Hey Tiger, Let's Talk Putting

Tiger Woods got testy yesterday at the Honda Classic when pressed about this whole Navy SEAL business from Hank Haney's book about their time together. "You're a beauty, you know that?" he retorted to one reporter.

At a few points during the press conference, the moderator implored the hungry horde to "keep the talk about golf." So that's what we'll do, because amid all of the kerfluffle, Woods said some very interesting things about his putter and his putting game.

One reporter inquired about Woods's switch from his trusty Cameron putter to the Nike Method 001 blade (and on occasion, a Method mid mallet): "You had the same putter for years, and you have switched a couple times. Where does that fit into all of this, the actual putter itself?"

Woods replied, "I had to find a putter that comes off at the same pace as my Cameron did. We had to work on the grooves to make sure that it came off the same speed. Once we got that dialed in and the ball was coming off the same speed, then we are set. And that's the mallet, whether I used the mallet at the Masters last year, or I've used this one, the one with the plumber neck, they are coming off the same speed as my Cameron, and that's the beauty of it, because I don't have to make any adjustments for speed."

Woods also hinted that his putting issues are related to adapting his entire game to a new swing philosophy under Sean Foley: "I had three different teachers in my full swing. When I was with Butch, Butch wanted me to hinge it much more, because that's what he used to putt. He's from the old school; you hinge it and you hit it. Hank was more rotational, and Sean is not as much. There's a blend to all of that, and ironically enough, when I have to make a putt down the stretch on the back nine, all of that's out the window and I just putt."

He added, "When I'm in the right posture, all of my lines are good. I can roll the ball pretty good. I think that for some reason, I feel more comfortable when there's more heat on down the back nine on Sunday, or if I have to make a certain putt. For some reason, I've made more of those and I've putted better. I don't know why that is. I wish I knew. I tend to get into the correct posture more frequently when that's the case."

Of course, there have been some Sundays lately when that hasn't happened, so it's hard to say where mechanics end and belief begins when it comes to the state of Woods' putting game.

Ultimately, Woods remains bullish on the possibility of recovering his old putting prowess: "I just have not put in as much time in as I needed to. If I start spend more time doing it, it starts to come around. Just like my full swing, I log in the time, and consequently, I'm hitting the ball really, really well."

As for Haney's book, it has already become a distraction, if not for Woods, for the media. To date, only an excerpt has been published. It could get wild and woolly once the entire book is revealed. We'll be keeping an eye on it...After all, it could contain some great putting insights from a time when Tiger Woods was lights out on the green.

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Hunter Mahan's Putter Magic

Earlier this month, PutterZone.com visited the PING tour van in Pebble Beach, where tour representative Matt Rollins showed off PING's newest flatstick, the Nome putter, which he said was designed to optimize the golfer's aiming and alignment.

Two weeks later, Hunter Mahan visited Rollins for a tuneup. Mahan was struggling on the greens, so Rollins put a laser on Mahan's blade putter and discovered that he was habitually aiming slightly left of the target line.

You know where this is headed...Rollins fit Mahan for a PING Nome putter, and Mahan promptly stormed the greens near Tucson to win the Accenture Match Play, beating Rory McIlroy and racking up 35 birdies in the span of 96 holes.

This is really a story about putter fitting. Mahan had been playing with a classic Anser blade with toe-hang balance and full offset. With the Nome, he switched to a face-balanced putter with a higher moment of inertia (MOI), to better match his relatively straight stroke. The Nome's minimal offset and distinctive alignment feature, which runs from the rear to the leading edge of the face, proved to be a better fit for Mahan's eye, enabling him to remedy his aiming issue. The rest is history.

When the PING Nome putter is released to the retail market in early April, it will be available in three balance configurations to fit the individual stroke of the golfer, from straight to slight arc to strong arc.

PING is one of the leaders in bringing putter fitting options to the mainstream market, and Mahan's experience shows how a better fit can work wonders.

"I wasn't just getting like a true roll and a true read," Mahan said after one of the early match play rounds. "I hit great last week, but I couldn't make anything. So I switched putters this week, and I have just a lot of confidence where I'm starting the ball."

P.S. To learn the essentials of putter fitting and how you can use them to raise your own game, check out PutterZone.com's putter fitting guide, Putter Perfection.

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Bettinardi Queen B Putter Review

Long renowned for his BB Series and Studio Stock putters, putter designer Robert Bettinardi has added a new twist to his portfolio: The Queen B putter.

While technically a ladies' putter, the Queen B claims to be universally appealing. The Queen B ($375) is available in two models: the Queen B Model I mid mallet and Queen B Model II heel-toe weighted blade.

Is Bettinardi going too far out on a limb with the Queen B putter, or does he have a new hit on his hands? Following is PutterZone.com's Queen B putter review, specifically the Queen B Model II.

The Storyline
According to Robert Bettinardi, the Queen B putter was inspired by his wife, Ann: “She has told me for years that there needs to be a ladies line strictly for the ladies….no pink grip added onto a man’s putter, no chartreuse lettering, etc. So we have a true ladies putter now. The funny thing is that we sell about 50 percent of them to men.”

The Queen B putters are milled in the U.S.A. from soft carbon steel, and they boast a distinctive "cashmere bronze" PVD finish. They also feature Bettinardi’s signature “honeycomb” face, with a repeating honeycomb pattern milled across the surface. This textured surface is designed to create the flattest possible contact area.

According to Bettinardi, “Honeycomb facing is my way of making the face flatter than a normal fly mill finish. When a machine fly mills across the face it produces extreme heat. This heat leaves a concave area in the center of the putter face from toe to heel. You cannot see it with the naked eye but it is there. I personally would rather have a textured surface that I know is flat across.”

The head weight of the Queen B II golf putter is 360 grams. The standard loft is three degrees, and the standard lie angle is 71 degrees, but both are customizable at the point of purchase. The balance is 3/4 toe hang.

The View from PutterZone.com

I’m not going to get too caught up in this whole gender discussion when it comes to golf equipment.

I can see where some women might find the whole “ladies” golf aesthetic a bit patronizing. At the same time, there are legitimate reasons for targeting specific gender and demographics with your products. After all, that’s what makes the marketing world go ‘round, right?

The Queen B walks this fine line perfectly. It’s elegant yet bold, thoughtful yet confident. It may very well be the world’s first “metrosexual” putter.

The "cashmere bronze" finish of the Queen B is striking—it’s what I might call “coppery champagne,” leaning a bit more toward champagne than the accompanying photos might suggest. It’s a uniquely stunning look that stands out from the crowd.

While the Queen B’s head is crafted from carbon steel, the feel of the putter isn’t what I would call soft or buttery. There’s a real crispness upon contact, with a nice click in the audio department. But there’s depth and smoothness in the sweet spot, too.

The wide flange on the Queen B Model II will be a welcome sight to many golfers. The putter still has a traditional Anser-style shaping, but the wider flange adds some girth, which can help introduce a dash of extra confidence when standing over a putt. The span of the face from heel to toe is also slightly shorter than you typically find with heel-toe weighted blades, and the topline is on the thicker side. Yet the putter still manages to look svelte as opposed to stubby. Before buying, you just need to know that the look is a little boxier than the typical heel-toe weighted blade.

With the Queen B's added girth comes a little extra weight. At 360 grams, the head of the Queen B is a full 10 to 15 grams heavier than most putters. To some, this might feel a bit too weighty, but others will find it helpful for smoothing out their stroke.

The paintfill on the face of my Queen B could be a bit sharper. The bee logo is really stylish on the headcover, grip and sole of the putter, but when rendered in a smaller size on the face, the details become a bit blurred and blobby. I’d like to see that remedied on future editions.

The Queen B headcover is awesome, with the bee logo embroidered in bronze brown in contrast with a light gold material. The interior is plush, and the slip-on action is very smooth and secure.

Lastly, in addition to offering a potential performance benefit, Bettinardi's signature honeycomb face pattern looks particularly righteous on the Queen B putter, and not just because it ties in so perfectly to the whole "bee" theme. When the light catches the face just right with this cashmere bronze finish, the honeycombs almost look like little jewels. The honeycombs are also smartly repeated on the rear bumpers of the head, adding just the right touch of flourish.

At $375, the Queen B putter may empty your wallet, but such is the price of quality and luxury, and I think that most folks will find it worth the splurge.

The Bottom Line

The Bettinardi Queen B putter is a standout in both style and substance, boasting a strikingly distinctive finish while delivering beautiful feel and fine performance. The Queen B may have originally been conceived as a women’s putter, but it is also fit for a man.

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Belly Putter Debate Heats Up

The Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club had it all this year: Hollywood-scripted sunshine, Lefty pulling rabbits out of his hat (and a golf ball out of a spectator's shorts), and high drama on the 18th hole to force a three-way sudden death playoff. The only thing missing was another belly putter.

Indeed, Bill Haas's putter is a Cameron Studio Select Kombi putter, while Keegan Bradley's putter is an Odyssey White Hot XG Sabertooth (pictured here). Just imagine if Phil Mickelson had stuck with the belly putter he was flirting with a few months ago. We might have seen the first three-way "belly off" in the history of the PGA Tour.

It's just another sign that the belly putter isn't going away. Or is it? There are rumblings that the USGA is itching to revisit the legality of the belly putter, and specifically the act of anchoring any putter to the body when putting. Tiger Woods famously came out against the belly putter two weeks ago. Shortly thereafter, Ernie Els said he's in favor of banning it...even though he uses one.

The issue is getting stickier by the day as young tour stars like Haas and Bradley keep winning with their belly putters. It's hard to believe that before Bradley's victory at the PGA Championship last summer, the belly putter was still largely considered a fringe option, a sort of last resort for old guys on the Champions Tour.

Now here we are, six months later, and the belly putter is still lighting up the PGA Tour while putter makers triple and even quadruple their belly putter sales forecasts compared to last year at this time.

In other words, it's precisely the wrong time for the USGA to decide to pick a fight with the belly putter. Any powerful opponents at the rules-making level had to have been caught flat-footed by the belly putter's sudden surge of success, both on tour and on the retail shelves. This genie rocketed out of the bottle, and now it would be hard to putter back in...

There are four issues with banning the belly at this point, one of which we haven't really heard discussed elsewhere.

First, you would be removing key clubs from some of the PGA Tour's hottest young hands, like Bradley and Haas, which would be a really strange development. Second, you would effectively eliminate a game-improvement option from the recreational golf ranks at a time when the game is suffering at the recreational level. Third, you would be pulling the rug out from one of the hottest retail categories at a time when equipment makers are trying to navigate a fragile economy.

The fourth concern is particularly interesting: if the belly putter is declared illegal, does it cast a dubious light on Bradley's major victory at the PGA Championship? It's one thing if the belly putter has won a tourney on some random Tour stop, no one is going to really remember or care. But now that the belly putter has won a major, the question is a bit stickier. What if the belly putter gets banned and Bradely never wins another major. Would that unfairly paint Bradley's career into a corner, adding an asterisk to his finest achievement?

All of these questions may be moot if the USGA ignores the naysayers and just stays the current course. But if guys like Woods and Els get their way and the talk of a ban heats up, you can expect some serious fur to start flying across the world of golf.

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PING Nome Putters at Pebble Beach

PING Golf is fresh off an exciting year that not only saw the release of its forward-thinking Precision Milled Anser putter series, but also a corresponding iPhone app that remains the gold standard in personal putting analysis.

Indeed, the iPING putter app not only offers key insights into your putting performance, but also happily ushers putter fitting concepts into the mainstream. And since we're bullish on putter fitting here at PutterZone.com, we can only applaud this achievement.

Continuing our coverage from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we now report from the PING tour van, where we got a peek at what's next from PING, and how it fits into the putter fitting equation.

PING tour representative Matt Rollins (pictured below) showed us around the van, and pulled out one of the PING Nome putters (pictured above) that you'll see hit the shelves this spring. The Nome is a large mallet with an alignment feature that is similar to the one found on the PING Sydney putter released last year.

This alignment feature consists of an arching piece of black anodized aluminum that extends across the crown of the putter. A contrasting white sightline runs through the center of the piece, extending from the rear of head to the leading edge of the face, for one continuous visual thread. This feature is particularly helpful for golfers who draw a putting line around the equator of their ball, as the putter's sightline can "connect" with the line on the ball with minimal visual interruption.

The Nome putter will also be offered with three different shaft bends, which will alter the balance of the putter from face balanced to toe down in varying degrees.

These putter fitting options are designed to match the stroke of the player, be it a straight stroke, slight arc or strong arc. The aforementioned iPhone app can help the golfer ascertain exactly which type of stroke he or she employs, and thus guide the golfer to a better fit.

Stay tuned at PutterZone.com for more on the PING Nome putter and related putter fitting options.

P.S. Check out PutterZone's Putter Perfection, the simple guide to putter fitting.

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Ernie Els' Belly Flop

While the belly putter craze charges into the new year, there are growing rumblings that the USGA might be jockeying to put the breaks on it down the line.

Tiger Woods recently voiced his opposition to the belly putter, adding both weight and fuel to the fire. Now we have Ernie Els stumbling into the debate. Indeed, as reported by Golf Magazine, here's what Els said in response to a question about the USGA taking another look at the legality of the belly putter:

"Although I've used it, I've used it for, what, six months now, I feel the same as most of the traditionalists. I feel that no club should be anchored to your body. I don't know how they're going to go around it, maybe use a putter as long as you want as long as it's not anchored to your body any way, even up your arm. You see a lot of the guys use it in their armpits now. Nothing should be anchored to your body, and I believe I still believe that. I was in such a state that I felt that I needed to change something, which I did. I went to the belly. It hasn't really helped me that much, but it has helped me. But I'm for it. Ban it. It's fine."

Let's review. Years years ago, Els spoke out against the belly putter, saying, "Nerves and the skill of putting are part of the game. Take a [pill] if you can't handle it...It's just becoming such an easy way to putt and you are actually pushing the putter into your body and then you can make a kind of perfect stroke with your hands."

Then, ironically enough, he started using a belly putter recently.

And now he's saying, essentially: Nothing should be anchored to the golfer's body, but I will anchor my putter to my body until someone tells me I can't do it, which I hope happens soon.

There's flip flopping on an issue, then there's flat-out belly flopping...

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Phil Mickelson's Putter: Custom Odyssey PT 82

Phil Mickelson lit up the greens like a Christmas tree yesterday at Pebble Beach, sinking several clutch putts, including a 30-footer that took the wind out of Tiger Woods' sails immediately after Woods holed a shot out of the sand.

While Mickelson notoriously flirted with a belly putter late last year, he has returned to the heel-shafted blade style of putter that has long been his signature. The Odyssey putter Mickelson used to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am is a prototype of Odyssey's PT 82 head with White Hot XG insert.

According to Odyssey, Mickelson recently modified the putter's loft from five degrees to three degrees. The length of the putter is 34 inches, and the grip is a Lamkin 3-GEN R.E.L. pistol grip in white.

Odyssey makes a retail replica version of this putter, the Limited Edition PT 82 blade with a White Ice insert.

Mickelson's switch from five degrees of loft to three degrees is notable, and could reflect a recent change to his degree of forward press or some other stroke tweak. Also notable is the fact that while Mickelson stands at six feet, three inches tall, his putter is a full inch shorter than the so-called retail "standard" of 35 inches for men. It's just a another example from the tour of how putter fitting is vital to maximizing one's potential on the green.

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The Scoop on Putter Fitting

Tour professionals make sure that their putters are properly fitted. Now you can, too.

Putter Perfection is the first guide to walk you through the modern essentials of putter fitting, offering clear and concise tips so that you can find a better fit for better results on the green.

Why are PGA Tour professionals fanatical about putter fitting? Because they know that a proper fit is essential to maximizing your putting potential.

Yet most golfers still just grab a so-called "standard" putter right off the retail rack with little regard to how it fits, creating a recipe for trouble on the green.

Bad habits may be hard to break, but the truth is that there's no longer any excuse for failing to seek a better fit. After all, personal putter fitting options are rapidly multiplying at the point of purchase, and nearly all of the clubs offered by the top putter brands are available in different configurations that you can fit to your physique and your stroke.

In other words, it's time for you to take action and seek a better fit, and it's much easier than you might think. You just need to know what to look for.

Enter Putter Perfection by PutterZone.com editor Sean Weir. Putter Perfection is the first guide to give you the full scoop on putter fitting essentials—and how you can apply them yourself to achieve a better fit for better results.

"Do you know how to make sure your putter is the right fit, and partner, for you? Weir goes through everything you need to know about types of putters: lie angles, lengths, loft and every other aspect you never thought of. But it is not a dry lecture. Chapters are quick...and explain what you need to know and why." -Bill Pennington, New York Times

"A very thorough guide to putter fitting. Sean's passion and altruism for all golfers is notable." -Pat O'Brien, putting instructor to major champions Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink and other PGA Tour professionals.

“A fantastic book chock full of information from beginning to end…I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their putting.” -Reader Duey L.

"The book brings you the important information clearly written in a way that anyone can understand and in a way that makes it a joy to read." -Reader C. Ault

"A great read...This book can and will help anyone." -Reader William Cuebas

P.S. Putter Perfection was written with the gracious input of two expert technical advisors—Adam Sheldon, master craftsman for Never Compromise and putter designer for Cleveland Golf; and Pat O’Brien, putting instructor to major champions Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink and many other PGA Tour professionals, as well as the teaching professional at Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, Texas, and the global ambassador for the SeeMore Putter Company. Thanks to Adam and Pat for helping us spread the good news about putter fitting.

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Nike Putters at Pebble Beach

In a PGA Tour equipment van, you can always expect to see what's new. Often, you will also see what's next, the putters that will hit the retail shelves in the months ahead.

And if you're lucky, you'll see what you can't have—the custom sticks that are the sole province of the tour pros.

On that note, we continue our coverage from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, reporting from the Nike tour van.

As at previous tournaments, Nike's Rob Burbick meets us with a ready smile and another hair color. Today, it's bleached white and pointed due north. Needless to say, Rob is hard to miss on tour and in the Nike commercials that feature "The Oven," the company's golf testing lab in Texas.

We ask Burbick about some of the custom putters that they've produced recently. He pulls out a prototype created for Paul Casey. At first glance, from behind and above, it looks like the original Nike Method 001 putter (though without the bumper designs). But when you turn it around, it has the insert from the Core Method line. In other words, it's a hybridized Method that bridges the original and Core Method putters. There's also no sightline or sight dot, just as Casey likes it.

Another custom golf putter is a Nike Core Method 4i developed for Francesco Molinari (pictured above from top view). It looks a lot like the standard 4i, but then you notice that the butterfly-like flange has been filled in, so that the rear is perfectly convex. The weld is perfect, as there's not a hair of visual evidence that this putter has been appended. "Our guys are pretty good," Burbick says.

But not everything coming out of the van is a prototype. The Nike Core Drone putter and new Nike Concept putter are two large retail mallets designed to offer forgiveness and stability. Burbick also says that he's seen no sign of an abatement in belly putter interest on tour. "Many players who historically wouldn't consider it are considering it now," he says.

It's always fun to peek inside the tour toybox and seen what's being created. It's an "ask and you shall receive" world for the tour professionals. The rest of us can't, and don't need to be, quite so picky.

But there's a lesson for all of us in these customized clubs, and a reason why the pros are so fanatical about finding the right fit: no matter what your skill level, a better fit will produce better results on the green.

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TaylorMade Putters on Tour

When putter companies say that their latest models were produced with guiding input from top tour professionals, one might suspect that it's all just a bunch of marketing hype.

Today, as part of our continuing coverage from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we report from inside the TaylorMade tour van, where we discover that the "tour-tested" mantra is more than mere hype, but rather a serious part of the tour crew's job.

For example, take the Corza Ghost, the first of what would become numerous Ghost putters. According to TaylorMade's putter guru Shawn Mullin (pictured below), it took a year of testing and tweaking to finalize the shape. The tour crew “shortened it, rounded it and shrunk it,” making a nip here and a tuck there as the professionals weighed in on what they liked, and what they didn’t.

And even when a golf putter is finished for the retail market, the tweaking continues. TaylorMade’s latest Ghost model is the Manta, and the tour crew has already produced two versions with smaller heads by request of tour professionals.

That should be good enough, right? Nope. Mullin reaches into a drawer and removes some bubble wrap to reveal a wax mold of a fourth size they plan to prototype (see the black mold in the accompanying photo). According to Mullin, some pros, like Peter Hanson, actually roll and control the ball better with less MOI in a smaller head shape. Other pros simply prefer the look of a smaller head. Will any of these smaller sizes reach the retail market down the line? It's impossible to say. But if they do, you'll know where it started.

Mullin said that this is the same continual testing process that yielded the TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider, the diminutive version of the original Spider. While simply shrinking a putter down may not sound like rocket science, it requires a considerable work to get it just right, from both a performance and aesthetic standpoint.

“It’s simply a part of our tradition of getting feedback from the best players,” Mullin says. “It’s like NASCAR—let the best in the world test it first. I’ve been working with these players for years, and they give me honest feedback. They don’t gloss things over. They point us in the right direction, and then we relay that information to our engineers.”

Mullin says that the Ghost Manta putter is off to a strong start on tour, even though the season is only a month old. "It's starting off stronger than the original Spider in terms of early interest and usage," he says. "I think it's going to be big."

TaylorMade's Shawn Mullin holds down the TaylorMade tour fort:

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Edel Putters at The Pro-Am

As part of our continuing coverage of putters at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we now turn our attention to Edel Golf, "the leader in putter fitting technology."

We find David Edel on the practice green adjacent to The Lodge at Pebble Beach, sharing his putters with interested professionals. Rich Beem is one of several using an Edel putter on tour, he says.

Edel hails from Texas, and he exudes the friendly swagger that seems to come easy to Texans. He is known for his emphasis on alignment, and, according to his web site, he offers a system “of up to 273 million component combinations made up of various putter heads, hosels, offsets, lie angles to find the combination that corrects for the golfer’s natural aim.” Edel also authored a chapter on putter fitting in The Best Putting Instruction Book Ever published by Golf Magazine.

On this day, Edel seems particularly proud of his two DeVicenzo putters (mallet pictured above), named for legendary Argentinian golfer Roberto De Vicenzo, whom Edel calls his mentor and idol.

These putters are what Edel calls "torque balanced." They are neither face balanced nor toe down. Instead, they are designed to remain square to the stroke path through impact. They aren't the first putters to exhibit this type of balance, but they may be the first to exhibit it without bizarre hosel and head configurations. Indeed, while they are large mallets, they look quite traditional and pleasing to the eye from the address position.

For a showstopper, Edel then pulls out a pair of custom sticks that were truly dazzling (see photo below). Edel understandably doesn't want to share the details about the process he uses to create these putters. It looks like a combination of a satin bead blast and a spot polish to create ultra-cool mirror designs that can wrap around the different facets of the head. One of the designs featured the peace symbol, while the other was a tiger striping. Edel said that clovers and other designs are in the works as well.

The accompanying photo doesn't really do them justice, but it's good enough for you to get the drift. We'll keep you posted as we learn more about the latest from Edel Golf.

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SeeMore PCB Putter at Pebble Beach

The SeeMore Putter Company makes a triumphant return to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this year, hoping to extend its Monterey Bay winning streak after D.A. Points won last year's tournament while wielding a SeeMore FGP putter.

As part of our ongoing coverage from Pebble Beach, we caught up with SeeMore tour representative, instructor and jack-of-all-putter-trades Ted Gallina to find out what's new, and what's next, from the SeeMore Putter Company.

For starters, Ted shared some new tweaks to existing favorites for 2012. For example, the Si Series putters are rolling out a new sole design, as well as a new insert that, unlike its predecessor, is completely flush with the face. The mFGP2 mallet is also getting a refresh, with the addition of two milled alignment lines along the flange to frame the ball and accentuate SeeMore's RifleScope alignment feature.

Next, Ted broke out a couple of newcomers that you can look for later this spring: the new SeeMore "Big FGP" putter and PCB "pure center blade." The Big FGP is a mallet with a semi-triangular flange. While the Big FGP that he showed us was a tour-only milled edition, the production model will be cast from 303 stainless steel. Like the new mFGP2, the Big FGP features two vivid alignment lines for framing the ball and defining the target line.

The SeeMore PCB putter is a center-shafted, face-balanced blade that, unlike many face-balanced putters, resists twisting open in the resting position. For golfers who want the assurance of a mallet but the look of a blade, this golf putter is going to be a godsend. The look and balance are pure. There's no offset, no toe hang, and no unnecessary design flourishes. Throw in the RifleScope alignment system, and you've got a stick that's set to get you square and keep you square through impact.

The Big FGP and PCB will both belong to SeeMore's FGP family. The FGP putters start at $150 and offer remarkable value, so they should hit the ground running upon release.

As if on cue, while we were chatting with Ted, Zach Johnson (pictured here) stepped onto the practice green and started stroking putts with the same original SeeMore FGP that he has used to win the Masters and numerous other tournaments. Is another victory at Pebble Beach in the stars for SeeMore this year? Stay tuned...

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Odyssey Flip Face Putters for 2012

Continuing our coverage of the putter scene at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we now report from inside the tour van of Odyssey Golf.

Now, this isn't just another tour van. It's a brand-new beast of a van with a deluxe interior. It has only been operational for four weeks, and the inside decor is still being finalized. It's loaded with tools and gear to build custom clubs on the fly, and at one end there's a lounge for chilling while you wait for your club to be finished (presuming that you're a tour pro, of course).

We expected to see the new Odyssey Metal-X putters and Odyssey ProType putters, and they were out in full force here and at the practice green. But what we didn't see coming was the new Odyssey Flip Face putter, a little engineering marvel that allows you to change the face of your putter without removing any parts.

Indeed, with the turn of a screw, you can flip the face around to feature either the Metal-X insert or the White Ice insert, depending on your preferences and playing conditions. While the adjustment is smooth and swift, it takes 14 built-in components to make it happen.

The Odyssey Flip Face putter is going to be a conversation starter, and perhaps an argument starter, too. Some golfers are going to call it gimmicky, but others are going to eat it up. Look for three models (Odyssey 1, 5 and 9) of the Flip Face golf putter to be available starting in April

Later, down on the practice green, we got a closer look at the Metal-X putters, courtesy of tour rep Johnny Thompson. The Metal-X insert features a dimpled aluminum plate backed by a urethane dampening layer. The insert’s oval depressions are designed to maximize the “mechanical lock” with the ball to increase friction and impart proper launch for a truer roll.

Starting at $150, the Metal-X putters boast a look, price and technology story that should combine for a retail hit in 2012.

New Odyssey putters tempt the pros at the Pebble Beach practice green:

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Yes! Putters at Pebble Beach

After a brief layoff last year, Yes! Golf is storming back in 2012 under new Adams Golf ownership, making an immediate statement on tour and, soon, on the shelves of a golf retailer near you.

Earlier this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, we caught up with Yes! tour representative Brad Adams, a putter industry veteran who seems to know everybody on the practice green.

Arranged around his Yes! staff bag was a colorful suite of putters, including the new Yes! 12 Series putters and the Callie MB manganese bronze putter (pictured at top), as well as some tour-only offerings.

Every putter featured Yes! Golf's proprietary C-Grooves. These grooves are positioned at a 20-degree upward slant to lift the ball out of its resting position and impart topspin for enhanced accuracy and consistency.

The new twist with the 12 Series, however, is the inclusion of a TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) insert that is now placed behind the C-Groove face. This insert is designed to reduce vibration for enhanced feel. The Sandy 12 in white really stood out with it's striking alignment features, as pictured below.

Meanwhile, the Callie MB is a stunner. It's a modern throwback to the PING Anser manganese bronze putters of yore, right down to the sound slot cut into the sole behind the face. The head is precision milled from a one-piece bronze forging for a supple yet solid feel. Throw in the C-Groove face, and you've

got a putter that's going to drop jaws and open wallets.

Another stick that stood out was the Yes! Jenny TOUR putter, a milled softtail-style blade with elegant lines and clean look at setup. According to Brad, "The philosophy behind these TOUR putters is that they are made for our staff and other players who specifically ask for certain putters. Along the way, we get input from the best players in the world. If these models prove to be successful on tour then you may see them in stores down the line."

Meanwhile, look for the Yes! 12 putters ($199) and Callie MB ($349) at retail starting March 15.

Yes! tour rep Brad Adams on the practice green at Pebble Beach:

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Postcard from The 2012 Pebble Beach Pro-Am

In the days ahead, we will be filing reports from inside the tour vans and around the practice green at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, bringing you the latest putter news from the professional circuit.

To kick things off, PutterZone.com editor Sean Weir files the following postcard for a broader taste of what life is like at the tournament—and why you might want to plan your own visit in the future:

"The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has never had any trouble attracting crowds. After all, it combines the allure of celebrity with jaw-dropping views, a legendary course and a colorful history, making it one of the PGA Tour's most distinctive and definitive stops.

But then when Tiger Woods decides to return to the tournament after a 10-year layoff, well, that's when things go off the hook. Indeed, reports indicate that ticket sales have grown by 35 percent this year, yet another indicator that nobody can move the needle like Tiger.

Yet on the eve of the first round, the vibe was decidedly relaxed, and the elbow room was plentiful. My first stop, of course, was the practice putting green adjacent to The Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Here, San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was making time to chat with a group of U.S. Army men and women. Harbaugh's quarterback and playing partner, Alex Smith, was nearby. Zach Johnson (pictured here) and Padraig Harrington were among the professionals practicing their putting. It's a blast to watch these guys putt up close. There's an "it" quality to their putting that just stands out.

But I was really there for the putters, and I got an eyeful. I connected with SeeMore, Yes!, Cleveland and Never Compromise, PING, TaylorMade, Edel, Odyssey and Nike. I saw new putters, upcoming putters and putters you'll never see unless you're on tour. In the days ahead, I'll be filing my resulting reports from the practice green and tour vans.

The crowds began to grow around the first tee for the Celebrity Challenge. Don Cheadle was followed by George Lopez, who teed off while sporting a colorful Mexican wrestling mask. It's not my cup of tea, but everyone was having fun. And that's the beauty of this tournament. It offers something for everyone.

It amazes me that some folks would gripe about the unique format of this tournament. Would I want George Lopez playing on tour every week? No. But in an era when there's a lot of hand wringing about growing the game and cultivating the next generation of golfers, we should celebrate our exceptions to the rule of "serious" golf. The 16th hole at Phoenix, the shenanigans of Bill Murray at Pebble Beach...In moderation, these early-season spectacles make golf more cool and relatable.

On that note, if you haven't been to the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, I highly recommend adding it to your bucket list. Consider going early, even during the practice rounds, if you want a more intimate, less-crowded experience. You can walk the course and re-imagine its most epic shots from the U.S. Open and Pro-Am. The organizers do a fantastic job of keeping things flowing amid the naturally tight confines of the Del Monte Forest, and the tournament ambassadors, from the traffic cops to the shopkeepers, make it a friendly experience.

Even if you can't make it during tournament time, and even if you can't afford a round of golf here, you'd still be wise to visit someday. The seafront path of 17-Mile Drive is alone worth the effort of your trip, with Monterey cypress trees clutching bare rock and leaning out toward some of the most breathtaking ocean views in the world. At the lodge, you can shop for keepsakes and enjoy a beer and a bite in the Tap Room.

And bring your putter, because when there's no tournament going on, the practice green is open to the public. Putting at Pebble Beach...It doesn't get much better than that."

The view above the Peter Hay short course at Pebble Beach, Wednesday, February 8, 2012:

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