Cameron / Cleveland Handmade Putter for Crenshaw

[petsmart]

Handmade Crenshaw

Hi all, this is my first posting on this site. I've enjoyed looking at your putters and wanted to share some of mine with you. Here are a few photos I thought you may enjoy, its one of my favourite putters in my collection. Its a pretty unique putter and so far the only one I have seen made for Ben Crenshaw. Its a handmade Scotty Cameron and Roger Cleveland collaboration blade putter for tour player Ben Crenshaw. I think its a pretty unique putter being that two of the worlds best putter designers worked on this putter for one of the greatest putters of all time. I know Roger Cleveland designed the putter Crenshaw won the 1995 Masters with, so Roger knows how to make a putter Ben can play with. I can just imagine Scotty and Roger taking turns working on this putter until they felt it was just right for Ben Crenshaw to play with. I know Ben likes putters with soft lines, this certainly has them and a pretty decent head weight as well although I don't know what it is. If you look closely you can see all the shaping around the toe/heel area. It sits beautifully with just the right amount of offset, a lot of the production Milled Cleveland Crenshaws had too much offset in my opinion. It also has a leather Golf Pride grip similar to ones I have seen on the carbon steel Cleveland Crenshaw putters of that era and a 9in first stepped shaft with no shaft bad. It appears to be the Cleveland Classics True Temper shaft that was used in the Clevelands putters back then.

Its finished in Black Oxide and hand stamped BEN on the sole. I have over 40 Cleveland/Wilson 8802 DPAP/Reid Lockhart putters and this one is probably the prettiest one, great lines, just a beautiful head shape, when you stand over the putter is just sits perfectly, not to much offset. Very similar to a NAPA. It was made around 1991-1994 at Camerons shop on Bent St. in San Marcos, CA. I have about 7 other Cleveland Milled Crenshaw putters and none of them compare to this one, the production models are boxy, you can see how soft the lines are from being they all have much more offset than this one. I need to dig them out of my storage unit and take a look but I remember them all being slightly different. My production models also so are finished in black melonite, although I do have another finished in black oxide and with Cleveland Milled Ben Crenshaw Box.

I sent it to Cameron a few years ago and he sent me a nice letter which I have attached, i'd like to get it in the registry as I've seen putters other that Titleist in there but don't know if it would now qualify.

Does anyone have a putter similar to this? Or any other Ben Crenshaw handmades by any designer i'd like to see them as well. I have seen the Scott Cameron handmade 88BC on the registry. Its a superb putter. I'm a big fan of Crenshaw and the 8802 and would love to see another handmade designed for him by any designer ie. Mills, Tad Moore, etc.

Thanks for looking.

Chris.

[dale4ace]

wow!...that is gorgeous, never ever seen anything like that....i'm sure that would command big $$$ if you ever wanted to sell it

[dagoose383]

Always nice to see a gem you never knew existed!

[Par72]

How did you know it was affiliated with Scotty in the first place?

[petsmart]

Thanks for checking out my putter. I knew it was by Scotty Cameron / Roger Cleveland because I heard of a collaboration by both designers making a few blade putters for Crenshaw when he was a Cleveland sponsored player by some of the classic putter dealers back then. I've had this putter for at least 10 years now. Anyone else got something out there similar or a putter made for Crenshaw. I'd love to see it. I'm also a big fan of Cleveland blade putters and i'll post more putters later.

[tincup09]

That is one cool stick. Had no idea putters like this existed. Thanks for the pictures.

[drpino]

Thank you for sharing a fantastic putter with us!

If I may, can you elaborate on its provenance? Where was it between Crenshaw and you? How did you manage to procure it for your collection?

I'm surprised Cameron didn't provide you with a COA and enter it in the registry when you sent it to him.

[petsmart]

Ok, i'll explain a bit more about the putter. I was a big fan of Ben Crenshaw and a collector of 8802 style putters in the early nineties, I was always looking for them and buying or trading for the best ones. I probably have over 40 of them, Crenshaw's milled and carbon, black, large letter styles.

Anyway I went to Golf Collectors Society fair in NJ, while I was browsing a selection of putters a fellow collector had for sale without much interest, I saw a putter standing against the wall behind him. I asked him what it was and he said it wasn't for sale, I asked to see it anyway and he handed me the putter. I pulled off the headcover and was amazed by what I saw. It was the most stunning black oxide handmade putter with "BEN" stamped on the sole. I knew it was a handmade by Cameron / Cleveland for Ben Crenshaw because if I remember correctly I had seen an article in the book "Putters of Distinction" by Dalton Daves.

I asked him to sell it to me and he adamantly declined. I phoned all the classic putter dealers/collectors I knew to see if they had one and no one did. For several years I asked the owner if he would sell it to me and he declined each time. I would also check in with him every 6 months and the dealers but I couldn't procure. Then one day out of the blue the previous owner phoned me and asked if I still wanted to buy the putter. A deal was struck and we met later that week at a diner in NYC and since then i've owned the putter. I've probably had it over 10 years now.

I have several other interesting putters that I'm going to post in the next several months. I've got to thin out my collection.

[drpino]

Thanks for elaborating and glad your persistence ultimately paid off.

[TeeBonZ]

That is insanely beautiful!

[Boba]

[quote name='petsmart' timestamp='1294872196' post='2892396']
Ok, i'll explain a bit more about the putter. I was a big fan of Ben Crenshaw and a collector of 8802 style putters in the early nineties, I was always looking for them and buying or trading for the best ones. I probably have over 40 of them, Crenshaw's milled and carbon, black, large letter styles.

Anyway I went to Golf Collectors Society fair in NJ, while I was browsing a selection of putters a fellow collector had for sale without much interest, I saw a putter standing against the wall behind him. I asked him what it was and he said it wasn't for sale, I asked to see it anyway and he handed me the putter. I pulled off the headcover and was amazed by what I saw. It was the most stunning black oxide handmade putter with "BEN" stamped on the sole. I knew it was a handmade by Cameron / Cleveland for Ben Crenshaw because if I remember correctly I had seen an article in the book "Putters of Distinction" by Dalton Daves.

I asked him to sell it to me and he adamantly declined. I phoned all the classic putter dealers/collectors I knew to see if they had one and no one did. For several years I asked the owner if he would sell it to me and he declined each time. I would also check in with him every 6 months and the dealers but I couldn't procure. Then one day out of the blue the previous owner phoned me and asked if I still wanted to buy the putter. A deal was struck and we met later that week at a diner in NYC and since then i've owned the putter. I've probably had it over 10 years now.

I have several other interesting putters that I'm going to post in the next several months. I've got to thin out my collection.
[/quote]
Bracing for more epic putters...

[avgjoe]

very nice!

[TheMoneyShot]

Now that is one sweet putter!!!

[dansrixon]

I think you will be happy to know that Ben Crenshaw is back with Cleveland and he will working closly with the Never Compromise team on the relaunch of the brand and future limited release putters.

[mahanate]

Great putter.. also thought it was classy of Scotty Cameron to write that letter back to you. Never been a fan, but still have to acknowledge a classy gesture.

[peterbride]

Awesome putter and I agree that letter from scotty is very cool. Id love to know how much you paid for it just out of curiosity but I understand if you don't want to tell.....thanks for sharing.

[deep18]

now that is very cool. both the putter and the letter explaining the origin.

[mwpeters19]

Great story and beautiful putter!

[Stu-Co]

What a great piece! I was looking for an example of a Scotty Cameron / Cleveland putter last week.... I've seen a few Ray Cook's and own quite a few Mizuno's/Titleist but had never seen a Cleveland!

[acpar72]

Why do you hate me? You show me somehting like this, tease me with the possibility that you have some other gems, then dont immediately show them! Going crazy here!

[philsRHman]

As a huge fan of Harvey Penick's teachings, Ben Crenshaw has always been one of my favorite players. I still tear up whenever they show his emotional win at Augusta.

I'm not a collector, but I marvel at some of the collections on GolfWRX, truly impressive and mind boggling. But I have to think that if you're a collector of Ben Crenshaw pieces and come across that, it's the Holy Grail. It's got to feel like you've got nothing that can ever top a putter like this. I guess the only one that would trump it would be the putter he holed out with on the 72nd hole of the Masters.

Can't wait to see more!

[Titleist_Baller]

I had the honor of meeting Mr. Crenshaw a few weeks ago during my Titleist 910f fitting. (I had posted the video on this site but it was removed, due to it being "too promotional in nature") Anyways, he was extremely nice and he was play all the newest Titleist gear. Pretty neat experience.

You have a beautiful looking putter and a great story!

[RH63]

I enjoyed reading this insiteful and interesting thread. Welcome to the site and look forward to seeing more wonderful gems such as this one!

[truehack]

It's great to see a beautifilly crafted putter that Mr. Cameron worked on that does NOT have his named scratched all over. I believe him to be a gifted craftsman but have never owned a SC because of his obsessive self-aggrandizing.
I wonder why Mr. Crenshaw didn't keep it? Looks like a winner to me.

[Jeph62]

What an awesome story. I too want to see what else you have in your collection

[Gr3asyMustache]

On 1/12/2011 at 2:32 PM, dansrixon said:

I think you will be happy to know that Ben Crenshaw is back with Cleveland and he will working closly with the Never Compromise team on the relaunch of the brand and future limited release putters.

What ever came of this? I have been trying to research but only found anything on his custom stick. 

 

Thanks

[weakputt]

On 1/12/2011 at 5:42 AM, petsmart said:

Handmade Crenshaw

Hi all, this is my first posting on this site. I've enjoyed looking at your putters and wanted to share some of mine with you. Here are a few photos I thought you may enjoy, its one of my favourite putters in my collection. Its a pretty unique putter and so far the only one I have seen made for Ben Crenshaw. Its a handmade Scotty Cameron and Roger Cleveland collaboration blade putter for tour player Ben Crenshaw. I think its a pretty unique putter being that two of the worlds best putter designers worked on this putter for one of the greatest putters of all time. I know Roger Cleveland designed the putter Crenshaw won the 1995 Masters with, so Roger knows how to make a putter Ben can play with. I can just imagine Scotty and Roger taking turns working on this putter until they felt it was just right for Ben Crenshaw to play with. I know Ben likes putters with soft lines, this certainly has them and a pretty decent head weight as well although I don't know what it is. If you look closely you can see all the shaping around the toe/heel area. It sits beautifully with just the right amount of offset, a lot of the production Milled Cleveland Crenshaws had too much offset in my opinion. It also has a leather Golf Pride grip similar to ones I have seen on the carbon steel Cleveland Crenshaw putters of that era and a 9in first stepped shaft with no shaft bad. It appears to be the Cleveland Classics True Temper shaft that was used in the Clevelands putters back then.

Its finished in Black Oxide and hand stamped BEN on the sole. I have over 40 Cleveland/Wilson 8802 DPAP/Reid Lockhart putters and this one is probably the prettiest one, great lines, just a beautiful head shape, when you stand over the putter is just sits perfectly, not to much offset. Very similar to a NAPA. It was made around 1991-1994 at Camerons shop on Bent St. in San Marcos, CA. I have about 7 other Cleveland Milled Crenshaw putters and none of them compare to this one, the production models are boxy, you can see how soft the lines are from being they all have much more offset than this one. I need to dig them out of my storage unit and take a look but I remember them all being slightly different. My production models also so are finished in black melonite, although I do have another finished in black oxide and with Cleveland Milled Ben Crenshaw Box.

I sent it to Cameron a few years ago and he sent me a nice letter which I have attached, i'd like to get it in the registry as I've seen putters other that Titleist in there but don't know if it would now qualify.

Does anyone have a putter similar to this? Or any other Ben Crenshaw handmades by any designer i'd like to see them as well. I have seen the Scott Cameron handmade 88BC on the registry. Its a superb putter. I'm a big fan of Crenshaw and the 8802 and would love to see another handmade designed for him by any designer ie. Mills, Tad Moore, etc.

Thanks for looking.

Chris.

petsmart,

I just purchased a Cleveland Designed by Ben Crenshaw, milled carbon steel Black Oxide putter. Pretty sure its the production model, but I am not sure nor was the seller. It has a stepless shaft and a Cleveland grip. Its a clean one with a ton of mill markings and sweet milled face. Only issue with it is that some previous owner (knob shine)  cut in an alignment line.

I also just received a MacGregor Ben Crenshaw stainless steel today. I saw this old Post while doing some research today. The Post is about 12 years old so your pictures are not attached. Hope you are still on this Dark Web, I would love to see those pics.

I will Post some pictures tomorrow. I think I now have about 12 8802/NAPA style putters I can also share.