$800 Headcovers, Tiffany Green Scottys, and White Fang | Putting Is Fun Ep. 11

This week Putting Is Fun goes all the way into tricked-out putters. Brian Manzella, Top 50 teacher, and John Ortega, co-founder of John Byron Putters, cover the whole history: when putter covers first showed up, the John Byron Play Ball Series, the Straight Flush cover that never made it to Vegas, and the headcovers that now sell for $800. Then the good stuff. Black oxide vs. gunblue, 8620 carbon steel, Cerakote refinishes from Pete Mata at Ohana Golf, and the math on buying a beat-up Scotty Cameron for $300 and selling it for $500 plus. How Karsten Solheim swedged the Anser shaft with a ball bearing instead of epoxy, and how Tom Watson won majors with a marble in his putter. The White Fang story: Jack Nicklaus painting a Bullseye white so nobody would know what it was. Why a black putter with a black shaft cost Brian every putt he looked at. Tungsten in an 8802, inserts in a 303, smooth face vs. milled, and the grips both hosts wish somebody would make. Chapters 0:00 Putting Is Fun 0:37 New Orleans and rainy Costa Mesa 2:36 When did putter covers show up? 4:17 The John Byron Play Ball Series and the Straight Flush cover 6:30 $800 headcovers 7:39 Never game a Piretti without a cover 8:24 Black oxide and gunblue 10:15 8620 carbon steel and Cerakote 11:55 The first refinishers 13:17 A beat-up Scotty Cameron Studio: what it's worth 17:19 Pete Mata and Ohana Golf 18:05 $300 putter, $150 refinish, sells for $500 plus 20:02 Two guys by the beach making putters 21:20 Bailey Boo and custom headcovers 22:16 Tricking out the shaft 23:16 Karsten swedged the Anser shaft with a ball bearing 27:30 Tom Watson, the 8802, and Turnberry 28:58 The only game you can peak at 70 30:28 The black putter, black shaft problem 31:44 Lines, dots, and how a putter looks on the ground 34:22 Big Don and the Teaching Summit tangent 37:02 Tiffany green and the White Fang story 39:23 Bead-blasted Circle Ts and the Crenshaw silversmith story 41:50 Tungsten in an 8802 43:40 Why put an insert in a 303? 48:15 Smooth face vs. milled: smash factor 49:41 Garsons, Runyon, and the peak 52:52 Wish-list grips 55:28 The Spider song IOU 57:11 Putting is fun First person to send us the full Ben Crenshaw silversmith story gets a free Manzella video. Details in the episode. Brian Manzella is a Top 50 teacher and runs his Studio in the Sky in New Orleans. John Ortega is co-founder of John Byron Putters, runs the Ortega Golf Lab in Costa Mesa and is long time coach to PGA Tour winner Jake Knapp. Be your own coach. #PuttingIsFun #FunnelGolf #Putters #ScottyCameron #GolfHistory