In the past we have been presenting members with a Museum & Gallery headcover and a putter bag specially designed by Scotty for those who purchased a Scotty Cameron tour putter, but now we have a new 2009 model turbo blue headcover and putter bag.

 From now on, instead of the Hermes look orange set, we will present a turbo blue set for customers who purchase a tour putter. As much as the orange set has been popular, the new set should be just as popular because of the unique design and beautiful color. We hope you will enjoy them.

It has been 3 years since we established the Scotty Cameron Museum & Gallery, and this year we are having the 3rd annual gathering for the Museum & Gallery members on October 18th and 19th.  We are grateful that every year Scotty makes time to come to Japan for this event despite his busy schedule. Every year during the event we schedule a 3 to 4 hour autographing session so that participating members can get to know Scotty more personally, and maybe have a chance to talk to him in person. 

As well, participants have a chance to purchase from the limited number of putters and other goods Scotty produced especially for this event. Most of those items sell out during the event every year, some of the items later receive quite high bids on the internet auctions, as you may have seen.
The second day of the gathering is the golf competition. The winner and the runner-up will be presented an exclusive hand produced trophy by Scotty. There are plenty of other prizes, and you will certainly have a great time.  Scotty has also strongly requested that we have a contest on scratch this year, which we will.
To all of Scotty’s fans around the world, we invite you to come get together at the Scotty Cameron Museum & Gallery annual gathering!

 You can apply or contact us for more information here.
sc@cameron-museum.com

Japanese are rejoicing Ryuji Imada’s triumph at the US PGA tour title, the first time in 5 years that a Japanese pro has won the title. Imada used to use the oil can finish Bulls Eye putter, but now he uses the Del Mar straight-shaft and the Newport Squareback straight-shaft. It seems that he prefers center-shaft putters. Did you notice that the putter he used for this tour had weights mounted in the toe and heel of the face side? Since he likes shorter putters, he needs extra weight to balance the swing weight. The sole of Del Mar is thin, therefore there is not enough room to mount the weights on the bottom. But Scotty came up with the idea to mount the weights on the face side. The weights are boldly mounted over the stamp of Dancing Cameron.
We have sold the Bulls Eye and the Newport Squareback straight-shaft, both same specification as Imada at our shop, and the Del Mar straight-shaft will be for sale again soon. Please look for it at our shop.
By the way, Scotty tour putters have been used by winning golfers in 9 out of 11 recent tournaments. How about that? 

Information for the members of the Scotty Cameron Museum & Gallery and readers of the Circle T Column.

The following events will be held before the 3rd Museum & Gallery annual gathering and the golf tournament. These events have been organized especially for members coming from overseas, and we hope you and your family will enjoy staying Japan.

Tuesday, October 14 Course observation with a navigator and practice round
Wednesday, October 15 Pre-tournament
Thursday, October 16 Day tour to Kyoto
Friday, October 17 Day tour to Tokyo
Saturday, October 18 M & G gathering
Sunday, October 19 M & G golf tournament

More details will be announced when they become available. These events and schedule are subject to change.

It was a dramatic ending at the Players Championship this week with Sergio Garcia winning the tournament in the end. As one of Scotty Cameron Tour Putter fans I was delighted to see his victory, especially just after I mentioned him in the last Circle T Column.
When Garcia first started using Taylor Made putters he used a Rozza putter. Several years past trying many different putters before Garcia switched back (very recently) to using a Scotty Cameron putter for the Players Championship tournament. But this year (very recently) he switched back to a Scotty’s tour putter. When our president, Mr. Fukuda visited the studio in April he heard from an insider that Garcia started using a Scotty’s putter again. But who would have thought it would affect his play so instantly!  
It is quite obvious that the Scotty’s putter had a lot to do with his comeback. He had been struggling with his putting for the past few years, and it seemed his putting affected his whole play. But this past week, his putting was superb and that was a big factor of his playoff victory.
It shows how putting is crucial for golf, or how the putter club itself can be crucial, when Garcia kissed the putter head with his playoff victory.  He definitely wasn’t caring about his contract matters with his sponsor.  By the way, Garcia uses Newport 2 putter now.

Scotty Cameron tour putters were used in 2 recent world victories by Adam Scott and Darren Clarke during the last week of April.  Japanese female pro Yukari Baba won a domestic tournament using Scotty Cameron tour putters in the previous week as well. She uses both the Del Mar 3.5 and Newport 2.5 Select. Also Anthony Kim had a victory using a Newport 2 T10 this week. Scotty Cameron tour putters will very likely have a huge number of victories in this year. Sergio Garcia is now a user of a Scotty tour putter again. He uses the Newport 2 SSS, and we hope he will gain glory again with the putter.

One of the frequently asked questions at our shop is what the difference is between GSS and SSS, and why GSS is more expensive than SSS.
GSS and SSS are abbreviations to express the material of putters and both are types of stainless steel. Both are made from type 303 the softest stainless steel. The GSS is pure abstracted 303 stainless ingot made in Germany. The putter heads are curved from those ingots. On the other hand the SSS is made in United States and recycled from knives and forks, therefore there is a huge difference in the material price. Also GSS is rare, Scotty only get a small quantity of GSS ingot for his Studio 2 years ago. 
There is certainly a different feeling you have when you hit a ball. Stainless steel has particular sound and feeling, and we would say that GSS has a harder core. When Tiger Woods putts, you can hear the different GSS putting sound even on TV that is unique to Scotty’s putters, moreover the GSS putters. That dry sound is only made by putting with a core.

Since Scotty has become famous and is so busy, many of you may think that he has assistants to help make putters for pros and amateurs. But he actually makes every single putter all by himself.  He makes heads of course, also stamping, painting stamps, grips and other detailed works. Attaching a shaft and a grip is occasionally done by an assistant, and Scotty always checks the finished putter. If it doesn’t feel right when he strokes with it then that putter will not go to market. If it is not perfect he draws a line on the grip with a marker, or cuts the putter in half so there is no chance that the putter will go to market by mistake. Therefore putters for famous pros and amateurs alike are made with the same sincerity and accuracy. 

Scotty always says that his work is either 100% or 0%, there is no 90% or 80%. This principle has made Scotty Cameron’s tour putters the best in the world, and he intends on keeping it that way into the future. He lives by his father’s words- “Do it right or get out of the way”.

Today we will talk about one of the most popular Scotty Cameron Tour Putters, the Newport 2. First of all, the Newport 2 is known as the putter Tiger Woods has been using for a long time. One of the most striking features of the putter is its sharp, straight head. You can see the rectangular outline very clearly when you address the ball, and many users find it easy to target. The Newport 2 fans are attracted to these features, but many Newport fans feel it is too boxy and doesn’t have curves other putters have.

The Newport 2 tour putters are currently available in GSS Cameron & co, in SSS, in carbon steel, select series and T10 select series. We would like hear what you like or don’t like about the Newport 2, feedback and other comments regarding the Newport 2 putter. Please feel free to leave us your comments.

As we mentioned in the first column, we were going to talk more about putters but since we have been getting several questions about the annual event, we would like to talk about the Museum & Gallery membership today.

In general this is a group of people who enjoy Scotty Cameron and his tour putters. Members get privileges as explained on our website (please refer the membership page for more details) and have a chance to join the annual gathering. We organize the gathering once a year for a duration 2 days. Scotty always comes to
Japan to attend this. On the first day, Scotty will introduce his putters and other goods specially prepared for this day. Members will have a chance to purchase them as well as get a Scotty Cameron autograph, then there will be a reception party.

On the second day, there will be a golf tournament followed by a commendation ceremony. The winner of the tournament will be presented a specially made trophy by Scotty. The last gathering in 2007, Mr. Sadao Watanabe a professional jazz musician and also a user of the tour Napa, had a special live performance after the dinner on the first day and everybody had an excellent time. We hope you will become a member and attend the gathering and enjoy it with us. If you are already a member and have some ideas about what we can do at this year gathering, please let us know.