Equipment

Thinking of buying a new putter? Why you might want to try refinishing instead

Published

4 years ago

Sep 6, 2022

As you know, a new Scotty Cameron Studio Select or Phantom X is gonna run you $430-plus. Want something more? The new Jet Set series going to run $650 retail (if you can find one) and likely almost double that on secondary markets. Not prepared to spend that kind of money? Not in love with the Studio or Phantom X lines? Here are some ideas on finding a gamer that will not only impress your playing partners but be easier on the wallet.

Head to Facebook for something to refinish

On Facebook there are a plethora of forums which sell used golf equipment. People post a variety of equipment including a lot of putters. For this piece, I found Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless 2.5 (2002) for the amazing price of $150. The putter had some heavy wear and may or may not also previously been used as a hammer.

I then enlisted my friend Josh at LabWorx in Waco, Texas, to “refinish the putter.” For $135, the team at LabWorx allows you to pick from 12 proprietary finishes which I have found to be executional durable, give your input, and transform the putter into something like this:

Josh, the founder at LabWorx notes, “At the heart of our business is the Armor Technology. The Gen X has been developed over the last two years and is trusted by over 10 OEMs (one of the big four) as well as 800 putters and 2,000 shafts on tour.” In my own experience, I have a putter from three years ago that Josh refinished and I often get people asking me if it’s new.

I am not sure the pictures do this putter justice; the crew at LabWorx transformed it into what looks like new.

Breakdown

Putter: $150
Refinish: $135
Black KBS putter shaft: $40
Golf Pride grip: $10

Total cost: $335

Trade in/trade up

Recently I noticed that several online retailers were offering a 50 percent bonus on trade-ins. This included golf balls. As a world-class ball hawk, I went into the garage, found a couple hundred balls, a smorgasbord of wedges with heavy hosel wear and a Ping G30. In total I got about $200 that I used to buy a Scotty Cameron Detour for $250 ($50 out of pocket).

I again sent the club to Josh and had him add a custom weld neck. In this process a new hosel is added. These style of putter have grown in popularity and offer a distinct look which is sure to grab the attention of your playing partners. Then added a KBS putter shaft, selling the shaft and grip.

Breakdown:

$50 putter
$165 weld neck
$40 KBS putter shaft
$125 insert
$10 grip
-$30 from selling the grip/shaft

Total cost: $340

Bettinardi

While a lot of people are obsessed with Scotty, I have a deep passion for Bettinardi. Bob Bettinardi invented the one piece milled technology that changed the game of golf in 1991. This process has been adopted by all of the major putter manufacturers as well as most boutique putter companies that popped up in the last five years.

On the secondary market, it is not impossible to find a 2018 BB Series putter with a milled face for $150 or less with 2022 models not more than $200. These putters feel fantastic because they are made from one block of 303 stainless steel and have milled faces. They also come in a variety of head shapes.

When looking at putters, keep in mind Bettinardi offers three stock face millings that range from the very soft feel of patented Roll Control face milling, the Aggressive Flymill, which is a medium feeling face, to their original Honeycomb face, which comes off the face faster.

Breakdown:

Putter: $120
Sold the shaft with label: $40
Head cover: $40
Added an all-back KBS putter shaft: $40
Regripped: $10

For a reasonable price, I got a very solid gamer than has become a favorite among my rotation.

I have used KBS putter shafts because I think that, bang for the buck, they are hard to beat. You can find them for about $29.99 and I think they are a tremendous value with outstanding technology. The black ones look amazing too!

In the secondary market, my guess is that these putters are worth about $400 to $650 respectively, making them great investments. They are also sure to get me tons of compliments from my playing partners. Now the tough choice is which to game? And when I hit 15 greens and shoot 79, at least I will look lit.

What have you done? What are you gaming on the greens these days?

Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

7 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.