$300- $500 plus putters? At first glance, you might think the price is exorbitant and dot com owners are the target market. Not so when you consider that the Scotty Cameron line borders on this price category as well. The main distinction is simply that Titleist’s budget is so far in excess of these three companies combined budgets, that exposure in the media/marketplace is the only difference. In fact, these three putters are so customized, so elegant and exude overwhelming confidence, that their price may even be a bargain.

But if your best friend or spouse develops palpitations or lock- jaw over their purchase, just ask how many other golfers putt with a material used to build nuclear weapons, even works of art, such as the Bettinardi.

Three new putters in this stratosphere warrant close inspection. However, rest assured, these putters are finely tuned instruments that really deliver performance, feel and aesthetics.

For more than 50 years, the Bettinardi name has been synonymous with precision milling to several of the nation’s largest companies as well as the United States Department of Defense. In 1992, Bobby Bettinardi, president and founder of X-Cel Technologies, combined his expertise in milling with his love for golf by entering the putter making industry. Bettinardi soon became “the man behind the scenes” by manufacturing putters for some of golf’s most respected companies. His contributions to milled putter technology have brought putter making to another level. Many of golf’s greatest players have used putters milled by Bettinardi to win tournaments all over the world.

Due to popular demand, Bettinardi is now designing and manufacturing his own premier line of one-piece putters. Tour introduction started in early 1999 and Bettinardi putters have already produced 5 victories as well as numerous top tens.

With combinations of exotic materials, one-piece technology, and the patented honeycomb finish, Robert J. Bettinardi’s lines of precision milled putters are changing the face of golf. The touch, the feel and the looks of this putter drew the highest praise from our 25 testers.

Bettinardi’s One Piece Technology”

When you see a $350,000 machine tool cut metal to perfect lofts, lies, angles and weight, you know you have perfection. Before this breakthrough, putters were milled into two separate pieces (neck and head), and then welded together. Without the extreme heat of welding, Bettinardi putters have superior feel because the consistency of the metal is not compromised. Justification comes from the tour. Let’s face it, the touring Pros can play anything they want! Their preference seems to be with precision and feel, and that only comes from a milled product.

Instead of stamping the sole with the model number, each putter is engraved to perfection.

The Bettinardi Honeycomb Finish”

Throughout the past eight years, Bettinardi has worked with nearly every major golf company. It was only 1998 when he decided to concentrate on his own line of putters. As a matter of fact, that was the year the U.S.G.A officially approved the patented Bettinardi honeycomb finish. This unique innovation entails the use of a jeweler ground cutter that comes down on the face of the putter. Whereas the typical fly mill finish that cuts across is a very old style process, leaving a concave or dishing effect on the face of the putter. The new process not only eliminates this but also makes the putter face flatter, which in turn accentuates a truer more precision roll of the face. This newest technology has slowly but surely become a hit on professional circuits.

There are currently 12 Bettinardi designs ranging in price from $295 to $350. The BB-10, was the model used by Jesper Parnevik to win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Phil Mickelson used the BB-2 to win this year’s MasterCard Colonial.

Amongst Bettinardi’s most popular putters is the totally face balanced putter, the BB14, which comes with a wide flange and a toe to heel crescent shaped cavity. It features a double bend shaft not only for balance but also for superb alignment capabilities. Bettinardi’s limited special edition, the Bettinardi “38 Special”, is in hot demand by the likes of Michael Jordan, Frank Thomas of the White Sox and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Price is a mere $999.

The BeWORKS 300 is a new heel-toe weighted beryllium putter produced by BeWORKS of Pleasanton, Northern California.

The putter is similar in appearance to most heel-toe weighted putters, such as those in the Ping Pal series. The primary distinction with the BeWORKS putter is the 1 ¾-inch, half-moon insert made of pure beryllium in the hitting area. The club, which retails either through the Internet or directly from the company, sells for $319.

According to BeWORKS President Jack Emmons, “The response to it has been really good. It is an expensive product, a premium product. The reason is the material itself. Beryllium is expensive and hazardous to work with, and it translates into the price. Steel is $5 a pound, beryllium is about $450 a pound, and so do the math.”

One might ask why use beryllium when beryllium clubs have been on the market for some time. The difference, according to Emmons, is that the beryllium clubs that are on the market are only 2 percent beryllium and 98 percent copper.

Beryllium, a natural element, has an extremely hard modulus, meaning it is exceedingly hard and stiffso stiff that opposed to titanium, another lightweight element used in shafts and in the faces of metal woods, it would break or crack in a short time if used on the face of a driver. Titanium yields upon impact, giving it a trampoline effect and adding distance.

But a driving swing is considerably harder than a putting stroke, which makes beryllium’s hardness made to order for a putter.

“Look at it in relation to a tennis racket,” Emmons said. “The looser you string the racket, the more trampoline effect you get, where the ball shoots off. You gain power, but you lose accuracy. If you tighten the strings, you have a stiff base and you gain accuracy, but you lose power unless you can provide it yourself.

“Titanium is about half the mass, or density, of steel, and beryllium is less than half that of titanium, so you have an incredibly light material,” Emmons said. “BeWORKS is a subsidiary of the Peregrine Falcon Corp., which is an aerospace company. In its heyday, beryllium was used in nuclear weapons and guidance systems.

“Its mass is so light that it is used in other applications. A rocket can only take so much into space, so every pound of weight you can reduce, you can add bigger payloads. You can fracture it if you put enough pressure on it. Instead of having a rubber or plastic hitting area, you have a real stiff hitting area. The stiffer the face, the more control.”

“In a putter, accuracy is what you want. You want as stiff a hitting area as possible, or a high modulus. That’s what beryllium gives you.”

The putter gives a balanced, crisp feeling upon impact. Our 25 testers gave the putter a 9 out of 10 rating and were exceptionally pleased with putts from inside ten feet.

The putter doesn’t feel significantly lighter than other heel-toe weighted putters. Its lie is a standardized 72 degrees but can be customized a plus- or minus-3 degrees. The loft is a standardized 3 degrees, but can be customized from 0-5 degrees, and the lengths run from 35 to 37 inches.

“There’s nothing else like it,” Emmons said. “The whole head weighs about 320 grams. The beryllium weighs 12 grams, so all the mass is in heel and toe. I’ve been playing with it about a year. I like it. It feels great. There are only so many configurations you can have to get a heel-toe weighted putter. If you take away all the science bells and whistles, a putter has to look good and has to feel good. Confidence is what putting is all about. I’ve been putting better. It has helped me.”

The JohnByron Copper Cush

Since 1989 the John Byron Golf Company have been the manufacturing the highest quality putters. The company has created many new, and exciting putters, among them, the Broom Handle long putter, and Dale Head Centerblade 303. New prototypes are regularly coming out of the John Byron golf factory. The body of the Copper Cush putter is milled from a 17-pound block of mild carbon steel. The insert is machined from ultra-soft Tellurium copper. The insert is installed into the body of the putter in a gasket of high-tech polymer. The insert is completely insulated from the body of the putter via the shock-absorbing polymer. An exceptionally soft feel is the result of this engineering.

The design of the copper insert places more weight in the hitting area, creating a muscle back effect. Combined with heel and toe weighting, the muscle back offers an overall balance and solid feel that is truly unique.

Their new putter for 2000, the Nexus, has just been released. This brand-new putter is the latest in putter-making technology. Three blocks of metal are joined together into one piece and are milled into these beautiful new putters. An aluminum center creates enhanced heel and toe weighting and has a great soft feel. Just $500!

The most important caveat to remember is that regardless of the putter, practice, practice and practice will lower your scores, though arriving in a Rolls Royce is better for one’s psyche than a Chevrolet!