Getting some time to speak with him and hear a side of things that few will ever hear was an absolute privilege. Tad Moore…this guy is steeped in history and old stories. Stay tuned for some reviews of Black Lab Golf putters. We’ll be looking forward to to seeing the progress of Black Lab and Chip’s continued success in producing great custom putters. In addition to running his shop, Chip is working on getting his new custom putter brand, Black Lab Golf, off the ground. Where Are They Now?Ĭhip’s still active in running his golf shop, Usher Golf, located in Savannah, Georgia where he sells some of the best equipment in the game. Honestly, this putter is at the top of my list of softest putters I’ve been able to roll. The Pro 1 TS is still very easy to control, has impeccable feel, and a classic soft click at impact. The headweights will vary slightly on these putters as they get finished, but they are playing lighter than a lot of the modern putters. The “washboard” face is subtle but has a nice feeling at impact and the ball rolls true. The Pro 1 TS is a true one-piece putter milled from a block of carbon steel. Those were some of the best putters ever made. It brings me back to all the classic gun blue and black oxide carbon putters from the 1990’s and early 2000’s. First and foremost, I think there are a lot of aspects of the Pro 1 TS putter that are classic, and I’ve told Chip repeatedly that I feel like putting with one of these is like stepping into a time machine. Since this is more of a story about the putter and the players involved, we won’t go down the road of a full review, but I do want to mention some highlights of this putter. At the end of the day, Nike never ended up signing Tad, and this was the end of the road for the Tad Moore Pro 1 TS putters…up until a couple of months ago. Nike spent significant time testing the performance of Tad’s Pro 1 TS putter and found that his signature “washboard” face milling actually improved the performance significantly. Now we all know it took a long time for him to ditch his faithful Scotty Cameron, but Tad was hoping his interpretation of the Anser 2 shape would appeal to Nike and especially Tiger (note the sight dot on the topline). As most will recall, Nike Golf was really starting to take off on the back of Tiger Woods, and getting Tiger into high-performance equipment was a major priority for Nike. Back around 2001/2002, Tad was hoping to get involved with Nike. The most interesting part of this story is actually why these putters were made in the first place. Chip ended up procuring these heads, plus a few other Tad models they ran, and found himself sitting on some pretty interesting putters to work with. Based on Tad’s current business endeavors, he didn’t have a use for the putter heads, but he knew someone that might – Chip. The owner of the company recently found a bunch of these old raw heads sitting in his garage, so he let Tad know in the event he may want them. A limited run of 350 heads were produced years ago between two companies that are no longer in business (one a milling company and one a golf distribution company). What Chip had told me was that Tad Moore was an old friend of his, and Tad had recently contacted him regarding some old putters he designed. I could write on about Tad Moore’s history, and perhaps one day I will, but for now there’s a story to be told about an interesting putter that is in the process of resurfacing more than a decade after it was made. Tad Moore is up there on the list of important golf club designers, and one of his putters was even used to win the 1991 Masters tournament. Without hesitation, I said yes and was eager to hear more. You might call this a large “Garage Find”. I do have one classic putter model that might interest you. At that time, Chip informed me that he was in a bit of a transition from a putter-making standpoint (stay tuned for more details on that later), but he actually had something else I may be interested in. I finally reached out to Chip to see how things were going and if he’d be interested in having some of his work reviewed on the site. Chip’s one of the nicest and most enthusiastic people you will ever come across, and he has the signature Georgian southern charm that leaves an impression on you. It wasn’t my fault at all…Īs has grown, I have had the privilege of working with a lot of cool putter makers, but my experience with Chip just kept popping into my head. A few weeks later, a nice custom putter arrived on my doorstep and immediately went into my bag and actually had a decent run until the putter started missing more putts. While there, I spoke with Chip about ordering a custom putter from his then-brand, C&L, talked design, and the wheels started turning. Years ago, I was on vacation and stopped in Savannah, Georgia where I dropped in to see Chip Usher of Usher Golf.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |