It’s also a place to have some fun discussing putters and related issues, providing solutions for putter therapy and rehab, a forum for guest contributors and tips. Tip #1- relax your grip. You play better with a relaxed grip. Really.
This isn't for everybody....I don't want it to be. It is for the few golfers and putter aficionados who can appreciate something special and unique.
The Origin and Concept
The idea first came out of the fog in about 2018 when I was musing about old golf clubs and how they were made. I grew up hitting a wood shaft long iron with leather grip (maybe a mashie or niblick?). Wood shaft putters were common (Otey Crisman). I played a set of Spalding Top Flight persimmon woods. So we had wood heads and wood shafts but I had never seen or heard of an all wood club of any kind.
The All Wood Putter Idea Was Hatched as a Curiosity.
It soon became the “ONE-PIECE ALL WOOD PUTTER” which added qualities to the original idea. Now it was more than a putter. It was also a wood sculpture…and as a solid piece of wood it retained the “connected energy flow” that was not possible with disparate materials that were pieced together to form traditional putters. It had no inserts, screws, various metals or grip… this idea was coming together as something interesting, serious and funny all at the same time. I liked it. Now I just needed to learn how to make it!
Part of the reason for this project is my interest in putters and wood. Part is my resistance and rejection to our obsession with technology where it isn’t needed or useful. “Old Knowledge” in every field learned slowly over generations is quickly discarded. Part of the reason is the need for us to have more FUN and not be so serious all the time. The DATO putter is COOL and FUN. It takes you back to essence … feel … intuition.
That is what putting is! ... Not super precise specifications
Fact is, no matter how nicely designed and constructed your very high quality traditional putters are, they are made up of a variety of “dead materials” as opposed to the energy continuity possible in a piece of solid wood. Don’t misunderstand, I have a shop full of everything from old Bullseye, Ray Cook, Odyssey, Scotty Cameron, Ping, Bertanardi and a really nice custom made putter that Lumpy (Xenon) made me. All are great putters! But the one piece solid wood putter is “alive” with a special feel and sound impossible to achieve with traditional putters. It is akin to the special feel and sound of a solid maple bat hitting a baseball. The wood is “found” as a limb and is now repurposed, thus retaining its natural positive energy.
It is not made from lumber; not bought or processed. No living tree was harmed and it is not kiln dried. DATO putters are hand crafted with care, tool marks remain visible. Each putter can be personalized and comes with a custom made leather case and head cover. Like I said, this isn’t for everybody. I can feel and appreciate the difference. Maybe you can too! Each piece offers unique opportunity and challenge to achieve specifications that are correct for a great putter.
DATO putterTM Features
The one piece all wood construction allows for “connected energy flow” from the face of the putter through the hands to maximize feel. I think this constitutes a “truer” feedback on ball contact.
- The Baseball style knob handle allows for a lighter hold on the putter while having a more secure grip.
- The putter has a “counterbalanced” weight distribution due to weight in the shaft/grip, improving the overall feel.
- Length, loft, weight are within standard ranges and vary with personal preference
- Lie angle. All these putters have a cambered sole which gives flexibility to the preferred lie angle.
- The rectangular grip helps keep face square to line by keeping hands from torquing.
- All DATO putters are hand crafted one at a time from “found” wood sourced in Texas
- All DATO putters come with a custom made leather case and headcover that can be personalized. The #8 leather case has an inner lining of softer pgskin to protect the wood. The pigskin leather headcover secures with a magnet. Personalized ball markers are included.
DATO putterTM currently available as of 9/7/25
Serial #
Materials
Price
004
Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
$1,200
007
Mesquite
$1,200
008
Mesquite
$1,500
010
Mesquite
$1,200
012
Mesquite
$1,500
014
Texas Ebony (Pithecellobium ebano)
$2,700
015
Mesquite
$1,500
017
Mesquite
$2,100
019
Texas Ebony
$2,700
Serial #
Materials
004
Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) - $1,200
007
Mesquite - $1,200
008
Mesquite - $1500
010
Mesquite - $1,200
012
Mesquite - $1,500
014
Texas Ebony (Pithecellobium ebano) - $2,700
015
Mesquite - $1,500
017
Mesquite - $2,100
019
Texas Ebony - $2,700
Putting & Putters
Putting is a part of golf but so different than the rest of the game it could be its own sport….according to Professor Gu, “it should be its own sport and be completely left out of golf”. I asked how that might work?
He replied that when you hit your approach onto the green you simply add 1 stroke and move to the next tee box. Simple. It would really speed up the game, improve your score and reduce your stress all at the same time. Actually, I kind of like the idea.
What makes a “good putter” (club)?
It is a putter that looks good to the eye, feels good in the hands, sounds good to the ear and has a sight line so you can see where you are aiming and a consistency you can trust. It is your favorite club that you trust and have confidence in. Confidence is essential to being a good putter. The one piece solid wood DATO putter has those qualities and will instill confidence and pride!
What makes a “good putter” (golfer)?
It helps to have some hand/eye coordination. That is a big limiting factor that can only be partially overcome with good fundamentals and lots of practice.
Good fundamentals- square set up with ball near center of stance, balanced weight flexed knees, eye over ball (now this can be complicated with dominant eye issues and offsets, so more later on this), thumbs on top of shaft, soft grip, straight back and through swing with pendulum rhythm (or if you have the skill of a Ben Crenshaw use the open/close gate method), keep eye on contact point at back of ball. Do not move your head or sway, be still through stroke! Be Adept at reading slope, speed, grain and perhaps wind before addressing ball. Practice fundamentals, make putts, build confidence, Repeat. Remember you can’t make it go in but you can make a solid deliberate putt. Avoid defensive tentative strokes, jerks, jabs, yips. Putt like you mean it. Putt like you are trying to make it. On long puts pick the spot where you want to leave it so the next one is short uphill. Putt with confidence.
One more personal note. Unless it is the US Open, please don’t spend 7 minutes getting the line on the ball perfectly pointed to the hole and then walk around to other side of the hole and come back and reline the aim point. Just putt the damn thing! You aren’t going to make it anyway!
Other Considerations
The putter, being of a different breed than the other clubs in your bag, should NOT be in the bag. That can cause chaos, personality conflicts, jealousies, etc. It should rightfully be in its own bag, outside the big bag. The custom leather scabbard made for each DATO putter accomplishes this nicely. Whatever you do, don’t ever put 2 or more putters together anywhere! They talk. They will plot against you. A putter is special and a singular sensitive entity that requires extra care. It is kind of a nuisance really. They do get tired and fussy sometimes. They get sick and sometimes die. Sometimes they can make you sick and want to die. Sometimes they need therapy and if they are really bad…sometimes they need to die! They may even need killing! Fortunately, here at Putter Love, we have services designed to help with these needs.
Typically with “young or new” putters, they are unsophisticated and unsure of themselves. They just need some talk therapy. Encouragement! They often quickly recover and gain their full potential. Older meaner putters may truly be sick, damaged or just plum wore out. Mechanical flaws such as a bent shaft from?? (Don’t tell me it fell out of the bag) or worn grip can easily be fixed by your club repair shop. If the problem goes deeper than that, we may try some advanced treatments such as “DARK” therapy. We will wrap the putter in black cloth, put the putter in a place (alone, of course) that is. completely deprived of light for 72 hours at a temperature of 72 degrees.
Or we could use “COLD” therapy where we put the putter in a walk in freezer for 72 hours at 7.2 degrees. One of those treatments usually shocks the putter back to reality. However, if those advanced treatments are ineffective and the situation is truly dire, there is “WATER” therapy or “TREE” therapy. These are extreme and have no proven examples of actual success but have often been tried by untrained technicians likely on their own putters. As you might have guessed these treatments involve flinging the putter into a nearby pond or tree. These techniques are usually reserved for “end of life” divorces with putters when all trust is broken and it is truly the end of the romance.
Honestly, it is better if it doesn’t come to this. It is preferable to see the end coming and gracefully retire the putter to a respectable place. Never put a putter in a closet, that is cruel and inappropriate, or even worse, a garage sale…that’s just insulting and embarrassing to the putter. Don’t even think about turning it into a garden tool! If you are really that mad at the putter, we do offer a disposal service that is more honorable. “BURIAL at SEA” is the most popular which involves rowing the canoe out to the middle of the lake and after a few appropriate words dropping the doomed putter into the bottom of the lake. You can add a personalized message if you like.
If you are really pissed, we can “GRIND and TORCH” the thing. This is quite brutal and rarely called for, only reserved for the worst repeat offenders …and almost never deserved. We here at Putter Love are constantly seeking out new better therapies so that your putter can have a long productive life. Any breakthrough techniques that you have seen work will be greatly appreciated and I ask that you share them on this website.
More on similarities with baseball and putting… and horses. A new putter can be like a young cocky pitcher coming into the bigs. Those fastballs that used to fly by the AAA hitters are now flying out of the ballpark and the young pitcher can lose his confidence and his nerve. That new putter with great design and construction comes in all confident after making all those putts on the Edwin Watts artificial grass from 20 feet and now it can’t seem to find the hole on the 3 footers and it 3 putts everything outside 30 feet…it loses that brashness and gets tentative and yippy.
The DATO putter utilizes the baseball bat style grip with a “knob” at the end like the baseball bat. This promotes a more secure hold on the club while allowing for a very light touch for more precise feel.
Years ago, when I was at the height of my psycho putting period, I sometimes carried 3-5 putters in the bag. I realized at the time that ThIS IS cRaZY….but I did have a plan….again, like in baseball.
I had a “starting putter” and sometimes it could go a whole game (round) but more than likely I was going to go to my “long reliever” somewhere in mid round and then to my “closer” late in the round. That usually worked but sometimes my “closer” got hit around a bit and I had to go to the “putter on the end of the bench” just to limp to the end….. You think HEADCOVERS are to protect the putter? Ha! Silly you. No, they are there so the putter can’t see anything and get scared…. Just like those blinders they put on racehorses. Same thing.