Equipment

Austin Eckroat explains his one-of-a-kind putter modification

Published

2 months ago

Apr 2, 2026

A pronounced tri-sole has long been a tried-and-tested putter design feature. Think Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 or the Ping 1966 TR Anser 2. We’ve also had golf club designs (non-putter) with guidance rails on the sole, such as the Cobra Baffler or T-Rail.

Combine the two, and you get Austin Eckroat’s one-of-one Ping Anser 2. Why? Well, it features two custom-welded rails on the sole of the putter, raising about a golf ball’s width of the center point of the face off the ground.

As the Oklahoma State University alum readied himself to take on TPC San Antonio, he was happy to share the method behind his madness.

“I wanted the club to sit on two points, especially our greens get baked out here,” Eckroat said. “If you ever put it on Bermuda greens and you go down to pick up your ball and the putter slides out from underneath you, the same thing happens when I’m over the ball. I set into it with one hand, so I set in with one hand, and I’d look at the hole and come down, and the club face is closed or whatever. So that was the first idea with it, was to get the putter just sit still and the two balance points really helps there.”

The other reason for Eckroat’s welded lines on the sole is to help where his hands sit in relation to his body and how it affects whether the putter is flat to the ground or biased to either heel or toe.

“I kind of play with handle position, not on purpose,” Eckroat continued. “It’s inconsistent day in, day out. With this, the putter builds my setup every day because it just sits down in the same spot every time and I don’t have to think about wherever the handle position is. … I mean, it’s been very nice and I’ve noticed my putting has been more consistent for sure.

The putter itself is 35 inches in length with 3 degrees of loft and a lie angle of 20.5 degrees. Eckroat uses the PP58 Tour L grip.

It’s not the first attempt Eckroat has made to customize the sole of his putter. Luckily, though, this time around, there’s no issue with the design.

“I tried using athletic tape,” Eckroat said with a smile. “I asked the rules official one time. I was like, ‘Hey, can I throw a piece of athletic tape on the bottom of my putter, what I do at home whenever our Bermuda greens get really dry?’ “He was like, ‘Oh yeah, it shouldn’t be an issue.’ Comes back the next morning, ‘Hey, do not put athletic tape on bottom of your putter. It has to be lead tape.’”

Since the addition, Eckroat has climbed from 15 spots in Strokes Gained: Putting, but at 120th in the standings, there’s still room for improvement. It seems that the putter Eckroat is using in Texas is only the beginning, and there’s already work being done for a second attempt with larger welded rails.

“This is the first proto, I guess you could call it, the next one is going to have bigger welds,” He added. “So this has done the trick, but I think I want it to be a little bit more pronounced and I think that’s on its way now and hopefully here it’s pretty soon.”

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

12 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

12 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

12 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”