What was your first really good forged milled putter? Mine was a Tad Moore Peach

[oneaugusta]

Played many different cast putters over the years but I decided to try one of Tad Moore"s putters and bought a Peach #2 putter in polished black oxide.  The first time I used it I thought "wow this feels so good, why haven't I tried one until now" ? 

Has anyone else had this same enlightenment?

Edited January 3, 2022 by oneaugusta

[PeterPing]

If the putter has an insert ei the new ping 2021 or odyssey it doesn’t matter if it’s milled or cast. I use a ping anser which is cast and to me feels better than any milled putter. But it also has a sound slot. Bullseye putter ray cook putters zebra putter all where cast and had exceptional feel when hit in the center of the face. It really depends on the putter. 

[Vanbilxmchi]

My first forged and milled putter is an old mizuno but made by bettinardi. Very sweet and classic

[oneaugusta]

51 minutes ago, PeterPing said:

If the putter has an insert ei the new ping 2021 or odyssey it doesn’t matter if it’s milled or cast. I use a ping anser which is cast and to me feels better than any milled putter. But it also has a sound slot. Bullseye putter ray cook putters zebra putter all where cast and had exceptional feel when hit in the center of the face. It really depends on the putter. 

This is not a bash, discussion or argument on cast versus forged milled so please don't turn this into that.  Feel is an individual thing and I like fine milled putters and started the topic for those who feel the same and want to share their experience.

Edited January 2, 2022 by oneaugusta

[PeterPing]

1 minute ago, oneaugusta said:

This is not a bash, discussion or argument on cast versus forged milled so please don't turn this into that.  Feel is an individual thing and I like fine milled putters and started the topic for those who feel the same.

No.  I have not had the same enlightenment. 

[SUITS]

It’s not a milled putter per say, but the first putter that made me consider the type of metal was actually a spalding TPM.  That carbon steel with a pro V was a lightbulb moment. 

Edited January 2, 2022 by SUITS

[JungleJimbo]

1 hour ago, oneaugusta said:

Played many different cast putters over the years but I decided to try one of Tad Moore"s putters and bought a Peach #2 putter in polished black oxide.  The first time I used it I thought "wow this feels so good, why haven't I tried one until now" ? 

Has anyone else had this same enlightenment?

does this Mizuno “designed by TP Mills” count as milled? (Genuine question ie not sure). Was the first “real” putter I purchased 

 

[OttoVonBizMarkie]

Tried a lot of Stainless Camerons when I was in high school then ended up keeping a carbon steel TP Mills Klassic around through high school and college. Took a break from golf after I graduated college, but I feel the need to buy the same one again from time to time.

 

Great feel and kind of opened my eyes up to looking into all the boutique puttermakers that have sprung up in the last decade.

[jonradus]

The first putter that blew me away from a looks/finish perspective was a bluish oil can TP Mills GSS Insert putter. I then bought a Trad II “Club Champ” from David that blew me away from a sound/feel perspective. And now I’m a putter junkie degenerate for life. 

[MattM97]

Miura KM-006, was very nice, very soft feeling but also very soft overall, look at it wrong and it had a ding.

[oneaugusta]

1 hour ago, JungleJimbo said:

does this Mizuno “designed by TP Mills” count as milled? (Genuine question ie not sure). Was the first “real” putter I purchased 

 

For sure, those are a wonderful feeling series fro David Mills for Mizuno.

[kb7]

About 4 years ago I picked up a studio design 1 for a steal. Since then I’ve went full on degen and can’t stop buying milled putters. It’s really a problem. 
 

 

 

[dunkotime]

I believe it was a Tad Moore model he built for Maxfli.  Still have it and stripped it down and re gun blued it again a couple years ago.  Still a good putter, but a light by today’s standards.

[weakputt]

Bettinardi carbon steel milled Nicklaus Laguna style was my first milled putter.

[Medson]

Scotty Circa #3 in the charcoal finish. 
 

I was playing a casted Ping putter prior to that. I swear Scotty felt better, I probably really just want a Scotty. 
 

I’ve been switching between milled putters and Odyssey insert over the years. Sometimes, it’s just personal. 

[nosil]

On 1/2/2022 at 5:03 PM, oneaugusta said:

This is not a bash, discussion or argument on cast versus forged milled so please don't turn this into that.  Feel is an individual thing and I like fine milled putters and started the topic for those who feel the same and want to share their experience.

for my education can you clarify what you mean by forge milled?    Cast is molten metal pours into a mold.  Forged is shaped via pressure; could be by a hammer or mechanical press. Milled is shaped via a cutting machine to remove material.   
when you say forged milled, are you indicating that the block of steel itself was forged or that the putters basic shape was forged and then milling was done to complete. Damascus, for example, would be forged since the layers of steel were joined via heat and pressure and then if the putter was milled from the block it would be “forge milled”.   Or are you considering any milled putter as forge milled? 

[oneaugusta]

A forged milled putter starts out as a solid forged block of carbon steel, stainless steel, brass, or copper.  It is then milled to design shape by a bridgeport milling machine or CNC machine. 
I personally prefer the old school putters done with bridgeport milling with some hand work. Guys like Lamont, David Mills and others still do many of their putters like this. The older Scotty’s were like this as well.  
I’m sure Lamont could describe his process much better than I could.  It is a craft that requires skills for sure. 

[T-MAC]

Mizuno M200 by Scotty Cameron.
Once I went to a forged/milled head it was hard to putt with an insert putter.........although I did game a Odyssey TriForce 3 (old black insert) and a Ping PAL2 BeCu for awhile.

[kmay__]

I've never used a forged putter myself. I love milled putters due to the precision shaping and wonderful look of the milling marks, but none of my milled putters have come from forged blanks. 

[oneaugusta]

44 minutes ago, kmay__ said:

I've never used a forged putter myself. I love milled putters due to the precision shaping and wonderful look of the milling marks, but none of my milled putters have come from forged blanks. 

A MannKrafted Rattler is a forged milled putter

[kmay__]

8 minutes ago, oneaugusta said:

A MannKrafted Rattler is a forged milled putter

Hmm, he doesn't advertise it as such. I was under the impression its just milled from a normal block of steel. Which would be just cold or hot rolled carbon steel bar stock, not forged. 

[oneaugusta]

Maybe I am mistaken? I believe most of the boutique putters guys use forged billet blocks. 

[kmay__]

6 minutes ago, oneaugusta said:

Maybe I am mistaken? I believe most of the boutique putters guys use forged billet blocks. 

I'm sure he has worked with forged blanks, but my putter per the website is machined from cold rolled 1018 carbon steel. 

 

But if makers are using forged steel, they will be sure to mention it and charge for it. So I would assume that unless its mentioned or labeled as "forged" there just machined out of normal bar stock. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[jholz]

So yeah, this whole "milled" and "forged" thing was keeping me from adding anything to this thread. 

 

My Bettinardi is certainly the highest quality putter I have ever owned. It's milled from 303 Stainless Steel - but they say nothing about the billets themselves. 

 

Instinct tells me that if, indeed, the billets were forged:

 

1. They would be making a big deal out of it on the website

2. The putter would cost about $1.5k more 

3. It wouldn't make a damn bit of difference

[oneaugusta]

Isn’t billet steel a solid block of soft carbon steel. It’s on the Bettinardi site. He has several articles that do not favor cast putters.  So it’s either cast steel or forged steel right. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by oneaugusta

[jholz]

20 minutes ago, oneaugusta said:

Isn’t billet steel a solid block of soft carbon steel. It’s on the Bettinardi site. He has several articles that do not favor cast putters.  So it’s either cast steel or forged steel right. 

 

I'm certainly no expert, but from an industry related website, I found the following:

 

Billet is a form of material and doesn’t necessarily indicate the manufacturing process (or quality) of the final product. Billet metal is a solid length (often in a square or circle profile) of material that has been extruded into shape, either by continuous casting or hot rolling. Billet material is often used in cnc machining.

 

So, my impression is that billet steel is not "forged." But, I'm sure the marketing gurus have a term like "forged billet steel" or something like that to throw around. 

 

[kmay__]

34 minutes ago, oneaugusta said:

Isn’t billet steel a solid block of soft carbon steel. It’s on the Bettinardi site. He has several articles that do not favor cast putters.  So it’s either cast steel or forged steel right. 

Not really, as most steel is formed thru dies/rollers/mandrels, whilst hot or cold, and forced into the shape of the final product (bar, tube, plate ect.) Forged is when the metal is heated and slammed into the desired shape between 2 forming dies... then trimmed/ground to final shape, like in the case of irons. So no part of the process of a putter maker buying steel in bar form then machining has seen any kind of forging. It makes no sense to me, to forge a block, and then machine a final product out of that forging.... except maybe marginal "feel" improvements. Forging is kind of a method that leads to less waste material, because the forging, is already close to final shape. Seems like making a big forged block then machining a small putter head from it, is just kind of wasting material. 

 

I'm also no expert on the subject, I just cut the stuff apart and weld it back together for a living lol. Where it comes from is above my pay grade. 

[oneaugusta]

[jholz]

2 minutes ago, oneaugusta said:

 

Damn, now that's a forged putter. I wouldn't want to take that out of the headcover!

[nitram]

Cameron Santa Fe