Design must be driven by purpose.
Since the start of the company we have learned a lot about design from not only using putters and testing putters but from other companies and people that we have worked with. We had the opportunity to work with Linksoul, Blast Motion, and some touring pros. In each case we found that there is always a goal in mind for the functionality of our putters and at the same time a specific look our partners were going for. For me personally, to be called a putter designer, it isn’t just simply being able to CAD the design because anybody that knows how to CAD can design a putter (you could say the same about hand sketching). To truly design you must take these inputs such as center of gravity, MOI, feel, sound, material, hosel offset, hosel placement, hosel type, shaft type, and overall shape (blade vs mallet) and be able to incorporate all these futures while still having the putter function in the way you intended. For example, are we looking to get the ball to roll more quickly? Are we looking for a model with high MOI? Are we trying to create a dynamically balanced putter with no bias to toe hang in any direction?
I think putter manufacturing is going to change drastically in the next 5 to 10 years. The conversation now around rapid prototyping and 3D printing functional putters out of metal will be the norm in 10 years and the larger companies will be forced to evolve. These companies are already evolving in the sense they are diversifying their portfolios by acquiring more lifestyle focused companies meaning they are less focuses on manufacturing because they are seeing that people are unique and don’t want to buy off the shelf anymore which is troublesome for the current paradigm. I predict in the future people will be able to choose a design and it will be easily modified to their liking and it will be printed. The focus will be more on fitting length, lie, shaft stiffness, head weight, alignment, hosel offset, to name a few. In other words true putter fitting. Here on this platform I am looking to explore different ideas with the golfing community.
I am taking suggestions on designs to be apart of my 100 putter designs for the year. Some of these will be showcased at the Japan Golf Fair in Yokohama this March 23rd-25th at Pacifico Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 220-0012, Japan.
For those of you who can't make it there we will be posting updates here with photos and videos. We might have an event during the year with one of our partners to showcase our quarter point at 25 pieces midday way point at 50 pieces and our final stretch points at 75 and 90 pieces.
