Who invented the #9 or Del Mar style putter?

[Tar_Heel_93]

Hi guys,

 

I recently picked up an NC Flush putter. Really like the head shape of this putter and have been wondering who or what company originally designed/invented this style of putter.  Happy to hear from the experts.

 

 

[btyh]

Not sure on the actual base design but I'm going to wing it and would throw scotty in even though everyone calls him a copy cat. He is definitely the one to make multiple variations of that design. His JAT is great for me and is currently in the bag. 

[weakputt]

The first putter I remember that mostly looks like your Flush was the Odyssey No. 9 White Hot. Cameron Del Mar looks similar.

[North Butte]

Heel shafted half mallet designs had been around for decades when I first came to golf 30 years ago. I doubt it would be possible to ever trace it back to an "inventor". It's just one of the many basic shapes people make putters. 

[Scotty1140]

TaylorMade TPA XVIII is the first one I remember. 

[golfluvzme]

Yes, the first one that I recall was also the TaylorMade TPA XVIII.  It was designed by Terry McCabe, along with a slew of other shapes, including one that looked like, but pre-dated the original Futura that Scotty claimed as his.  Terry passed away, but his son Tee McCabe created some of Terry's designs using CNC methods and I thought that he was going to bring them to market.  I have seen only one in the last year or so and that is over at www.embraceputters.com in his online store. 

IMHO, the Odyssey #9 and the TPA XVIII are a little more different than some believe.  The lack of rolling shoulders on the 9, instead having flat planes coming off of the backside of the blade, is pretty significant.  But, I will also agree that it is splitting hairs, to some extent.

Great putters and there is a significant amount of tour winning history to back up both designs.

LaMont in AZ

[Tar_Heel_93]

Hi guys,

 

thanks for the info. TaylorMade TPA XVIII looks like the predecessor to the Del Mar and #9. Time to do some reading on Terry McCabe.

[bpdhlbrg]

Does the Ray Cook M-1 count in this discussion? It doesn’t have the flanged back but it’s still a heel shafted mid mallet. Acushnet made a bullseye putter with this head shape but the shaft came in just inside of the heel.

 

I’m not sure who was the first to flange the back in order to keep the weight low. 
 

Before Cameron had the Del Mar he made a line of putters for Mizuno that included the M400 in this style. 
 

I currently use a Ping Scottsdale Shea H. I love this shape and have a decent sized collection of different makes and models, but I have come to learn that for me the sight line has to be centered instead of closer to the heel. I’d probably even like it towards the toe but never found one like that. I also like about a half shaft offset, but not more. These two factors render my JAT completely unused despite it being the prettiest and best feeling one in my collection. 

[Medson]

For some reason, I think Nick Faldo won something with Taylormade/Wilson TPA XVIII.  

[Guest]

23 hours ago, btyh said:

Not sure on the actual base design but I'm going to wing it and would throw scotty in even though everyone calls him a copy cat. He is definitely the one to make multiple variations of that design. His JAT is great for me and is currently in the bag. 

The JAT is a great putter, but not even close to being the first of that design.  If we are talking heel shafted cavity mallets, probably the Wilson/TM/TA? TPA model

[jholz]

I always loved this shape, but have never gotten around to picking one up. The Odyssey Black Series-i #9 is the shape I always saw in my dreams.

 

The Bettinardi SS7 that I currently play is honestly quite similar if you really use your imagination.

[btyh]

31 minutes ago, spring7 said:

The JAT is a great putter, but not even close to being the first of that design.  If we are talking heel shafted cavity mallets, probably the Wilson/TM/TA? TPA model

You're correct, you may have miss understood my comment. I was stating he scotty made multiple variations of that "delmar" style and JAT was one of them. 

[dbleag]

The Frank Johnson Troon Model has been around since the 50's

 

[Tar_Heel_93]

On 7/12/2021 at 3:04 PM, dbleag said:

The Frank Johnson Troon Model has been around since the 50's

 

Thanks, that would be interesting to put in play.

[easylittle5wood]

Didn’t Wilson make/sell some of the McCabe designs?

[Chip Out Sideways]

2 hours ago, easylittle5wood said:

Didn’t Wilson make/sell some of the McCabe designs?

Yes - see https://tpaputters.com/product-history/

 

And Faldo won at least one major with either the Wilson or TM variation

[ColinKelvin]

9 hours ago, Chip Out Sideways said:

Yes - see https://tpaputters.com/product-history/

 

And Faldo won at least one major with either the Wilson or TM variation

Three in all. Faldo won the '89 Masters with the TM TPA XVIII - he only changed to it mid-tournament after struggling with (I think?) a Bullseye in the early rounds.

 

He then went on to win the '90 Masters and the '90 Open at St Andrews with the same model.  I am not sure if he had changed it by then to an identical Wilson to please his sponsor, or kept the original.

[RobotDoctor]

Karsten Solheim created the B-60 and B-61 putters in the 70s.  Solheim created many putter designs still being enhanced today.  He was a true designer! 

[lefthack]

Great info. I just switched to this style head but not heel shafted (it's on backorder). I've been looking for lefty Wilson TPA's but they are few and far between it seems.

[hammergolf]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:31 PM, Scotty1140 said:

TaylorMade TPA XVIII is the first one I remember. 

What he said… But may be possible there was a design earlier.

[weakputt]

On 7/22/2021 at 2:28 PM, easylittle5wood said:

Didn’t Wilson make/sell some of the McCabe designs?

Terrill "Terry" McCabe designed the TaylorMade TPA putters beginning around 1985.

Around 1989 he licensed to Or through Wilson Staff the same McCabe TPA putters, the Pro Arch putter grips and he designed a few more models until around 1993.

The TM & Wilson TPA #XVIII were the most popular.

Tee McCabe is Terry's son and belongs to this forum and I believe his handle name is TPAXVIII

[shart6]

This type of putter has been around. Ping, MacGregor, TP Mills, Geo Low and Ray Cook all were making putters similar in the seventies and earlier.

[markheardjr]

I have a mallet style putter from the 30's/40's made with some weird blue-ish pot metal that some local guy in Ohio made. John Bath? It's at my parents house in the basement, I think I got it from a grandparent's barn and it may have even belonged to a great-grandparent and was stored there after that ancestors death. 

 

Karsten made a lot of new designs, and improved on many designs. Some were truly new, some were not.  The mallet putter I'm sure has been around since way before Karsten, way before Scotty and way before TM TPAXVIII.

[weakputt]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:48 PM, golfluvzme said:

Yes, the first one that I recall was also the TaylorMade TPA XVIII.  It was designed by Terry McCabe, along with a slew of other shapes, including one that looked like, but pre-dated the original Futura that Scotty claimed as his.  Terry passed away, but his son Tee McCabe created some of Terry's designs using CNC methods and I thought that he was going to bring them to market.  I have seen only one in the last year or so and that is over at www.embraceputters.com in his online store. 

IMHO, the Odyssey #9 and the TPA XVIII are a little more different than some believe.  The lack of rolling shoulders on the 9, instead having flat planes coming off of the backside of the blade, is pretty significant.  But, I will also agree that it is splitting hairs, to some extent.

Great putters and there is a significant amount of tour winning history to back up both designs.

LaMont in AZ

LaMont, here is my copper over stainless plated Wilson XVIII. Pretty cool putter.

[weakputt]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:14 PM, weakputt said:

LaMont, here is my copper over stainless plated Wilson XVIII. Pretty cool putter.

Below is a very rare Wilson TPA XVII. A modified, starter back flanged XVIII. So rare I can not find it on Terry McCabe's list of TaylorMade TPA's or Wilson livened TPA's.

[Anser3]

It's been around for a long, long time.  In 2007 Golf Digest  (Hot List issue)  called the Odyssey #9 model "old-school cool".  Based on that, I assume it is  an old model that predates Cameron and Odyssey by a lot.   I'm a Ping guy but Ping has never made one of these that suits my eye better than the Odyssey 9.  The 9 high toe is my favorite design ever.  That said, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if Ping had a style similar to this earlier than Odyssey.  Karsten Solheim's contributions to the game (equipment and otherwise) cannot be overstated.  By all accounts, he was also a true gentleman and a great man far beyond the golf course.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Anser3

[Motoboss]

 

As far back as I remember the “modern “ style  was Ray Cook putter design from 1963. Long before Cameron, mmmmmm, borrowed the design as he did with the Ping Anser also. But the mallet design certainly goes back to the ‘50’s and beyond.

Edited January 21, 2022 by Motoboss