Rating: 6 PointsPros: Won the '93 Masters and launched Scotty's career.
Cons: It hasn't launched my career, yet.
Wow. I finally picked up a Classic I this week after over 3 years of collecting. The market for these putters has remained fairly consistent over that period of time. With most newer collectors favoring 009's, it has left room for the purist collectors to obtain great pre-Titleist pieces at reasonable prices.
The first thing that jumps out at me is the lack of stamping/engraving. Call me crazy, but the blank cavity is a great look... as is the absence of an alignment aid. Classic I is engraved on two lines on the toe end of the sole, Cameron vertically on the neck, and Scotty Cameron in a distinctive pattern on the heel end of the face. The heel-face engraving is one of the most identifiable marks among pre-Titleist collectors, occasionally we see it reproduced via hand-stamping on modern Tour putters.
Classic I's have a shape closely related to Newports and 009's, but distinctive on it's own. Lining them up is akin to watching the body style change on the Ford Mustang through the years. The bumpers seem wider and lack the radius seen in today's Studio Select model. The neck has crisp lines and an angular plumber's neck, a few generations away from what you might see on 009's. The topline is rounded, and the cavity has dog ears... a great combination in my eyes while looking at the putter from the cavity side.
Putts roll off the face extremely soft and true, the sweet spot is fairly small, so mis-hits are more than evident. This is a player's putter. Bernhard Langer won the Masters 15 years ago, in no small part, due to the accuracy of this putter. The putter in my collection has the original Scotty Cameron pebble grain grip which is also very utilitarian, not soft, yet providing feedback straight from the putter head. As a package, this putter has everything a golfer needs to sink putts and improve their game.
I'm happy to add this putter to my collection in a month when Scotty is celebrating 15 years since his first Master's win, and his 8th Masters victory in that short span.
2 comments:
local you know i love the classic I all this does is make me crave one even more, i think it is almost a must have and to me the face stamping is the best part of this putter. with the detail given to this stick its no surprise its still as popular as it was 15 years ago.
mat
Scott - Love the classic I. I'm a huge fan of the mid-90's putters, as they were simply stamped, classy and understated.
I've always said that Scotty is almost as good a marketer as he is a putter maker. I'm sure the bright-cherry-red dots in the cavity of the Selects were initially inspired by a race track moment Scotty had years ago, but they were more recently inspired by the fact that you can see the cherry dots two greens away (and on that worm cam during PGA events) and hence, more recognition AKA more putters sold.
I yearn for the look of the gun blue Camerons - Simple Titleist stamp in the cavity and a Cameron on the face...classy.
The Classic I is definitely on my "to buy" list in the upcoming months.
Josh
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