No release date set for winning Nike putter

By Jennifer Gardner and Alex Miceli
Golf Press Association

Nike's prototype putter features grooves on the face that prevent skid and improve roll on the greens. This is Lucas Glover's putter that he used to win the U.S. Open.

Nike Golf's newest putter offering is good enough to rack up four worldwide wins since being offered to Nike staff pros less than a year ago. It's good enough to make Stewart Cink switch from a long putter that he used for years. And It's even good enough to win the U.S. Open in Lucas Glover's hands.

So why hasn't Nike released the putter - or many details about it - to the golfing public yet?

"It's not secrecy, it's just a matter of timing for us," said Steve Stach, Nike's PGA Tour field rep. "There are certain launch dates that we like to achieve.

"It's just the matter of what it takes to launch a product the way we like to, marketing is very important to us and how we like to launch things. So it's just a matter of timing."

Glover's putter features "the oven" stamped on the bottom, indicating it was made at Nike's facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

Glover's recent U.S. Open win while using the putter may encourage Nike to move up its planned release date, but Stach said he doesn't yet know what the effect of the victory will be on Nike's schedule.

"We had plans for it to come out at a certain date," he said. "I'm hoping that with this win that launch date is moved forward a little bit. That's completely up in the air. I don't know that for a fact."

Stach, who has previously worked for Odyssey and Never Compromise, was quiet on the technical details of the putter.

From images, pros' comments and the little information available, the putter features a traditional look, heel-toe weighting, milled stainless steel construction and a grooved face that helps reduce skid and improve roll on the greens. A special polymer behind the face helps with feel and keeps the face light so weight can be distributed around the perimeter of the head.

"When I handed it to Paul Casey, he immediately knocked in his first, I think, five out of six putts in a row," Stach said. "K.J. Choi was standing next to him, he grabbed it, did the same thing. They both wanted to try it right away - that's something that just doesn't happen out here."

Since adding it to the bag in August, Casey has won three times, including the Shell Houston Open in April. Choi is still experimenting and has not used the putter in competition.

Justin Leonard uses a mallet style of the Nike prototype putter.

And Cink, who rarely switches away from his belly-length Never Compromise putter, has been using the Nike flat stick for nearly a month.

"My first three weeks have been decent, especially Memorial was really one of my best putting weeks in years," said Cink before Travelers Championship, which he won in 2008. "So, it's encouraging. I'm having fun with it."

Stephen Ames, Bo Van Pelt and Justin Leonard, all Nike Staff players, are also using the putter on the PGA Tour.