The Evolution of the Golf Putter: A Comprehensive History from Wood to High-Tech

Guest Blogger - Hollis Oliver McLain - President, Focal Point Putters 

Right now, we are experiencing one of the greatest booms in the history of the golf industry. Golf is now more readily financially and culturally available for more people than ever before. I can’t express how ecstatic I am that the game I love is finally getting the popularity it has always been due. 

Over the years, equipment has become extremely important in the game of golf. However, one club–the putter—has remained the most important piece of equipment a golfer can buy. 

Did you know the average amateur golfer putts about 40 times per round? Even the average tour pro putts about 30 times during a round. Since the putter is being used for nearly half of all the shots a golfer takes on the course, it needs to be the highest-performing and most consistent club in your bag at all times. 

What I love about putters is that despite our advances in technology over the years, putters still come in all shapes and sizes, and are by far the most personal club in your bag. That is to say the putter is a simple club, and its performance on the green relies more on fit than anything else. Just because a putter is more complicated does not mean it will perform better.

History tells us that simple designs with consistency are the strongest indicator of a successful putter.

Today, we’re going to explore the history and the advancements of the golf putter.

What Influenced the First Putters?

The sport of modern golf was invented in Scotland. Most of us agree on that much. But where did the influences for this modern sport come from? Some point to the Roman game paganica, others don’t. I rarely hear anything about the sport of Kolf. 

Kolf is an eerily similar game to golf but was invented in the Netherlands at least as far back as the 13th century. This would make Kolf hundreds of years older than modern golf as we know it. Kolf was originally played with a ball and a club that resembled a mix of a modern iron and a hockey stick. 

Kolf was played with four people, and they would try to strike the ball with their clubs toward a target, which was usually a hole or a pin similar to golf. They played these matches first on ice in the winter, but when the ice melted, they sometimes moved the game onto the grass fields in their village. 

The most interesting part of Kolf was the name of the club used to strike the ball. It was called a Kliek (Cleek). Do you know what the first putters in Scotland were called? Yes, they were called cleeks.

But how did a sport invented hundreds of years before golf make its way to Scotland where it could influence modern golf? In a word, trade. 

Scotland and the Netherlands, for at least a millennia, have been massive trade partners. Even today, Scotland’s largest international exports go to the Netherlands. This trade partnership not only would have been active when Kolf was invented but there are multiple accounts of Dutch merchants teaching Scottish merchants about the sport. 

I believe that the original modern game of golf invented in Scotland has its origins in the Dutch game Kolf. Not only that, but the most important club in the modern golf bag has its origins in the game of Kolf as well.

Early Beginnings: The Wooden Putter Era

When Scotland invented the modern game of golf in the 1500s, the putting “cleek” became the standard putter used. This putter was built by fusing a wooden shaft to a hardwood head using a splint and a leather wrap to secure the head to the shaft. 

These early putters were extremely inconsistent, crude, and made by hand. Even though Scottish artisans were well acquainted with woodworking due to the necessity of archery during that period, their new putting cleeks were a great distance away from perfect. Since all of these putters were made by hand, no two putters were alike, which undoubtedly caused varying levels of performance between golfers.

Why did the early putter designers make them with that traditional blade style? There was no science behind it. It was simply a leftover relic from the sport of Kolf, which designed their heads with a blade similar to what hockey sticks would become.

The Transition to Metal Putters: The Iron Age

Up until the mid-19th century, golf had been played with a ball they called the Featherie. This Featherie was usually stuffed with goose feathers and wrapped in a hand-stitched cowhide. Also during this time, golf clubs continued to be made of wood. A man named Robert Forgan would become the most popular clubmaker in the world because of his use of hickory in golf clubs. This was revolutionary at the time and reignited the sport.

Interestingly, wooden clubs of the time still suffered from the limitations of their materials. They would often break, meaning the average golfer would need to replace his clubs multiple times over the years. This led to the golf club becoming an expensive and rare piece of equipment. Golf was quickly becoming a sport for only the wealthiest. 

That is until Robert Adams created the Gutta-Percha ball in 1848. This revolutionary step forward in innovation allowed golf club makers to begin experimenting with iron clubs because of the durability of the new Gutta-Percha ball.

With the introduction of both iron inserts and fully iron heads came more consistency and durability across putters. This was the spark that would ignite the next 100 years of innovation.

The 20th Century Putter: Innovation and Standardization

At the turn of the century, Arthur Knight couldn’t seem to find success with his putter. So he set out to design a new type of putter to improve his game. This is how he came up with the Schenectady Putter.

The Schenectady Putter was the first putter to be designed with a shaft in the center of the putter. Knight’s idea was brilliant, mostly because the center shaft provided more consistency, but also it allowed for a more pendulum-type putting stroke. Knight was ridiculed every time he used his putter, but the industry would soon find out the brilliance of his design. 

Knight went on to win the 1903 and 1904 US Amateur Championships. However, the R&A immediately banned it from competitive play. It wasn’t until 1951 that the Schenectady putter would be reinstated.

Even though Arthur Knight’s design could no longer be played competitively, it inspired an avalanche of new and innovative putter designs made completely out of metal. As the century moved along, clubmakers began using stainless steel, aluminum, and other metals for putters. 

The next great evolution in putters came when Karston Solheim developed the PING Anser. So named because it was touted as the “answer” to golfers putting issues, it quickly became the standard for putters. It amassed over 500 wins in 40 years. 

Riding the coattails of the PING Anser, Scotty Cameron developed his version of the popular putter. Scotty’s putter, the Newport, was an iteration of the PING Anser, The difference was Scotty’s had a smoother design and came with a premium milled face.

Despite all of these innovations to the golf putter, they still had the basic blade design. Why? Tradition. These blade-type putters are simply relics from the origins of modern golf in the sport of Kolf.

The Modern Era of Putters: the 21st Century of Putting

The 21st century brought with it what I consider to be the most significant putter innovation in the history of the golf industry. In 2001, Odyssey came out with the White Hot 2-ball putter. This putter looked nothing like the traditional putters that had dominated the game for 500 years. 

Instead, it became one of the first mallet putters to be used worldwide. This putter distinguished itself from others due to its signature shape that put two white circles the diameter of a golf ball in line behind the face of the putter. This allowed golfers unprecedented alignment with their putts. It took the world by storm.

As the century lunged along, more and more mallet putters were developed in the style of the original two-ball Odyssey. These putters gave much more forgiveness to people of all skill levels. It also allowed for putts that were off-center and outside the sweet spot, to maintain some sort of control.

During this period of innovation, clubmakers began experimenting with super-advanced materials such as titanium, and carbon fiber and designs that included multiple metals. With these advancements also came what I call the analytics era. 

Both amateurs and pros began taking note of the stats of their golf strokes to get an edge. This meant that putters were often custom-fitted for consumers. Along with these custom fittings came perimeter weighting and insert technology. Various types of adjustable weights, alignment aids, and face inserts continued to be the main way golf manufacturers innovated throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

The Future of Putter Design

What are putters going to look like in twenty years? What materials are they going to be made out of?

I believe that we’re going to continue to see designs based on AI technology moving forward. The big manufacturers are already releasing products integrated with AI. In addition, manufacturers are going to find more sustainable ways to make these putters, which could result in some interesting innovations. I think the biggest leaps forward in the next couple of decades are going to come from the personalization and custom fitting to golfers of all skill levels. 

The reality of the current golf industry is that most new putters that are developed are simply marketing ploys. Whether it's milled grooves in the face, an AI design, or a new process, most putters in the industry are nothing more than hollow marketing products. What I mean by this is that they aren’t based on science or physics as much as they are based on consumerism and marketing.

Remember, there’s a reason that even today our putter still mostly looks the same as the original putting cleeks of the 1500s. Golf is such a traditional sport, that the industry relies more on tradition than it does innovation. 

Innovation is rare, but when you find it, you won’t be able to keep it out of your bag.

Conclusion

While putters have a long history, innovation has been limited by tradition. The blade putter is a perfect example of allowing tradition to dictate golf. There are plenty of blade putters that perform exceptionally well, but there are just as many blade putters that simply follow a long tradition of maintaining the same putter shape.

Be wary of manufacturers trying to sell you on a new technology that is simply a marketing ploy. A great example of marketing getting in the way of golf was when Tiger Woods decided to suddenly switch his putter from a smooth face to a face with grooves during the British Open. This was a wild change for Tiger to make, considering he had won so many tournaments with a Scotty Cameron.

Nike just so happened to be releasing a new groove technology that supposedly improved the performance of their putter. Tiger used the putter for the first three rounds of the British Open, and then quickly returned to his handy dandy Scotty for the final round.

Of course, we don’t know for sure that he switched because Nike told him to, but that’s the rumor.

Anyway, I say this to encourage you to find the putter that works for you. Don’t let shiny new features sway you in your purchase. Instead, make sure the putter makes you feel confident on the green. That’s the best way to find a long-term putter.