Most golfers buy a putter the same way: Walk into a golf shop. Pick up a few putters from the rack of various makes and models. Find one that looks good to the eye. See if it feels comfortable. Roll a few balls. Head for the cashier. Done.
If this sounds like a familiar process, then it’s likely you are not playing your best. But that can change for what it takes to enjoy a nice dinner at your favorite restaurant. In this case, however, it would be roughly an hour at the Putting Lab, part of The Kingdom at Reynolds Lake Oconee, where revolutionary custom putter fitting is taking place every day.
“Reynolds Lake Oconee is one of the few places in the country that makes our level of technology available to the public,” said Jay Johnson, Master Club-fitter at The Kingdom, located near the practice facility at the Oconee Course.
The session begins analyzing the putting stroke with the MATT System (Motion Analysis Technology by TaylorMade) and the Quintic high-speed camera. Together they compile data from “thousands of measurables,” Johnson notes, with the MATT system recording the movement of the club in 3D, while the Quintic camera shoots the roll of the ball off the clubface at an amazing 360 frames per second.
“We can find things that you can’t see with the naked eye,” Johnson said. “We break the numbers down to tenths of a degree. Some of the angles are so small, but so important to making putts. In reality, it’s like buying a suit. You are a 44 long, but you still need to make alterations so it will fit you properly.”
Also, it may be the image, not the importance of the putter fitting that Johnson says has created a somewhat limited appeal of the process. “A new putter isn’t as sexy as a new driver,” he said. “But with a driver, you can have the clubface open a degree (at impact) and never miss a fairway; with one degree open on the putter face, you will never hit the hole.”
While The Kingdom has all the TaylorMade putter models on site to provide custom-made clubs, Johnson said they really are not concerned about equipment sales as they are providing data and information.
“We are in the knowledge business,” Johnson said. “We give them everything they need to know how to make educated decisions on what clubs to purchase, with the data on what putter is correct for them.”
The Putting Lab sessions are the same that the tour pros rely on long before you see them knocking in putts on television. And for only $100 – less than filet mignon for two and a bottle of cabernet – anyone can do it.
“Nine out of 10 people say it’s the best $100 they ever spent,” Johnson notes.
For more details and to make an appointment at the Putting Lab, call (706) 467-3563.
