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HISTORY OF THE REESO
PUTTER
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I am not a professional golfer.
But, I have been an avid golfer
since age 13 and have enjoyed many
rounds of golf from coast to coast,
from Bay Hill to Pebble Beach. I
played golf for the University of
Florida in the late fifties and
early sixties where I got to watch
a lot of great college golf by Doug
Sanders, Tommy Aaron, Frank Beard,
Bob Murphy, Andy North, Andy Bean
and Steve Melynik.
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Over the years with so
many rounds played, I have had four
holes-in-one, twenty eagles on par four
holes, have been men's club champion (in
1963 at age 24 and in 2002 at age 63),
and have won numerous prizes in regional
golf tournaments. In 1993, at age 54, I
won the Senior Division Long Drive
Contest at the Dupont World Amateur golf
tournament with a drive of 300 yards( I
still think it must have hit a sprinkler
head  ).
I was trained
as an engineer. I am a retired
Professional Engineer with over thirty
years experience in the aerospace,
defense communications and environmental
clean up industries. (In fact, I even
helped put the first men on the
moon).
I've been
playing golf since 1952, (Yes, long
before the first metal wood was
introduced) and I have been involved with
putter testing since the very beginning.
From the early blade putters like the
"Bullseye" up through today's latest
Odyssey Two Ball, Titleist Futura and
Gurin Rife models. With my aerospace
engineering and product manufacturing
background I've always experimented with
different putter designs trying to find
ways to
improve.
Let me tell
you, there have been many changes,
additions, and discoveries related to
putting since my early golfing days.
These next two pictures show just a few
of the various putter types I have
tested.
 
I have
personally tested hundreds of different
putters and have hit tens of thousands of
test putts. Of course it has helped to
have my own personal test putting green
with two "guard" yorkies, Petee and
Nicki, shown
here.
With my
engineering background I felt that putter
designs were not taking full advantage of
the physics of motion nor of the design
technology available. But, with a full
time engineering career and a family, I
did not have the time to really pursue my
ideas for putter
improvements.
When I retired
in 1998 I founded Golf Lab, Inc so I
could pursue my dream of developing the
ultimate game improvement putter. I
converted my garage into a Putter
Research and Development Lab by adding a
variety of machine shop
tools.
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Vertical
Mill |
Horizontal
Lathe |
Drill
Press |
Digital
Readout |
Digital
Scale |
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Fly
Cutting |
Angle
Machining |
Coating
Oven |
Bead
Blast
Finishing |
Inspection
Station |
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on the small images to
enlarge
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The above
tools along with a couple of very
powerful computers with Computer
Aided Design software let me
accurately design, weigh, measure,
cut, drill, bore, form, machine,
polish, and coat metal putter heads
and components. Finally, I could
actually turn my ideas into
prototypes and do comparison
testing.
My earlier testing
had shown that nearly all
putters
had a number
of significant
limitations:
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LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT
PUTTERS
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Improper Fit -
Golfer must adapt to
putter length, weight
and lie
angle
Difficult To
Align -
Conflicting shapes and
markings confuse the
visual image
Poor Putter Head
Stability - Head
twists easily on off
center hits
Poor Roll -
Weighting not optimized
for roll
Poor Feel -
Too many components
make up the putter
head
Poor
Balance - Putter
head not symmetrical
and has shaft off
center
Poor Stroke
Stability - Putter
not properly weighted
and balanced for
pendulum
stroke
Putter Release
Conflict - Putter
is pulled to the point
of ball contact and
then must be
pushed
Excessive
Loft - Forces
hands ahead of the ball
at impact to prevent
hopping
Poor
Quality -
Inconsistent
performance
USGA
Non-Conformance -
Not legal for
competitive
play
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So my
design goals for the ultimate putter
became pretty
clear:
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DESIGN GOALS FOR THE
ULTIMATE
PUTTER
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Proper Fit -
Golfer may select
proper length and then
adjust lie angle and
weight as
desired
Easy To
Align - Open frame
design with centered
alignment line for best
visual image
High Putter Head
Stability - High
Moment of Inertia to
minimize head twisting
on off center
hits
Superior
Roll - Weighting
optimized for pure roll
and great distance
control
Superior
Feel - Machine the
putter head from a
solid block of metal
for excellent
feel
Excellent
Balance - Putter
head symmetrical and
with center
shaft
High Stroke
Stability - Putter
properly weighted and
balanced for pendulum
stroke
Automatic Putter
Release - Putter
is pulled through and
past the point of ball
contact
Minimal
Loft - Eliminates
hopping due to improper
hand position at
impact
High
Quality -
Consistent performance
through use of computer
controlled machining
methods
USGA
Conformance -
Legal for all
competitive
play
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The Ultimate Putter Is
Born!
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So, let me
guess...
You really are
wondering how I came up
with the final design
of my new putter and if
it meets all of my
design goals for the
ultimate
putter?
For the past several
years I had been
researching and testing
putter designs relative
to the golfer's ability
achieve correct
alignment and to
control the distance
the ball
rolls.
I had concluded that
correct alignment is
achieved by having
parallel elements that
frame the ball and
indicate the line to
the target. Good
distance control is
achieved by the quality
of the putting stroke
(force, online, hitting
sweet spot, etc) AND
the physical dynamics
of the putter head
design!
My testing had shown
that a putter head
design with a high
percentage of its
weight as far behind
the putter face as
possible and below the
center line of the
putter face provides
the most consistent
distance
control.
In fact, the proper
putter head design can
even help a golfer
improve the quality of
their putting stroke by
helping to reduce
twisting on off center
hits.
The Design
Challenge
The design challenge
was how to put all of
my "good science" into
one putter
head.
I began to experiment
with many different
ways to mount the shaft
with all sorts of
complex shaft bends in
order maintain true
face balance and allow
a high percentage of
weight behind the
putter face. It soon
proved to be a near
impossible task until I
began to work
exclusively with center
shaft
configurations.
But, a center shaft in
the middle of the
putter head still did
not achieve the one key
design goal of an
adjustable lie angle
while maintaining true
face balance and
heel/toe balance.
Having such an
adjustable lie angle
was the ONLY WAY to
allow all golfers to
PERFECTLY FIT
themselves. This one
area had me stumped for
some
time.
Then late one night
(actually early in the
morning) a mental light
bulb came on and I
awoke with the perfect
solution----a shaft
mounted in the center
of the rear of the
putter. This idea was
so unique that it
actually led to a
recently issued U.S.
Patent.
After the mental light
bulb went off, I
started with the basic
features my testing had
shown were essential
and then began
fabricating and testing
a series of prototypes.
Each successive
prototype was an effort
to maintain all of my
"good science" while
moving to a more and
more pleasing
appearance for the
putter.
The
following
pictures show the
"family tree" of
the major
prototype stages
that led up to
the finished
design for the
REESO™
Putter
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The unique rear mounted
shaft concept was so
powerful that it
allowed me to MEET ALL
OF MY DESIGN GOALS FOR
THE ULTIMATE
PUTTER
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The REESO™
Putter can help you
improve your golf game whether you
are a beginner just learning the
game, a low to high handicap player
or a professional. This new putter
technology is especially well suited
for today's larger, faster and more
undulating
greens.
We all know
that putting well takes some of the
pressure off of your ball striking
and is especially helpful by giving
more room for error on short game
pitching, chipping and bunker shots.
Improvements in all of the above
areas can lead to taking strokes off
your game. The REESO™
Putter can
significantly improve your game and
may be used in USGA competition since
it "Conforms with USGA
Rules".
With our new
Adjustable Lie
Angle and Weighting
System you the
golfer can have a putter that you can
quickly and easily adjust for a
perfect fit and match to current
playing conditions. And you can do so
without having to compromise on the
inherent face balance and true
tracking
design.
The REESO™
Putter is
constructed with a space age metal
using the latest fabrication and
finishing technologies. The putter
head is CNC machined from aerospace
grade aluminum and the face is
precision milled and polished for
flatness and softer feel. The entire
putter head is chemically treated
with a UV black anodize process to
provide unprecedented protection
against nicks and scratches during
normal
play.
The REESO™
Putter is available
Right or Left handed, in
Conventional, Hockey, Mid/Belly, Long
and Side Saddle/Face-On
configurations/lengths. Lie angle is
easily adjustable by you the golfer
for a perfect fit. Weight is
adjustable by you the golfer over a
126 gram range. Premium grips are
used for all
configurations.
I can
honestly say that I believe I am one
of only a small handful of people in
the entire world that really knows
the "ins and outs" of how putters
work -- including most of the special
tips, tricks, and techniques for
making
putts.
I would
like to take a second and say
something about putter designs and
putter marketing. I hope you don't
mind if I rant for a moment.
:-)
Are you as
sick and tired as I am of seeing all
the "gimmicks" added to the putter
head under the premise that they will
help you putt
better.
Adding
multiple view lines to help position
your head, multiple lines, closely
spaced rails, discs, circles and
cutouts to aid alignment, bumps and
pixels to help the ball roll better,
etc. Let me clarify
something.
What most
of the changes amount to is "we have
changed how your putter will look to
you".
Who Cares
If Someone Makes A Putter That Just
"Looks
Different"?
I don't know about
you but when it comes to putters, I
only care about
MAKING
PUTTS -- the fewest
putts I can take during a round.
Because that's all that
matters.
Many of the
companies promoting these "Different
Looking Putters" are doing so to
create a unique visual appeal to the
golfer without necessarily offering
actual improved performance. There
are however a couple of companies
producing new generation putters that
look different and offer genuine
performance improvements. The back
weighted putter technology is going
to become very popular over the next
few years to come. More and more
people will learn that performance is
what counts and start making more
informed putter purchase
decisions.
If any of
the above sounded a bit critical, I
apologize. I'm just trying to make
the point that different looking
putters don't mean anything if you
aren't making more putts -- i.e.
shooting lower
scores.
Naming the
REESO
technology
And,
you may even be wondering how I
came up with the name for my new
putter
invention?
Well, my late
father Lamar Reese (1910-1999) was
nicknamed "Reeso" by his golfing
buddies and friends. After encouraging
my brother and I to play golf in our
early teen years, he finally took up
golf himself in his late forties. And
for nearly 40 years, he was an avid
golfer and gave a lot back to the game.
He and my Mom were legendary for
running the most efficient scoreboard
activities for many local golf events
each year. Dad was also legendary as a
exceptional putter. So, I decided to
name the new putter in honor of our
Dad.
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