tripanfal

I have an awesome little collection of J Blades now - Ping’s most underrated of the era in my opinion. (Edit to add: the torched one is the first one - which I picked up because I thought if it’s good enough to pick as your handle I will give it a try.)

You know, I think I am attracted to the simplicity of them - and the endless complexity that’s hidden just underneath. It’s like putting itself - at one level it’s hit ball with stick at another level it’s deeply complicated interaction of physical systems and psychological processes. The simplicity makes older putters seem approachable and actually experimenting with them is fun, while the complexity of the minigame itself remains challenging and rewarding to try to master. So, to me, what I want out of a putter is data - I want to see how it reacts to different forces I can apply and how those forces affect the line and speed of the ball. I have never been concerned with getting strokes off the card, but I have as a nice bonus. Older putters (primarily solid metal putters with flat milled faces and fewer hosel designs but not entirely) are affordable enough that I can try lots of different styles/materials while I develop my stroke and I feel they speed up the process because they don’t prioritize forgiveness above all else. I have, since I started my old putter journey, gotten to where I am pretty decent with a ton of them but the real treasure is that I have found the couple or three I am good with - thanks Karsten.

A big part of it’s appeal was is that it is a bit of a mystery to me, my hypothesis is that it is one of the last out of the NOS stores and it got a later shaft but I have some research to do for sure (I have a stepless mgbrz Scottsdale Anser that has a similarly incongruously new shaft). Love putting with it though - ample forgiveness and very soft feel for a solid flat faced putter but with the nice density of the nickel for a bit more pop than the steel heads.