Titleist Endorsement Question (Putters)

[DRRicks]

I know that there are many Titleist players on Tour that don't use a Cameron putter. But my question is, does the Titleist contract bar you from using certain putters? For instance, you never see a Titleist sponsored player with a Bettinardi. Coincidence?

[bladehunter]

doubt it ..... i think just not many Betti players anyway .... but who knows i wouldnt put it past Cameron to have a "no BOB" clause for anyone he makes a stick for ....

[YoungJedi]

I think it depends on their contract. Some people have X amount of clubs per OEM on their contract. Might say I only want 13 club contract and putter is up to me.

 

They just may not choose Bettinardi because they can't shell out the big bucks... Bettinardi calls them brand advocates, not sponsored players. My guess is that Kuch is the only one paid to use Betti putters.

 

Most guys are after the $$$, being most all putters are fairly similar. Just look you're after

[MattyO1984]

It's an interesting question and one that you could see companies being attracted to.

 

For example, at this point in time, Taylor Made and Callaway seem to be the two biggest players in terms of staff players and you could imagine that Callaway would say to players, look you have to play 12 clubs with our stamp on them and if you want to use a set of Vokey wedges go for it but you can't put anything Taylor Made in your bag and vice versa. Putters are such a big thing for Titleist that you could see them being attracted to it but whether they actually do it or not I would doubt.

 

In terms of Bettinardi, I would go with the other guys and say that there simply aren't that many Bettinardi putters out there as it is. I am trying to think of Titleist players who don't use Scotty's and all of the options that I can think of are using Odyssey putters. I can't think of any Titleist staffer with PING putters or TaylorMade putters. I guess that with the likes of PING and Bettinardi the styles of head are generally not a million miles away from the styles of putter that Scotty comes out with and if you are Titleist staffer the fact that Scotty or one of his guys can come up with pretty much whatever you want probably removes any need for them to go looking somewhere else.

[Santiago Golf]

I think the only company that makes you use their putter is PING

 

Titleist might prefer you to use a Scotty or Callaway may want you to use a Odyssey or Toulon.

 

But there still is Callaway using Scotties and bettis and titleist guys using odyssey

[RichieHunt]

No, it's not part of their contract. Typically the contracts are for 11 or 12 clubs with a bonus if you use more than those clubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

[williamsnrb]

I've never heard of this being a clause for a Titleist player. I wonder, since the Scotty and Betti are so similar, that if a player does not want to game a Scotty (for whatever reason), a Betti may not appeal to them, either.

[Maximilian]

Yeah, Scotty could custom make anything similar to a Bettinardi if the player wanted that. He would have a harder time duplicating an Odyssey or a Seemore or something else that is very different.

[ctmason_98]

Wasn't Zach Johnson pretty much using a SeeMore for most of his years with Titleist?

[Santiago Golf]

Wasn't Zach Johnson pretty much using a SeeMore for most of his years with Titleist?

 

Yep. I think he has used a scotty in an event once, but went back to his seemore

[OutBackHack]

I know that there are many Titleist players on Tour that don't use a Cameron putter. But my question is, does the Titleist contract bar you from using certain putters? For instance, you never see a Titleist sponsored player with a Bettinardi. Coincidence?

 

No it's does not.

[downsandups]

The putter is the most personal club in the bag. I believe that the sponsors would prefer if you used one putter over another, but in the end the player will use what they want.

[Ajlepisto]

Yeah aren't they 13 club contracts even when you sign the big ones? They leave that 14th open for your putter choice?

 

Titleist seems to have a lot of sponsored pros...especially on the lower levels? Or am I just mistaken?

[williamsnrb]

Yeah aren't they 13 club contracts even when you sign the big ones? They leave that 14th open for your putter choice?

 

Titleist seems to have a lot of sponsored pros...especially on the lower levels? Or am I just mistaken?

 

Titleist does a wonderful job of helping the guys that no one has ever heard of. :) I was on staff with them back in the day and will be ever grateful.

[YoungJedi]

Yeah aren't they 13 club contracts even when you sign the big ones? They leave that 14th open for your putter choice?

 

Titleist seems to have a lot of sponsored pros...especially on the lower levels? Or am I just mistaken?

 

They get shoes, and balls, and gloves for free or a deal, but not everyone is getting paid like the guys on tour...

[Ajlepisto]

Yeah aren't they 13 club contracts even when you sign the big ones? They leave that 14th open for your putter choice?

 

Titleist seems to have a lot of sponsored pros...especially on the lower levels? Or am I just mistaken?

 

Titleist does a wonderful job of helping the guys that no one has ever heard of. :) I was on staff with them back in the day and will be ever grateful.

 

Yeah - and I see a lot of tour pros with Titleist that aren't the guys getting all the TV time. Seems like they help out a lot of players.

[mizuno player]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

[williamsnrb]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

 

Yep, they really helped me when I couldn't have afforded to buy all of the equipment myself. That's one reason why I'm still a huge fan of Titleist today.

[MidwestGolfBum]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

 

Yep, they really helped me when I couldn't have afforded to buy all of the equipment myself. That's one reason why I'm still a huge fan of Titleist today.

 

The amount of support that Titleist shows to people at lower levels has always been fantastic. TM in my area (Wisconsin/Iowa) seems to also be pretty good as well, but only to a point. There is a reason my bag looks the way that it does.

 

Edit: To answer the OPs question; almost every club contract, as others have said, are not for the full 14 clubs and leave room for the player to put in one or more clubs that they are the most comfortable with. Putters are generally going to be a VERY personal thing and will largely depend on what you grew up putting with. Other companies can make something that will look almost identical but may not have the same feel or sound that you were used to with whatever other brand. I know it took me a really, really long time to find a new putter after my last set was stolen and the Byron Morgan was what made me the most comfortable over the ball. Can i make putts with other putters? Sure can, but just don't have the same comfort that I do when I look down at a certain putter.

[seemore_putts]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

 

Yep, they really helped me when I couldn't have afforded to buy all of the equipment myself. That's one reason why I'm still a huge fan of Titleist today.

 

How does this process begin? Do you go to them or do they come to you?

[williamsnrb]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

 

Yep, they really helped me when I couldn't have afforded to buy all of the equipment myself. That's one reason why I'm still a huge fan of Titleist today.

 

How does this process begin? Do you go to them or do they come to you?

 

Mine started by meeting the Titleist rep at the country club I was at. They have a budget to help staff pros with equipment, so unless your last name is Uihlein, that is the most common route.

[seemore_putts]

A friend of mine was the only one on his D1 team using Titleist. Then when he did the Mini's Titleist helped him. They treated him really well.

 

Balls, gloves, shoes, clubs, hats and carry bag.

 

Yep, they really helped me when I couldn't have afforded to buy all of the equipment myself. That's one reason why I'm still a huge fan of Titleist today.

 

How does this process begin? Do you go to them or do they come to you?

 

Mine started by meeting the Titleist rep at the country club I was at. They have a budget to help staff pros with equipment, so unless your last name is Uihlein, that is the most common route.

 

Thank you! Something to keep in mind as I hope to need to use this information in the next year or two. I appreciate it

[cwolfson]

I will be forever grateful for the support from Titleist while in college. Granted it was the very late 90's, but no other company at the time came anywhere close to their pricing. You could get Terrillium cameron putters in a few days for like $75 and literally anything else you needed for like 50% below cost. Still have the pricing sheet. It's crazy to look back at it.

[Ajlepisto]

Callaway used to have really really good pricing for industry folks. Not sure about pro stuff.