can I pick a tougher putt?” he asks… sure… pick any putt between 12 and 36 feet.

He picks a tough downhill 20 footer that slides left to right about 5 feet. Shoot… looks like a wasted test… we’re just counting makes… he’s not likely to make any here… lucky to make 2 or 3.

He picks his Cameron… hits practice putts to get his line and then starts…

Miss… Miss… Miss…

He misses 30 in a row. Goose Egg. Ofer. Nada. Zip. Zero for Thirty.

The coach just keeps watching. Then he picks up the Black Swan…

Make… Make… Miss… Make… Make… Make… Miss… Make… Make.  He’s now 7 for 9, and laughing.

“Please just finish the test” I tell him. He ends up making 14 of 30.

Long pause…

He looks at me and says… “Fourteen instead of Zero. How is that possible?”

Easy, I tell him. You can’t make breaking putts with conventional putters.

“Why?” he asks.

Because You Can’t Out-Guess Your Miss! Your small mistrikes roll differently, at different speeds, and on different lines. But the Black Swan putter has a sweet spot that enables your “would-be” miss-strikes to roll just like your perfectly struck putts.

You can’t hit the sweet spot with a traditional putter. You can’t miss with ours.

By the way… using the Binomial Probability formulas, and assuming we give the Cameron one make instead of zero, the probability of 14 or higher makes is 1.6 x E-13 if the putters were “comparable”. In other words, the chance of this being just due to a ‘fluke’ occurrance is less than 0.00000000000016, or just One in Six Trillion.

No kidding.

I had the pleasure of meeting a terrific PGA Professional who attended our Putting Science Presentation last winter. He was naturally skeptical, and as he’s an elite professional on Ping’s Staff, getting him to even try our putters was an accomplishment. I left him a Demo, and gave him time to decide for himself.

Two weeks later, I received a very complimentary email… to summarize, he tested in a number of ways, and the Black Hawk “…flat out performs every time”.

He invited me to his facility, he said he’d been trying to “break your putter” … and then pulled out the iPhone cradle… I cringed. It only measures stroke stability and face repeatability, and doesn’t measure what we do so well… Perfect Geometry, Better Aim, Most Consistent Strike, and Best Possible Roll Dynamics.

“David, I told you I was trying to break your putter, and I did…” Now I know I’m in trouble… as he’s smiling as he says this. “I made my best 5 strokes with my Ping… and I just swung yours!” Uh-Oh.

“Here’s my Putting Index… I’m a Zero-point-One with my Ping (0.1 index)”.

Now I’m waiting for the bad news…

“And here’s me with your Black Hawk… I’m a Plus Two-point-Seven (+2.7)… I’m 2.8 index strokes better with your putter. Congratulations. You’re the next Karsten.”

We’ve tested with several Professionals (including Tour Professionals) since with the iPhone app. We’re always between 2 and 4 index strokes better… just in stroke stability alone.

Thanks to the guys in AZ for creating the app that proves to Ping guys what basic physics does. It makes my job easier… especially with Ping Staffers.

Had the pleasure of 18 holes with a friend, Warren Chappuis, a young scholar in the PGA Professional Golf Management program at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Warren has been a Black Hawk fan since I walked onto the putting green last year at Cypress Head Golf Club, where Warren was serving a PGA Apprentice stint under Mike Collins, PGA, the General Manager.

Warren shot a fine 69, 3-under, with an eagle-birdie finish. His game had improved (he’s only 20, with a lot of potential still waiting to develop), and it was fun trying to match his flat-bellied long and straight tee shots.

Warren had told me about his recent rounds with the putter, including a 65, and his run of many rounds without a single three-putt. He related how skeptical players were before they tried the putter, and then were shocked how well they putted with it.

The best part of the day, was the comments that came throughout the round… Warren commented on many of the effects of the Putter on the Game of Golf. To paraphrase…

“It makes the game more fun…”

“This is the real Golf 2.0. Golfers will play more, because it’s fun to make putts…”

“Golf Professionals are the key, if it’s in their bag, their members want the putter immediately…”

“The Putter works every time… you can’t hit a bad putt… I don’t three-putt at all any more…”

Wisdom from a youth.

A Gentleman from Oklahoma (5 handicap) flew in to Orlando last week, specifically to get fit with a Black Hawk (at the beautiful MetroWest Golf Course)

His first make drill, after watching a short demo and explanation, and hitting some “fitting” putts across the green, was a twenty-two footer with a left-to-right break. When I told him he would make 4 out of 5 in less than two minutes, he just laughed.

Then he immediately made four in a row.

I smiled, and told him few people make the 5th, as the pressure to succeed causes variance in process.

He left the fifth an inch short, dead center.

After some smiles and comments from him as to how that isn’t possible, he then proceeded to have one of the best one hour putting sessions imaginable… making all manner of putts… mid-range left to right, right to left, and short side-hillers.

The important thing is that Kyle (the OK putter) learned very quickly and understood well about the importance of focusing on “Process”, and not “Result”. Process creates the Results. Focusing on Result, degrades the Process.

The best advice we give any golfer, is to not worry about if any one putt is a make or a miss… but to work on making their Process of Putting a little bit more robust on every putt.

I’m eager to hear from Kyle when he receives his Black Hawk, and starts spreading the Process of Putting Truth to his fellow players in Oklahoma.

OK!

The follow up from Kyle… “Very Positive Results… the Putter Works!”

Congratulations to a True Gentleman, Sandy Lyle, for his outstanding performance at the PGA Senior Championship in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Mr. Lyle improved each round, carding 74-71-66-64 = 275 (-9) resulted in a T4 finish. He birdied 22 holes and carded an eagle to boot in the last round.

I had the pleasure and privelege of spending significant time on the green at TPC Sawgrass with Mr. Lyle the week before the PGA, and Mr. Lyle quickly grasped the Black Swan’s potential as a game-changing tool. Putting the Black Swan in play with only days to get familiar, he certainly showed his confidence, proficiency and comfort with the Black Swan Putter at Harbor Shores, on some of the toughest greens ever seen on the Champions Tour.

Mr. Lyle was enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame in May…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6km9lzu6J38&feature=topics

He was featured on Golf Channel with the Black Swan…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqAH6fz-A6U&feature=autoplay&list=ULRqAH6fz-A6U&playnext=1

When first showing the Putters to Professionals, I started with PGA Pros whom I had known for a long time.

I went to go see my old friend Fred Griffin, at the Grand Cypress Academy of Golf. Fred has been Director there since Jack Nicklaus hired him way back in 1986. In fact, I had first gone to Grand Cypress to take lessons from Harvie Ward in 1984, and when they opened the Academy I was one of the lucky ones to join… for me, the day after Jack won his Sixth Masters.

One day early last year I went to go see Fred, and asked him to come to the Putting Green for 5 minutes. He saw the Putter, and like most Professionals, gave me a look that said “David, what the heck is that?”. Then he watched me drop a bunch of 30 footers into the cup.

“Let me hit that…”

I watched Fred roll long putts, and his eyes widen. After a few minutes, he said to me… “David, this Putter rolls the ball amazingly well… who designed this? Did you do this?”

Fred knew I was an engineer… I nodded yes.

I asked Fred if he’d like to test it… I know Fred is extremely busy, but hoped he would do the test I did myself so many times.

“How long does it take?” he asked. About an hour, I replied. Fred doesn’t have a free hour in a month.

“OK, we’ll test tomorrow…”

I built a putter to fit Fred, and the next day, he began the trial. It lasted… not just the hour… but 2.5 hours. Fred didn’t want to stop.

The “Make %” test was hitting 10 balls with each putter, repeating the process, at various holes, between 12 and 36 feet. Fred alternated which putter went first. My job was to say nothing, but keep score. The Professional has to learn the Putter as he goes… so I need to bite my tongue and let him make the typical mistakes when first using it… the player normally aims right (his old putter sends the ball left usually, so it’s ingrained training) and leaves the first few putts short (the larger head size in area makes the player think the ball will go farther, so he’ll baby the first few putts).

Fred proceeded to do the test… and in the middle of it, stopped, looked at me, and said… “David, do you know what you have done to my Cameron?” … I just smiled, and waited for him to tell me… “It’s too tiny, it has no sweet spot, I can’t line it up, and it waves all over the place during the stroke!”.

Right.

Fred finished the test. He was 89% better with the Black Swan, than his putter. Since then, a total of 60 good players, mostly PGA Professionals, but also Tour Players, and top Collegiate amateurs. The aggregate result?

43% more one putts. The actual count was 521 putts made with other putters, and 744 with either the Black Hawk or Black Swan.

Fred was also kind enough to use the Black Hawk putter in his photo shoot for the “Breaking 100/98/80” segment in May 2011’s Golf Digest article.

Fred wrote back to an inquirer who had seen the article, asking about the Black Hawk…  Fred’s reply… “I’m currently putting with the Black Swan… I would suggest you get one to try. They work well.”

Thanks Fred.

Why You Need a PGA Putting Lesson  (click)

We are focused on the Entire Process of Putting Better… not just Putter sales.

When providing a better tool to an operator in a factory process, the tool designer should never just “hope” that the operators understand the tool’s features… they need to properly instruct the operators on the issues they will face in the use of the tool.

Putters have let Golfers down for decades… they fooled the player into thinking they were properly aimed. We experience this every time we fit a player… whether a Tour Pro, or a Country Club Member. They aim habitually (ususally to the right) away from their intended target, because their old putter had a “Bias” in it. The Golfer was “trained” to adapt… not a reliable system, but Golfers had no other option.

You need to understand the physics and geometry of the putting process. You need a talented and knowledgeable set of eyes to watch you in your first experience with a Putter that actually “goes where it aims”. Our Professional Partners are those individuals who guarantee the process… and not just in helping you buy… but helping you Putt Better.

The PGA Professional is our “Quality Control” agent. He assures you of a proper fit, lie angle, shaft length, grip preference. He instructs you on the unique features of the Putter. He watches your grip, stance & posture, stroke, and tendencies. He makes certain that on all putts, long, short, and in-between, you are comfortable, and proficient, immediately.

During the process of Putting Better, most of our clients are so shocked by the fact that they make Putts, easily, repeatedly, that they simply cannot grasp that they actually are “Good Putters”.  But it’s true. You’re actually a “Better Putter than You Think You Are”.

We thank the PGA Professional partners who assist us in making sure this unique opportunity… making everyone Putt at Peak Proficiency, is as simple as the right Tool, coupled with the right Technique.

We provide a Complimentary PGA Professional Putting Lesson with every new Black Hawk or Black Swan Putter purchased at MSRP. In fact, you cannot get the putters, without the lesson. We’re dead serious about the Quality of Putting.

If, after the Putting Lesson, you’re so excited about the potential for playing better Golf (like most players), you want added help for your game, ask the PGA Professional who introduced you to our Putters, to help you improve the other parts of your game. He’d be happy to schedule you a Lesson for short game & bunker play, driving for distance & accuracy advice, or help with your iron play. After your game is tuned up, invite him to play 9 holes, and take a Playing Lesson from him in the process. You’ll do your game a lot of good, and maybe make the PGA Professional not just your coach & teacher, but your friend.

Enjoy…

Odyssey, Ping, Titleist-Cameron, and TaylorMade produce nearly 80% of new putters sold in the USA.

It Will Change the Game … for the Better.  (click)

What actually happens when you miss a putt? Do you understand why? Do you recognize the true “Root Cause”? Actually, No.

You think it’s the line you selected when reading the putt? You may have read it correctly.

You think it’s the amount of momentum you create in the Putter, to transfer into the ball, and results in the distance you roll the ball? How about the speed of the green? You probably did that estimate pretty good…

No… you’d be surprised at the root cause of nearly all missed putts.

The putter itself. You read this correctly… it’s your putter’s fault.

We’ve hit well over 100,000 test putts in the past two years. We know what the root causes are.

Bias… and Variance.

The Bias causes you to “think” you are properly aimed, when you aren’t. It’s because all conventional putters have imperfect geometry. The face angle looks “here” (apparent angle), when the ball comes off the face, “there” (actual face tangent). Your putter fools you. Simple as that.

The Variance comes from the striking characteristics of the putter head… the “Sweet Spot” on your putter is just stupidly small. You miss it by as little as “one dimple” of a golf ball, and that is the difference between a make and a miss. Your putter is brutally unforgiving. Like using a small persimmon driver. Where you strike the ball, matters. But traditional Putters have an effect on just a dimple off strike meaning an entire stroke! In comparison, drivers and irons are forgiving to the extent of nearly a ball in range, not a dimple.

Actually, very few putts are “missed” because of a so called “bad stroke”. In fact, the better your stroke, the more these defects in your putter actually punish you!

Our Putters actually Putt where they Aim (due to Perfect Geometry). This eliminates the Bias.

Our Putters also have an effective Sweet Spot that allows Putts hit a few dimples off the perfect CG spot to roll the same distance and direction as perfectly struck. This reduces the Variance.

Read on…

 

Finally, a Better Putter  (click)

Introducing the Black Hawk Putter by Orion Golf…

The first Putter actually designed to “Make More Putts”.

Using simple but critical applied science and mathematics, the design of the Black Hawk, and the Black Swan Putter, allows Golfers to actually make Putts at rates far higher than with conventional Putters. Why? How? Keep reading, as the secrets of the Putter designs (patents pending) are revealed.

See more at www.one-putts.com … not 1-putts.com, or 1putts.com, or 1putt.com, but one-putts.com