Bag Chatter is a series of interviews that spotlights brands around the golf industry and the people behind them. We’re looking to make this a regular thing, so please comment and share through your medium of choice. If you have a brand and are interested in participating in these interviews, you can email [email protected] for consideration. This interview is with Gary Hunter (pictured left below) and Ian Raybon of Raybon Putters.

If someone reading this has never heard of you, how would you describe your company and what you do? 

We are located on the Isle of Man, which is in between England and Ireland. Basically, how the whole thing started was Ian decided to make his own putter and Gary was so impressed he asked Ian to make him one. As Ian was making it, it dawned on us that we could personalize it however Gary wanted and we just thought, “Of course other people would want that!” With that being our driving force, we started an Instagram page in October 2016 to gauge interest and everything went really well. We opened our doors on Masters weekend just this year (2017). Gary is a former PGA Professional and Ian is an engineer for an American-based company called Swagelok. At the moment, it’s just the two of us here.

Why, in your opinion, would someone buy a Raybon putter over one of the other hundreds of putter manufacturers? What do you think sets your products apart? There’s a ton of putter makers out there. What makes you different?

The vast majority of the other putter manufacturers are just cranking out hundreds of putters of exactly the same type from a factory. It’s a one-size-fits-all thing that they’re putting into the marketplace, but not everyone needs a size-9 shoe, you know? So where we vary is that every putter we make is completely unique and customized for the specific golfer. The online design suite on our website really walks you through all of the steps to arrive at the perfect putter for you. Also, it’s just the two of us here, so when you place an order, you will have Gary handling the details of your order and Ian himself will make the putter. We don’t subcontract anything out, so the guy whose name is on the putter will be the one fabricating it. We also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. A customer can buy a putter from us and use it for 30 days on their home course, in their own conditions, and decide whether or not it’s right for them. Lastly, a custom putter from us to the USA is $440 shipped with headcover and certificate of authenticity. It also includes a photo album of your SPECIFIC putter being made. It allows you to see YOUR putter taking shape. There’s no one out there doing what we do to this level of customization at this price point.

How do you recommend an amateur know everything they want as far as specifications go? For some people it’s easy, but for others it can be overwhelming.

For starters, Gary’s little head pops up in the corner of the website in case you need help. If you send a message, it goes straight to his phone. We also have something new that we’re looking to roll out at the moment. We recently had a demo day and we took about 15-16 putters with us. The weather was terrible, so the turnout wasn’t great, but the big thing we learned was that was nowhere near enough putters to take to a demo day. There’s just so many possible combinations out there and we weren’t doing our product justice. We’ve now developed a modular system that can combine different heads, hosels, shaft lengths, etc. that just screw together to help with the fitting process. The goal is to get those out to certified Raybon fitters around the world. If you’re interested in buying a Raybon putter and there’s not a fitter near you, send us an email and start a conversation. Tell us what you currently play and like because that would help a lot. It tells us a lot about your stroke path, loft, lie, etc. We want you to be happy and we are definitely here to help.

Raybon’s order board, raw materials, and putter components in various stages of the fabrication process

How did this all start for you? Is this something you already knew how to do? Did you take this up as a hobby?

Ian made his first putter in 2015 with no experience prior to that. The only reason he knew how to do that was looking through forums on GolfWRX. He made a thread on there, which actually still may be on the site if you dig deep enough. Ian learned a lot with that endeavor. The putter looked good, but the quality and playability wasn’t anywhere near what we’re able to achieve today. That putter was essentially the starting point. After that, the second putter he made was the one Gary noticed in 2016 that started this whole thing.

I’m sure there’s more to it than merely being a good looking putter. Is there any technology in your putters that set them apart in terms of performance? Materials? Milling process?

I would have to start with the consistency of our CNC machine. We are able to put a very high level of quality and consistency into our product. We can control the depth of the face milling per customer request. We can have just about any putter head matched up with every hosel as well, which helps tremendously with customization. Also, we think most putter manufacturers are making putter heads too light at 350-360 grams. Our putters will vary depending upon the model and material you select, but most will wind up in the neighborhood of 370-400 grams.

Tell me about when you first started playing golf. When and how did the game grab ahold of you?

Gary’s granddad gave him a set of mismatched bladed irons and persimmon woods when he was a kid and that started his love affair with the game at a very young age. Ian started playing as a junior, and at the time Gary was working in the local pro shop and wanting to be a PGA pro, so that’s where our friendship started as well.

Custom, bespoke Raybon Putter crafted per customer specifications

Do you have a favorite club you’ve ever owned? Anything stay in your bag for a ridiculously long time?

Of course! A Raybon Putter! Ian loves just about anything Cleveland/Srixon. Ian also had a Teryllium insert Scotty Cameron Newport long neck that stuck around for a very long time, partly because he took impeccably great care of it. Gary owned a Mizuno Anser-style putter for quite a few years as well.

What are some of your favorite golf courses on each side of the pond? Have you been able to play much golf over here?

Stoke by Nayland in Essex is one of our favorite courses. It has held a European senior tour event and is regularly used as one of the qualifying courses for The Open Championship. Just a great course. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the chance to play a great deal of golf in the States, but we’d love to.

Your online putter designer is pretty darn cool and hours of fun. How long did it take you to develop that? What was that process like? Is there anything you’re thinking of adding to it?

We secured an investment to start this business in January of 2017 and that’s when we spoke to a web designer about creating the design suite. It took a good three months, so it was ready just about the minute we opened the doors. The thing that took the longest, though, was getting our CNC machine in place and all the right fixturing and things of that nature to ensure we were going to make a quality product.

Ian Raybon in the design phase of a lucky customer’s perfect putter.

If you had access to a time machine, where would you go and what would you see? Doesn’t have to be golf related at all.

I’d start Raybon putters 100 years earlier and get ahead of the competition!

Your company is doing great things, but it’s still in its infancy. I’m assuming you’re getting some guidance along the way, but even if not, you guys are definitely doing some things right. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten in golf, business, or just life in general?

What do you guys have in the works? Any products you’d like to tease? Tell people how to find you on social media, etc.

As far as social media goes, we are definitely most active on Instagram. @raybonputters is our handle on there. Our website is raybonputters.com and we would definitely recommend people go there to check out our lineup and play with our online design suite. There’s a wide array of options out there for you to arrive at exactly the right putter for you. As we said, though, we’re here to help and we absolutely want you to be satisfied with your putter, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we’ll start a conversation about how to create your perfect putter.