Damascus 009

Rating: 7 points
Pros: The finest folded steel, milled into the finest head design.
Cons: Swirls make you dizzy.

Damascus steel has the distinct privilege of being considered the highest grade of steel. Scotty Cameron brings this elite metal to a putter design long considered to be the best among his followers, the 009.

Debuting in 2005 with the Billet Block Copper (BBC) putters, the 009 design has been used sparingly for Tour only putters. Joining the BBC, Cameron & Co German Stanless Steel (GSS) and 009 Carbon Steel is this new iteration using the same design.

The Damascus Steel 009 (D009) was released last week with great fanfare at the 2008 Japan Musem & Gallery Event at the Hamamatsu Seaside Golf Club in Shizuoka, Japan. Complete with costumed presenters and strobe lights, these putters were first shown to those in attendance and later detailed in a slideshow at ScottyCameron.com.

At $15,000, these putters are aimed at the extreme high end Scotty Cameron collectors. There will be only 27 made, numbering 0 through 27 (omitting the bad luck number 4). Two of which have been confirmed as sold (#1 and #7), one belonging to Fukuda-san (#0) and unconfirmed rumors circulating that #27 and two others have been sold or spoken for in the short time they have been available.

Damascus steel has only been seen twice before in the putter market, once last year in a special release by Odyssey of 15 pieces, and several years ago by putter maker Tad Moore. The difference with these putters, of course not only being made by master putter maker, Scotty Cameron, are the folded steel patterns visible in the face, and the beautiful gold-color finish applied to them.


Additionally, the D009's have distinct retro-style stamping, typically reserved for putters of this caliber. The significance of the 27 piece quantity has yet to be seen, but there are indications that the amount was limited only by the Damascus steel Scotty was able to purchase.

Present indications are that only 10 have been made to this point, and none have alignment aides or beaches (sound slots). The D009's have also been released with extremly rare leather headcovers and crocodile grips with baseball stitching. Although expected, it remains to be seen if the entire line will be produced this way.


In summation, this is the Scotty Cameron release of the year, if not the decade. These putters will be saught after well into the future.

Friut Loops Headcover

Rating: 5 points
Pros: New CS limited headcover!... Fruit Loops!
Cons: Toucan Sam conspicuously absent.

Almost two years ago during the last week of October 2006, we were introduced to the Peel Out Purple limited headcover which could be purchased along with any Custom Shop order through the end of the year. Last year we had access to the Limited Release Custom Shop Gold headcover. In both cases the headcovers became highly sought after and this year should prove to be no different with the release of the Fruit Loops full grain leather headcover.



The term Fruit Loops was coined, oddly enough, around the same time as the Purple headcover was released, while discussion centered on A006736 as I described it's multi colored circle snow. Since then that snow has become known as Fruit Loops (note the COA above does not call them Fruit Loops). This headcover follows that theme and naming convention with a leather upgrade. The price on these is $116 with any CS order or $91 with full restoration... although there is a loophole inthat you may order one of the Fruit Loops headcovers as your CS order and only pay the $116 plus shipping and taxes... as long as you send your putter to the Custom Shop.

This new release brings to mind the Black and Red Yen covers from 2004-2005 that were released through Japanese distributors, however the layout of the Fruit Loops compared to those yen covers seems to be a little spartan:


With this release we also get a redux of the Custom Shop Purple as well as the Black/Gold Winn grips that were very popular along with the limited headcover releases of years past.

Now to the exciting part... there are early rumors circulating regarding a possible white version of the Fruit Loops cover, and potentially a CT version as well. These covers will no doubt command a premium in the secondary market, but are going to be very hard to obtain in the first place... possibly only being included with G&G putters.

Overall a great looking cover that is sure to be a hit as a gamer and collectible.

Headcovers & Integrity

In the month of September I was able to add four amazing headcovers to my collection. None of which would have been possible without great friends and the integrity we share as collectors. As I near 4 years pursuing this hobby, friends do come and go, however many of the 'good guys' stick around... and that leads me to tell you how I acquired each of these:

Butch Harmon has issued 10 Las Vegas headcovers starting with the first Light Blue cover released in July 2006. Following light blue was dark blue, red, burgundy, carbon fiber, salmon, yellow, gold, chocolate and now the newest iteration, lime green. I am lucky enough to have a contact in the Las Vegas area who has picked up a Harmon cover for me for every release since the salmon.... he's not a Cameron collector, and has no interest in the headcovers other than making sure I get one. He could very easily get top dollar for these on eBay, but through our arrangement, I pay him a fair market price... the fact that he does not pick up extra covers just to flip them and offers me the one cover he gets is a good definition of integrity in my book.

The two Auburn covers are next. Wow. Collegiate Cameron covers bring a mint at auction, and I've been more than lucky enough to work out a few trades with someone who had access to these. The contingency was that these will not end up on eBay. I could very easily make a lot of money, but that's obviously not worth the relationship I have with this person... and he could very easily have charged me $1,000 apiece for them. Again integrity comes to the forefront and I have two amazing headcovers to go along with my Jason Dufner (PGA Tour Pro and Auburn Alum) tour putter.

The final headcover is something I can't even begin to assess in value, intrinsic or otherwise. Two of my friends spoke to Jason Gore at the Barclays back in August and learned he was very interested in acquiring one of my highly saught after putters. We were able to reach an agreement, but as an added surprise, Jason was able to get a Circle L headcover from the Studio and signed it for me. Both of those collector friends and Jason went above and beyond anything I could expect from people in our community, and again bring one word to mind, integrity.

I'm happy to share these with my readers and hope anyone who stumbles upon this post will realize how much integrity plays a role in collecting Scotty Cameron putters and accessories.