Ask the Experts: Scotty Cameron
The second installment in our series "Ask the Experts" gave you a chance to ask questions via Twitter to Titleist putter guru Scotty Cameron. Here are his answers.
I have a mallet putter and two different blade-style putters. Is there any chance you might develop an interchangeable putter-head system?
There are companies out there that are working with interchangeable driver parts, and I'm keeping an eye on them. But at what point would we become a component company versus a golf club company?
Right now, you can send your putter to us and we can add weights if you want to make your putter heavier or lighter. But you have to send it to our shop to do the work. Why? Think of it this way: If I bought a car and the dealer gave me a tune-up kit and put it in the trunk, and the manual for me to tune up my own car, that doesn't mean I could do it right. I would probably be better off leaving it to the professionals to do it.
There's always a niche group of customers who are techno-tinkerers out there. However, I feel like I would rather be in control of the destiny of the product.
Now, to make a mallet out of a heel-toe weighted blade, it's been done before. But in keeping with the car analogy, if I took a four-door sedan and could bolt on a back so it converted into a station wagon ... you know what, I'd rather just buy a new station wagon.
I just feel that we are a putter company, not a component putter company.
Many professional players will switch to a softer ball next season. How will that effect their putting?
Good question. We have done a lot of tests regarding sound versus feel, and we have found that sound actually has more to do with feel and the feel in your hands. So every time we make and design putters, we're thinking about sound versus feel.
There is a sound you expect from your putter, and it's not right and it's not wrong, but it is what you want. Some may sound hollow and tinny, while others may be soft and cushiony, but a lot of it has to do with the golf ball you use.
The Studio Select line has interchangeable weight screws in the bottom of the putters. Why not allow golfers to swap the weights on themselves?
The whole idea behind the weights is for us to get it just right. For many years, putter companies had one head and simply made it in three different lengths—33", 34" and 35". But that changes the weight in a similar way that cutting down or lengthening your driver would.
We don't want someone to have a kit that would change the weight and make the putter not ideal. We have the recipe here that tells us what adjustments to make for every inch that you change, and the swing-weight points that you either gain or lose. But as I said earlier, I just really want to get it right.
Now, I believe that putters can be a little heavier, or possibly a little lighter, but not so much that it changes the rhythm and timing of your transition stroke from the backswing to the forward swing. If a putter is too light, you can take the putter back too far to gain the momentum, or you have to hit at it more to compensate for the weight loss.
(Video: Scotty Cameron Studio Select Putters)