Scotty Cameron Before & After: Putnam Putting

I’ve done a few Scotty Cameron putters in the past, and have been very pleased with the results.  I like restoring a putter, rather than buying one off the rack (for a premium).  It gives me the opportunity to make the putter mine, and mine alone.

Remember the one I found at Goodwill?  And the one I got from my fraternity brother in exchange for a bottle of bourbon?  I’m still putting with that one, and love it.  I got rid of the goodwill Cameron, as I never really putted well with it.  I like to have two putters minimum, as it gives me a backup when one doesn’t want to cooperate.  Given the success I’ve had with refinishing Camerons, I decided to give it another go.

This time I wanted a putter that was a different set up than my current Newport 2.  As I said, I’m putting well right now, but it’s a matter of time before my golf game is negatively impacted by equipment failure.  To build the stockpile, I started looking for number two.  I looked, and finally found a Del Mar that met all the criteria.  I really like a sight line, and I like a clean, simple look.  I don’t like any of the spaceship-esque Camerons that are out there now, as they are too busy.  I ended up getting the Del Mar for $100, and as you can see, it needed some work.  Lots of dings, but no gouges.  All in all, a GREAT project putter and an even better price.

Here is the putter as it arrived in the mail:

Notice all the dings and scratches:

As you can see, this is a GREAT Scotty Cameron Del Mar, but it needs some love.  As fate would have it, I was introduced to Nathan of Putnam Putting a couple days after I won the auction.  We have a mutual friend, and he came highly recommended.  Nathan runs his company here in Atlanta, and does incredible work (check out the Gallery section on his website).

I told him about my new putter, and that I wanted to get a refinish.  He took me through the process.  His refinishes start at $85 a piece, which is pretty standard to get in the door.  This actually includes the refinish in quite a few options, and then there are plenty of extras (see the list here).  I elected for the Haze finish, and I like the gasoline look.  As for paint fill, I went with my typical red and white colorway.

After a couple weeks, I got my putter back.  Needless to say, I was blown away:

Literally ALL the dings are gone.  The putter looks brand new:

I was very happy with the colorway.  No one on the planet has one like mine:

I’ve putted with this a few times, and have a feeling that I’ll never have a three-putt again.  Just kidding – but I can tell you that I will not lack any confidence when standing over this bad boy.  The experience with Putnam was outstanding.  Nathan was very accommodating, and was a ‘measure twice, cut once’ kind of guy.  He checked and double checked with me to ensure that I was happy with the outcome.  It didn’t take long to get the putter done either.  Given that this is an East Coast operation, the shipping is much less expensive (and quicker!).

Putnam Putting is doing great work.  They’ll get my business next time around.