"Clubmakers, instructors and best players on planet will tell you that belly putters are here to stay"
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This Gary Van Sickle compilation of quotes and look at the belly putter's evolution is stamped February 2, just days before the USGA suggested they were taking a "fresh look" at the legality of such putting. Either way it's a great primer on the topic with some quotes I hadn't seen before.
One of the key reasons the USGA took notice, according to new USGA President Glen Nager, is the spike in sales. Something Van Sickle touched on:
Scotty Cameron Putters is expecting a huge year. Before Scott’s run at the Masters, Cameron says his company would sell 500 to 1,000 alternative putters a year. By the end of ’11 the number was 10,000. Cameron is gearing up to move 15,000 to 20,000 this year.
Instead of simply adding length to conventional models, for the first time TaylorMade designed its alternative putters to perform at belly- and long-putter lengths. Last year, according to Michael Fox, a TaylorMade product-marketing manager, the company sold four times as many alternative putters as in 2010, and he expects to double 2011’s sales this year. “We were back-ordered 30 days at one point last year,” says Fox.
