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Bettinardi unveils all-new Hexperimental ‘Baby Ben’ prototype at this week’s BMW Championship

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Bettinardi has unveiled its new Hexperimental high MOI putter based on the original ‘Baby Ben’.

The Bettinardi ‘Baby Ben’ mallet putter was a flat-stick played by Jim Furyk when he won the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields CC.

Furyk’s win at the 2003 U.S. Open was the first time he had the Bettinardi putter in the bag, and speaking following his victory that week where he excelled on the greens, Furyk told media members:

“I gave it a try and was in there working with Bob’s rep all week, just making little adjustments, making adjustments, getting the line and loft. And I felt like I was real comfortable with it and I putted very well with it this week. I made some key putts and some great putts.”

As the tour returns to the site of that victory, Bettinardi has re-engineered the putter from the ground up with this 2020 all-new, super high MOI prototype on show at this week’s BMW Championship.

 

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Matt Aamold

    Aug 26, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    Great! Now bring back the heel shafted Country Club Putter please.

  2. Osnola Kinnard

    Aug 26, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    I have an original Baby Ben, and my wife hijacked it from me. I have used the same putter for almost 15 years now, and this is the first thing I have seen that has me thinking my current putter could be replaced. What’s old is new again, and I can’t wait to try it!!!

  3. Ryan K

    Aug 26, 2020 at 12:32 pm

    Can’t believe my eyes! After searching for a reasonably priced backup in good condition and 1 week after settling on a BB54 proto…THIS! Been using mine since 2004! Bettinardi please send me one, with the T alignment and honeycomb face.. or the headcover at least!

  4. No one

    Aug 25, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    “Hey guys, how close can we get to a Directed Force Putter without getting sued?”

    • Steve

      Aug 26, 2020 at 8:44 am

      Just don’t say in your online ads that “It’s not your fault that you suck as a putter.”

    • Doug Ferreri

      Aug 26, 2020 at 8:54 am

      Actually tis is a remake of the Bettinardi Baby Ben introduced in 2003 for the Ben Hogan Company. Furyck used it to win the 2003 U S Open.

      • STEVE

        Aug 26, 2020 at 9:10 am

        You’re right, Doug — I forgot about that. That Baby Ben had a silver head with black alignment aids if I recall it correctly. I had forgotten that it was a Bnardi putter, however.

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Streelman WITB 2024 (April)

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  • Kevin Streelman what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

5-wood: Ping G (17.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 X

Irons: Wilson Staff Model CB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Wilson Staff Model (48-08, 54-08), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-L @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54, 58)

Putter: Scotty Cameron TourType SSS TG6

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Streelman’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Choose Your Driver: Which 2012 driver was your favorite?

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The year was 2012. Gangnam Style ruled supreme, its infectious beats and ludicrous horse-riding dance moves hypnotizing us with their stupidity. Everyone was talking about the Mayan calendar, convinced that the end of days was near. Superheroes soared on the silver screen, with the Avengers assembling in epic fashion. Katniss Everdeen survived The Hunger Games. And the memes! The memes abounded. Grumpy Cat triumphed. We kept calm and carried on.

In much the same way that automotive enthusiasts love classic cars, we at GolfWRX love taking a backward glance at some of the iconic designs of years past. Heck, we love taking iconic designs to the tee box in the present!

In that spirit, GolfWRX has been running a series inspired by arguably the greatest fighting game franchise of all time: Mortal Kombat. It’s not “choose your fighter” but rather “choose your driver.”

Check out some of the standout combatants of 2012 below.

 

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Nike VRS

Often harshly critiqued during its years releasing golf equipment (right, Phil Mickelson?), Nike’s tenure in the club-and-ball business gets a gloss of nostalgic varnish, with many of its iron and putter designs continuing to attract admirers. Among the company’s driver offerings, the 2012 VRS — or VR_S, if you will — drew high marks for its shaping and toned-down appearance. The multi-thickness, NexCOR face was no joke either.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Callaway RAZR Fit

Callaway’s first foray into moveable weight technology (married with its OptiFit hosel) did not disappoint. With a carbon fiber crown, aerodynamic attention to detail, and variable and hyperbolic face technologies, this club foreshadowed the tech-loaded, “story in every surface” Callaway drivers of the present, AI-informed design age.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Cleveland Classic 310

Truly a design that came out of left field. Cleveland said, “Give me a persimmon driver, but make it titanium…in 460cc.” Our 2012 reviewer, JokerUsn wrote, “I don’t need to elaborate on all the aesthetics of this club. You’ve seen tons of pics. You’ve all probably seen a bunch in the store and held them up close and gotten drool on them. From a playing perspective, the color is not distracting. It’s dark enough to stay unobtrusive in bright sunlight…Even my playing partners, who aren’t into clubs at all…commented on it saying it looks cool.” Long live!

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Titleist 910

While there’s no disputing Titleist’s “Titleist Speed” era of drivers perform better than its 2010s offerings, sentimentality abounds, and there was something classically Titleist about these clubs, right down to the alignment aid, and the look is somewhere between 983 times and the present TS age. Representing a resurgence after a disappointing stretch of offerings (907, 909), The 910D2 was a fairly broadly appealing driver with its classic look at address and classic Titleist face shape.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

TaylorMade RocketBallz

The white crown. The name. You either loved ‘em or you hated ‘em. TaylorMade’s 2012 offering from its RocketBallz Period boasted speed-enhancing aerodynamics and an Inverted Cone Technology in the club’s titanium face. Technology aside, it’s impossible to overstate what a departure from the norm a white-headed driver was in the world of golf equipment.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Ping i20

Long a quietly assertive player in the driver space, Ping’s i20 was more broadly appealing than the G20, despite being a lower-launch, lower-spin club. Ping drivers didn’t always have looks that golfer’s considered traditional or classic, but the i20 driver bucked that trend. Combining the classic look with Ping’s engineering created a driver that better players really gravitated toward. The i20 offered players lower launch and lower spin for more penetrating ball flight while the rear 20g tungsten weights kept the head stable. Sound and feel were great also, being one of the more muted driver sounds Ping had created up to that time.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

GolfWRXers, let us know in the comments who “your fighter” is and why!

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/29/24): Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Krank Formula fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft.

From the seller: (@well01): “Krank formula fire 10.5 degree with AUtoflex SF505.  $560 shipped.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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