So right now I have a putter in my hands which almost looks like
a chipper. It has seven degrees of loft.
If you're on the video, you can see this.
And there's a good reason why. This is the Betanari Armlock,
the Matt Kucher Signature Edition, and today I'm going to
chat with Sam Bettenardi about this putter.
This was one of the first attempts at making a mass market
armlock putter. So he's going to tell the whole
story of how it came to be kind of what some of the challenges
were as they created it and the the prototyping and then selling
of it. And then we're going to talk
about like what they've learned over the years of Bettenardi
about armlock putters. They've been doing it for a long
time. 2013 was this launch and yeah, they're still making them
today. So an important story to tell in
our series on alternative putting styles because the
armlock is is a big part of that, but it hasn't really taken
off. So we talked about why as well.
Maybe why haven't we seen it grow more since 2013, but man,
this is a really interesting putter this it's got a bunch of
offset, bunch of loft, but it sets up really, really nicely
when you go to to arm lock it. So it's a fun, fun club to play
around with. Going to talk about this more
here soon, but let's get into this with Sam.
OK, let's go back. What was the first idea of an
armlock putter like? Where'd it come from?
Yeah, the first idea really came about in 2010.
Matt Kutcher won the money title on the PGA Tour, was playing
great, cashing a lot of checks. And in the that year, I believe
the PGA Championship, maybe it was at, at whistling straights
and my father Bob had driven up to whistling straights, bumped
into Matt Kucher. We had a relationship with Matt
going back to 2002. The Honda Classic was his first
PGA Tour title and he won it with a Bettenardi putter.
So as we do on the PG Tour, always trying to get players to
switch into our products. So my dad ran into Matt.
Matt, good to see you. Would love to make you a putter
again. How do we get you in the in
play? He said.
Bob, funny ask. I'm actually trying to develop
this new putting style where I hold the putter on my forearm.
I don't know how to use it. I don't know what it needs to
look like, how to hold it. But he goes, do you remember
when Bernhard Langer won the 93 Masters where he was essentially
wrist locking it, right? He had that putter grip on his
wrist and he goes, I want to do that, but I want it on my
forearm. So again, something totally
brand new. And the way that I was told the
story, it was Kutcher had approached Scotty Cameron, Garen
Rife and then my father to make him this style of putter.
So we had made him probably 25 to 30 different prototypes with
different head shapes, different Weld necks, different offsets,
different lofts. And finally settle on what he
used for most of his career from 2013 to the last few years of a,
what we call basically the Kutcher Model 1 or our Studio
Stock 28. It's a wide body blade.
And his putter at that time at 7° of loft that was milled into
the face. And the reason it had so much
loft is when you, when you put that putter grip on your
forearm, right, and you have that, that shaft and grip so far
forward on your left, your forearm, your D lofting the
putter. So you need loft added back in
to offset all that D loft and you're doing keeping it forward.
So lot of R&D, lot of time went into making that happen.
And then that first first year he put in play in 2013, he won
the the WGC at Dove Mountain, he won the memorial in May at
Jack's Place and the rest. Is history interesting?
OK, let's get into the weeds on it a bit then what?
Like what is, is there anything difficult about making an
armlock putter? Or like, what were the things
that you had to figure out about, like how to make a good
putter for the style? Totally.
Once we settle on Matt's exact had an exact configuration,
that's the first step was hey, we got to get this to the masses
because we think arm locks going to be great, right.
So the challenge of machining that was a lot of companies at
the time. Surely thereafter we released
the arm lock didn't mill the loft into the face because
that's custom tooling, custom fixturing and it's more complex
versus just milling. I'm looking for a putter on my
desk versus just milling right the flat of a loft off of 3°
where you need to mill it at 7°. The second challenging part,
which is what we all kind of secretly feared is that his
shaft at 2 1/2 shafts of offset. So the post that goes on that
putter right here was angled. Let me see if I got one behind
me. I do not this post right here
Corey, I got a putters all over my office, but this post right
here is an 18° angle and with the Koocher arm lock it was 12°
and this is Koocher unlock was 22°.
So with that shaft you need a thicker shaft and a heavier
shaft to allow for the heavier head weight and then that big
bend. So we had a source through our
shaft companies, we use what we call a ski pole shaft that was a
lot thicker and then a custom bend to allow it to go into that
22° push of a neck, right. So what are always fear was I
remember in 2013, I went to watch Matt at the Masters and
our head of engineering was like just pray that putter doesn't
snap. I go, what do you mean?
He goes well, that neck is at such an angle and Matt always
rests. You know, his body leans on the
putter. We hope that it doesn't snap.
It shouldn't because it's mill from three O 3 stainless and the
stainless is very durable. But we've never done this
before. So let's just pray it does.
And I'm like, oh God, that's the last thing you want to hear when
you're down there and you're you're hanging out with Cooch
and his family that his putter could break during the Masters.
That's that's pretty good. OK so so for a novice I I'd feel
dumb for asking this, but what is milling loft into the face
mean and is that different than bending it?
I'd sorry if that's a dumb question, but.
Something that's a great question.
So when you well, when you think about why loft is on a putter,
right, the the theory is that a golf ball that's resting on a
green, right? It's kind of it leaving an
impression in the green to need loft, right?
If my hand is straight 90° need a little bit of loft to be able
to lift that golf ball out of the impression and start rolling
end over end immediately, right? So I say milling loft into the
face, the face, if it's it's not completely flats, if you look at
it like this. So that fixture that set up to
mill the loft is angled at a way which is 3°.
So when I'm talking about 7°, right, it's just it's here, but
it's angled more to be able to allow that 7° aloft milled into
the face. So when we first launched that
Kutcher models as the KM one and the KM2 in the spring of 2013, I
remember it very vividly. It was May of that year.
Both models had that much loft milled in the face.
And that was my job when I started here 12 years ago was to
sell and market the brand. And I remember talking to a lot
of people like podcasts over the phone and media.
They'd say, wow, that is really hard to look down at.
It almost looks like a wedge, right?
And I said, you have to put it on your left forearm.
This is how it works. So I think again over the years,
Kutcher had even gone down from 7:00 to 5:00 to even 3° of loft
on his on his putter. So we learned over the years,
you don't necessarily need 7 armlock offerings are milled
into the head. Courtney right now at 5°, we
feel like that's a a great number for a wide variety of
players. Start as a great starting point
versus 7 which is a little off putting at times looking down at
that much loft. Well, I, I went on eBay and, and
bought one. I thought I was going to be here
today, but it didn't make it in time.
So I'm, I'm interested to see what 7° of 7° of loft looks
like. Totally those, those original
ones. So that's, that's interesting.
You guys changed it was is the reason that in that first model
he was just leaning so far forward or that's so much?
Forward. He was so far forward.
Yeah. And I'll give you an example.
I just got a new putter made for me today.
And it's our antidote, SB-2. And we had made a couple front
pieces with five degrees of loft, right.
And when Kutcher first started putting, he was, he was out
here. If you ever look at those early
videos, he was way forward. And since then, he's become a
lot more closer to his body, which means you don't have to
have all that loft on the putter.
Got it, Got it. Again, if you look at a guy like
Bryson who's whose arm lock is 79° of lying go right, he's
very, very upright, but he's got that putter tucked inside his
body where again, when Kutcher started, he was way, way out,
which required again, that's 7°. Did I?
That's interesting. Thinking back, he wasn't so
upright right when he was doing arm lock with the lying.
Oh, really? I want to say it was like 68 1/2
to 69. Wow, would would you?
What's your stock lie on something?
Is it more upright? 70s, our standard line goal that
we offer to golfers. We feel like that's a great
number. I think a lot of people that
come into Studio B Oakbrook, they get fit and I'd say more
often than not we're bending people flat to 6968 1/2 ish
versus going more upright. I think it's just a natural
position for golfers to be's a little flatter, but 70s are
stock lying old. Got it.
OK, let's go. I want to go a little bit
deeper. I'm not sure I totally followed
on why the the thicker the the ski pole shaft.
So is that that's because the the offset is more or could you
dive into that again? I don't know if you could show
us that. Again, I want to make sure I
understand that. Yeah, a ski, we call it a ski
pole shaft just because it's a lot thicker than a standard
shaft, right? And if I were to grab again,
another butter right here to see the difference, you could see
how thick this one is in my left hand versus this thin one right
here. It's probably about 30 to 40%
bigger. So the reason you needed a ski
pole shaft is because of the heavier head weight at 400 grams
versus 3 versus a 358g head, which is typically our standard
weight. So that extra thickness and in
bulkier shaft accommodated the heavier head and that's what
Matt Kutcher preferred. So we figured at the time, hey,
if this is what Matt likes, you know, people out in the public
want a game and use what the professionals are using.
So here we go. Here's a shaft.
Got it. Have you in your arm lock
putters? Have you kept the heavier weight
in in the head? Is that maintained over time?
We have, Yeah, because arm locks, when we first launched
them, even this day, you're offering lengths from 38 to 45
inches, right. So with that extra length of the
shaft and the extra weight of the grip, you need that extra
weight in the head to essentially counterbalance all
that, all that additional weight you're doing on the bottom end
or on the top end. Excuse me?
So that extra headway helps. You could still try an arm lock
at a standard weight. It's just going to feel very
light when you have that extra grip, extra shaft and length all
adding up. That adds up a lot.
Got it. OK.
So, so take us back then you were, you said your first job
there was marketing this putter then right, that is where you
kind of got started. Yeah, I started.
I always knew I was going to work for the family business.
I'm I played golf at college, at Marquette.
I played a lot of Junior Golf growing up, so golf's in my
blood, it's in my veins. And I graduated from DePaul
University and my plan was always to work somewhere else
for two to four years, take that experience, come back to bed
already golf and start working with my dad.
And at the time when I was graduated, I went to Marquette
for two years, DePaul for two years.
So I had an extra quarter in there.
So I graduated in December and when December came around, I was
looking for jobs. And he said, you know, I'm about
to sign Matt Kutcher. And we haven't had a big tour
player on our staff in quite some time.
I really need somebody to help me out and, and sell and market
this. And obviously you're my son.
I trust you. It'd be great timing.
So I started with him right after the PGA Show, so end of
January. And that was the development of
the arm lock. He started using it.
I think it's February. We decided we were going to make
that putter. And when we decided to make that
putter, my job, just like we're talking now, I was doing a lot
of sales. So I had a headset on and I was
always, you know, in my office standing up holding the arm lock
saying, Yep, you grab it with your left arm.
You put the butt into the grip 2 inches below your left elbow.
You rock the shoulders. It takes the wrists out of this,
the stroke. It takes the hands out and it
really promotes the upper body in the stroke.
So after doing that and for months and months, I was like,
wow, this thing feels actually really good.
So I put it in play later that year.
And I haven't really switched putters in the last 12 years
just because I'm such a believer in the arm lock technique.
It's helped my game probably three to four shots around
easily just from having that added stability.
Again, there's no hands, there's no small muscles that get
involved. So yeah, back to your question.
That's how I really started. And you know, the arm lock story
and signing Matt is, is like my baby, you know, I feel very
passionate about that. So what do you remember?
Because was this, was this like the first armlock that had ever
been kind of like mass released to the public at the time?
Yes, it was. So people had no idea what it
was. They're just like what?
People had no idea. So imagine, you know, we were 20
times smaller back then than what we are now.
So there's there really was no big marketing budget to tell the
masses. So I remember in May we went to
it's when The Players Championship was at Sawgrass in
May, we went down there. We rented a little like the
teaching facility at the back of the range, invited Golf Digest,
Golf Week, a bunch of different media.
And it was my father and Matt and they explained to the world
what we did. We we launched it, initiated it,
got it into retail stores that month in May and it just took
off. It was really, really popular.
But the challenge was, is still nobody knew how to putt with it,
right? They watched Matt on TV.
We made some YouTube videos about it, but again, we didn't
have $30 million to go on Golf Channel and blitz the world on
armlock technology. And then what really, to me, put
gasoline on the fire. That was in 2014.
Mike Davis from the USGA said that belly and long putters were
going to be banned and made illegal.
And he specifically said in his speech, the armlock technique
that Matt Kutcher uses will remain legal.
So it couldn't have asked for better marketing.
You know, just saying a armlock and B, mentioning our player and
that rules. You know, they had about a year
and a half to two years to stop using belly long and anchoring
on their body. And Mike Davis in the USGA felt
that, hey, we can keep armlock legal because the grip is still
traveling with your body to do and that anchor points not
moving. So that was another big sales
surge. People started going, oh, shoot,
I can't use this. Let me try Armlock.
So again, if we were to, if we were to do it all over again, I
wish we would have made that first model with less offset and
less loft where that had 2 1/2 shafts of offset and seven
degrees of loft. Like I said, now the arm locks
we're making are 1 1/2 shafts of lofts, offset and five degrees
of loft. It's less intimidating for
consumers to look down at. It feels a little bit easier to
pick up and go versus a lot of the questions we got is, hey,
where's ball position go? Where do I put my forearms?
How far do I want a forward press?
How little do I want? It was just it was again, it was
all brand new Cordy. So nobody really do besides
watching Couture on TV. And then surely around that
time, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley started arm locking
among some other players were it was more visible out on the PGA
Tour where where consumers could watch what golfers were doing at
the biggest stage. Yeah.
I mean pretty cool, pretty cool though first to market with kind
of like that product, you know, and and kind of pioneering that
that idea out there. What?
What year is that again? That that all?
Coming out of 2013. 2013 the. Development took all took place
all of 2012 and then again making all those prototypes with
all sorts of net configurations, loss offsets and finally Matt
Settle on the one and he won two PGA Tour events and in five
months with the putter. So really, really took off.
He got the number six in the world.
So again, we had our guy still on our staff to this day, but
he's using a reverse arm lock in our antidote model versus the
left forearm arm lock. Yeah, right.
Well, we need to, I think we need to go there.
I want to go there. But first I want to go back to
tell me about the year of of prototypes like was obviously
pretty involved kind of process of figuring it out.
Was it mainly figuring out the offset and the loft?
Was like that the main thing? Or edge shape.
Or was that like, well, again, Matt didn't really know what he
wanted. He just said, I want to be more
consistent in putting. And we go, you just won the
money title. Yeah.
But my, I, I want to win more. So he wanted to be more
consistent in putting. And his belief was that if he
tried this style, a different style, similar what Bernhard
Lyer did at the 93 Masters, he would be more consistent.
Him and his coach, Chris O'Connell from Plain Truth
worked on that. And then we were the the vendor
and the guys to make that happen.
So again, a lot of variety with lofts, offsets, neck locations,
flow necks, spud necks, plumber's necks.
Just try again. Hey, Mac, we send them five
butters. What do you think of these?
Hey, you know, out of the five, I liked one of them, but I want
to change this hey, five more. What do you think of this?
So it's just that development and R&D process with Kucher was
pivotal and creating this butter.
Why did you land on the kind of thick blade?
Was that just a a preference thing or because he's kind of
stuck with the blade with the the arm lock is like kind of a
theme kind of going? Well, I think when you to great
question, when you're thinking about putters and you know, for
us what models we want to produce, if you take that wide
body blade, which I feel like we were really some of the first
people to start making that and now it's everywhere.
It's your classic, you know, BD-1 answer style head, but with
a wider flange, which to me allows for more confidence in a
dress. So when you look down at that
thing versus looking at a very skinny blade, you still have the
blade appearance with the top line, the muscles, the
shoulders, the the flange, right, with the, the, the
bumpers and everything. It's classic blade appearance,
but it's wider, right? So it's like somebody using your
butter knife blade versus going to cavity back blades.
Of course, cavity backs look easier to hit and add more
confidence from a dress versus that skinny blade.
It's the same reason why you see the top 30 players on tour.
I think over half of them are now using mallets.
They're just easier to use. They're more forgiving.
So same thing with that wide blade that was a more forgiving
and better putter from a dress that added more confidence to
players. So again, great model that we
debuted and did extremely well when we launched them.
OK, take me back to your pitch when you're you're in that
office, how do you describe to someone like, I've never had
one, I just bought 1. Like how do I use this thing?
Like teach me how to verbally walk me through how to how to
putt with it. Sure.
I would say, Cordy, Congrats on buying your arm lock ago.
It's a great putter. First thing first, you've got to
get the length dialed in. So I would say let your forearms
hang freely and grab the putter and put it on your arm.
And the ideal point, which is what Matt did is the butt end of
the grip, which two inches below is left elbow.
So a lot of arm locks we sold back then we sold uncut to golf
courses and club fitters where they could take that uncut
putter. In measure for their member or
measure for their customer, where to put the shaft right.
So once they got the shaft down, we they gripped it, they held it
and they're like, well, this is weird.
How do I hold this? And our statement was always you
should have the ball position slightly forward in your stance,
a little bit off the inside of the left toe and have a slight
forward press. And then from there, while I
still use armlock and love it to this day, is you're just rocking
the shoulders, right? There's no, we have all been
there with A5 footer to win some money off our friends or playing
in a tournament where you have that five footer, your hands get
a little shaky, right? You take it back not too far.
You D cell, you take it back and you push it.
I love the arm lock technique because it's all the big muscles
in the body. So just feeling like you're
rocking it. And one of the training tips or
techniques Matt always taught me was just take the arm lock in
your left hand and swing it with your left arm only, right only,
left arm only. I'm going to stand up and show
you right. So just just here and then put
the right arm on. And that just kind of acts as
your guide where it's just, again, it's all big muscles.
And that's where to me, it's still a great, great technique.
You still see it on the tour to this day of people using it and
having success. I know 0 torques taking over but
not so much on tour but it's been a good amount of guys.
Counterbalance has been popular, but I think for players looking
for another way to be more consistent and stable, arm locks
just such a such a game changer. Tell me about the right hand.
What do you what do you see work their best?
Just normal grip? A claw?
Like what? What kind?
Of thing, normal grip I've seen, yeah, I've seen guys, I've seen
guys do claw. I've seen guys like Eduardo
Molinari. They'll do like, you know,
reverse. They'll put it up here.
I've tried that. It doesn't work for me, but I
think for the for the customer and the golfer, you have to feel
comfortable. You don't want to try something
and it takes a couple rounds and some practice to get used to
because again, it is a new technique, but you got to find
what works best for you. I don't think there's a wrong
answer per SE. Work with a coach if you can.
If not, just take the putter out and start start hitting them.
Yeah, tell me about the reverse arm lock.
What the heck is going on there? What is?
What is that all? About that's what I said, that's
what I said to Matt as well. What what, what is this thing?
So same kind of concept probably three years ago said he wanted
to be more consistent on putting and he felt that if he put it on
his right arm, he was not, he would be able to keep his stroke
more compact. Sometimes he felt like with the
regular arm lock, he was following through too much
throughout the stroke. But if it's on your right arm,
it's harder to keep the putter head going up and out.
So to create that right-handed arm lock, number one, you need
negative loft. So we made him his putters at -1
negative 2° of loft into the face because the ball right it,
it's so far backwards. So that was a product that we
made for him. We've never made it at retail.
I just think it's, it's, it's too niche and it, a lot of
broadcasters on TV, you know, said, hey, look at Maddie's
putting with this, this style where it's on his right arm.
What is he doing right? It's very unique.
But Kutcher's always been a phenomenal putter, a top 15, top
30 putter in strokes gain putting stats.
So can't argue with what works for him.
And I remember the first time he put it in play, he texted me
Sunday night, he goes look at that, look at those stats.
I just led the field and strokes came putting.
So he was so he was so excited. And again, can't argue what he
wants. These tour players know exactly
what they want. They know what they want within
a, you know, centimeters, millimeters, right?
They are very, very precise in their their bills and their
requests of what we make them. So if that's what he wanted,
that's what he gets. I like it.
So I'm I cannot go by the reverse arm lock on your website
then. Is that what you're?
Is that what you're talking? We can make you one to tinker
with, but I don't, I, I don't think it's, I don't think it's a
putter for the masses. I think, again, arm lock was
challenging enough for people to get used to where that right arm
lock just feels to me very awkward on how to set up.
But again, Coocher's got 10 hours, 12 hours a day to go
practice and make it happen. Any downsides to Armlock in
general that you've seen? I know when we talked to Marty,
he was saying that something that they've seen a little bit
as maybe like speed control and leg putting and stuff is
something that might be a downside of of Armlock.
Have you have you seen the same? Any other thoughts on potential
like downsides to to Armlock? I haven't because I I've used it
for 12 years and it's the best thing that's ever happened to my
putting a lot. I agree with what Marty said is
that some people it takes, again, it takes time to get used
to lag putting because your arms are connected and you're losing
a little bit of that feel that paint brush stroke of your arms
being free and just kind of feeling the putt in the hole
where sometimes when I put the arm lock in time out, I grabbed
the short putter when I played some greens at 1314 in the stem
because I wanted just to feel the putter again versus being so
mechanical and robotic, right? When you set up the arm lock,
you're just your rock and your shoulders and you're going.
So I agree a little bit with that.
It's never been really a problem for me on speed control.
Again, I've been using it so long.
But to the average consumer, yes, it's a new putting
technique. It's something you have to
practice and you have to learn. It's like if you go get a lesson
from your coach and he's telling you, hey, when you come on down
swing on your driver, I want you swinging to 11:00, right?
That's a whole, that's a new swing.
Somebody's going to have to practice and try and get used
to. So same thing for the arm lock.
It's a brand new technique and a new method of putting.
It just takes time. Yeah.
Who do you recommend trying this out for?
Like do you tell all your friends like, hey, you got to
like go try this putter, like try it out?
Or is it just like specific people?
I think a lot of my friends have bought it because they've seen
how many putts I've made and it works.
So I think anybody really that just struggles with the the
shorter putts and just consistency on the greens, that
was always my demise, those 3456 footers and that's where I saw
immediate improvement. So I think if you're somebody
that gets a little, you know, uptight around that those length
putts, this is a great model for you.
If you're looking for more stability and more consistency
on the greens, it's a great model for you.
Same thing I'd say with our our zero torque putters like the
antidote, if you struggle with putting and you want more
stability, it's a great model. So I think Armlock, again, if
you have the patience to put some time in and in practice
with this brand new putter, this is a great model for you.
Did you? Have like I so I switched to a
long putter, probably, I don't know, a couple years ago just
because the right the right hand on those short putts in a
tournament. It I don't know, you know, it
sometimes feels weird. You got to get rid of it.
There's a new sensation that takes over.
We've all been there. Yeah.
So I think again, if you're that
guy and you switched along, so people that have used bellies,
that have used lung, that have messed with counterbalance, that
use high Moi mallets, again, anyone that's looking for an
advantage on the greens, the armlock is is the place to go.
So tell me about Armlock since 2013 has, has it kind of been
consistent? Is it a thing of like you guys
there was a big burst and then it's kind of mellowed out over
time? Is this kind of alternative
putting kind of growing for you guys?
Like how does it, how do you view it as a as a company?
Yeah, As a company, I think of it's a model that we we need to
offer every year because we created the technology and it's
a great putter that works. When you think about some of our
customers, right, like PG Superstore, Golf Galaxy,
Worldwide Golf Club Champion, like the bigger accounts that
have stores, you know, Cup champions got 140 stores around
the country, they're less likely to have that as a demo in their
matrix of their 50 putters on their putting grade.
You know, some of the bigger stores may carry one per store
or one in their better doors. So it's definitely mellowed out
over time. I think we all know zero torque
is the big trend right now because again, that's a putter
someone can just pick up and go, right?
You don't need to learn a new style, you just grab the putter.
So I think huge burst in 2013, kind of meld out in 2014, and
then picked up again in a big way when the anchoring band went
into effect in 2016, and then again when Bryson won the US
Open. What at wing foot was that 2022
or no? That was when Fitz won maybe
21/20/20. Yeah, the COVID year, big surge
then because he was using an armlock putter.
So anytime the old saying in golf is what wins on Sunday,
sells on Monday, anytime there's been players that are using and
winning with that style or it's visibly noticeable on TV, we'll
see a little bit of an uptick. So I think overall it's mellowed
out. It's something we're going to
carry for a long time, but it's not surging by any means
tonight. Like you mentioned, it's an
alternative putting style. What do you what do you predict
over the next five years? Like on tour, it's Bryson.
Matt plays one. Does anyone else play in our
mock on tour? I think web.
I think web still plays one. Yep.
Do you do you think we're going to see that stay the same?
Do you think we're seeing more players playing an arm lock in
in three, five years? What?
What's your prediction? Well, my prediction was when we
launched it that there should have been a lot more players
using it because it just works. So why more players haven't
adapted to it? I know I work with a lot of
great amateurs and a great a lot of professionals and I always
mention them, Hey, if you're struggling with putting, why not
try arm lock? And a lot of the statement is I
just can't get used to it, right?
I just can't. I can't, can't fathom using this
style right. Again, it's a change.
It's something that if you want to put the time into and become
a better putter, I think I'm I'm living breathing testament of
that style because I was a horrible putter.
Now I think it's the strength of my game.
So I'm a huge believer in the technique.
I think for, you know, I have a son who's seven years old and
this summer I put him into an arm lock and play some US kids
junior valve turns. I put him into an arm lock.
He loved it for about a round and then he hated it.
So I were teaching the next my kids and to play golf.
I would want to get him into an arm lock because I feel like
it's almost like cheating. But back to what I've echoed
throughout this segment is that it is a change.
It is something you have to get used to.
You have to put practice in, so I'm shocked there's not more
players using it, to be honest. So having said that, looking at
what people are using, I think it's going to probably stay
pretty static. Unless somebody big comes around
like a Schaeffler and starts winning everything with that arm
lock technique, or the next big player starts winning with it,
it's going to stay probably where it's at.
Yeah, I mean, you would have thought Bryson's influence would
have propelled it to more popularity, but just it doesn't
seem like it has, you know? It is not.
OK, before we wrap, let's get your 92nd thoughts on the long
putter just 'cause that's part of the series too.
Talking about it. What?
What's your thought on on on the long putter?
Yeah, we launched our long putter in September, the SB-2
long. It's the same head I'm holding
right here where we engineered that head to have a line goal of
79°. It's a 500 gram head because the
long putter we know is, you know, 45 to 4849 inches in
length. So it's a very heavy head.
I tried it for about 8 minutes and I just couldn't figure it
out. I know there's a lot of, you
know, some of my friends, a lot of our customers that swear by
it. Since we've launched it, they've
been selling pretty, pretty well.
You know, there's a lot of online groups, you know, the
broomstick Mafia, right, that that love that broomstick and
swear by it. My personal belief, right, is
that I don't understand how somebody likes the stability of
the broomstick not being connected to your body.
So now you have two factors. You have this arm hand that can
wiggle and you have the right hand that could also move
around. So now you have to think of two
things to keep quiet, where again, the arm lock, you put it
on your forearm, you rock the shoulders, it's done.
The broomstick, you're here and you got this.
You either do the pencil right or the grip.
I, I can't wrap my mind around it.
So maybe you tell me otherwise why you like it, Cordy, but
somebody's got to explain it to me better than what's going on.
I think that you're a man that has firmly been in the Armlock
camp since 2013 and I don't think you're getting out of it
anytime soon. I tried because my I did have
some putting woes this summer. So I went to the studio in July
and tried to use the broomstick. And again, just the thought of
this being loose with my left arm, maybe just say, you know,
like Shark Tank, I'm out, right? I just can't do it.
So this was your first launch into the long putter this
September? First launch in a long time.
We used to make bellies and long putters back in, you know, OO 6
to 2010 eleven, the baby Ben which which was this putter I
brought up earlier, we made this at a broomstick in a belly
putter. This is the model Jim Furek won
the US Open with in 2003. So we have made it before, but
they just died out in popularity when the arm lock and the belly
band was announced or the anchoring band was announced.
So Fast forward to now, the broomsticks come back in a big
way and people are always looking for ways to putt better.
We wanted to make it. They've been going great.
It's just not something I would use.
Got it, got it. OK, so if someone's listening to
this, you're like, hey, I want to try out in an arm lock.
They could maybe go on eBay like I didn't grab one of the
original models which I am excited to see when it gets here
and see those 7° of loft. What else?
Let's see I've I've got your website open here.
Let me see if I can. I'm going to share my screen.
Yeah, we offer the BB28 lot back in an arm lock, all the innovate
heads there it is right there. The BB28 were sold out on those
because we have our new models coming out very soon.
Those innovates are the other three or four months till end of
life cycle. But yeah, we have our 28 great
model. I would highly recommend going
to one of our trusted retailers. Find a dealer on our website,
visit them and go get fit for it.
I would say unless you you kind of know what you want, order it
online, try it out great. We have a nice exchange of
program within 14 days. As long as it's new you can send
it back to us. But if not got to get fit, go
try it. Go feel it in person to figure
out the length. I think the length is a number
one to figure out what what you want to do.
Got it. And you can just, so this is
kind of what's your setup. Do you, you go like just for
someone if they're curious, like what's your height and like
what, what do you do? Yeah, I'm 6 feet tall.
My arm locks 42 and three quarter inches.
I have 5° of loft and my lie angle is at 69.
OK. So I'm slightly flat, our
standard loft of five and I'm a little bit longer because I got
some back issues and I want to stand taller to the ball versus
being a lot lower. And again, a funny story couch.
He started at 44 inches and even got down at one point to 40
inches. So he's messed with it over the
years on his posture and how tall he wants to be and where he
wants to hold the putter. So it's just something everybody
who's listening, just try it, go mess around with it and just
tinker it on a putting green and see what feels good.
Very good, Sam. Thank you for your time.
It's fun to hear the story, kind of get the background of of
where it started and kind of your thoughts on it today.
It's cool. Thank you, Courtney.
I appreciate it.