Clay Long Personal Edition Putter
Great putter makers just know what they are doing
Clay Long has an amazing history of making putters and having them used to win Majors. Most famous is the putter he made for Jack Nicklaus that won the 1986 Masters. Not only did that putter win, but it also opened the door to the more creative putter designs that we have now.
The putter I put in play is from the personal edition series. It is a B201.5. This putter was milled from a solid piece of carbon steel and then plated with a satin nickel finish. I was impressed by the dull look and pleased to have a maintenance free putter. The head weight on this putter is right around 340grams. While often I like a few more grams, it felt very balanced and solid.
There are number of distinct features of this putter. The first is the Long Barrel Straight Slant Neck. It has an extended socket, which means there is more shaft inserted into the neck and is said to offer less vibration at impact. I can say that it offered a smooth soft feel at impact. The offset is minimal about one shaft, but it looked great and was easy to square up.
The ease of alignment also came from the unique sighting system which incorporates a positive raised centerline, with recessed dual outside lines for sure alignment under any lighting conditions. No matter the position of the sun, the raised centerline casts a small helpful shadow for alignment aid. I found it easy to line up on short putts and on long lag putts. While some might feel it is bit much, there was little doubt about where this putter was aimed.
An interesting feature on the face is what looked like an insert. But upon further inspection it is just an engraved outline and then a special cross-milled interior. It really is designed to frame the ball. I found that as long as I hit the ball in that area, it sounded and felt great, but outside of that was very noticeable. But considering how big the area is, one shouldn’t really miss. I appreciate the extremely smooth milled section dead center of the face.
The grip is a Lamkin etched paddle style grip. While it may not be my favorite grip, it is a good size and was firm enough to get a good feel for putts. It also comes with a great looking white with black stitching AME head cover.
Like I said at the beginning. Good putter makers just know what they are doing. Clay Long designed a solid putter with a couple unique features that make it even better.
There are a handful of dealers that carry these putters around the country, or get in touch with Clay directly off his website. For more information:
www.rollyourball.comRyan Heiman
Independent Golf Reviews
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