Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2022 - 13

" I wanted to
make a cool
club, but also
something very
functional. "
-Larry Bobka
Bobka says he doesn't go in for a lot of flash, especially when
it comes to graphics. " I'm a blades and persimmon wood kind
of guy, " he says. His most difficult decision was what to include
graphically. The putter head originally included a lot of graphics
but that didn't fit the custom design.
" Simon said it looked like a production putter, like everybody
else's putter, and I agreed, " Bobka says. " It looked cool, but it
didn't look custom enough. It looked a little too manufactured,
so I pulled off all the graphics. Except it says, " Meridian Milled "
on the sole because I wanted to give those guys credit for such a
great job milling it. "
The first release of nine carbon steel putters came out in
March and sold out in 24 hours. At press time, there was a second
limited release of a stainless-steel version planned for May.
From there, 2nd
Swing will decide whether to produce more. In
the meantime, Bobka is back at the design table working on
some new wedges-expect a limited release of custom models
without a lot of flash that work well on the course.
" I wanted to make it simple and very easy, " Bobka says of the
neck in a little bit, making it a little taller to feel a bit more solid. "
Bobka set the loft of the putter at 3°, which he says allows the
user to deloft the putter some at impact for solid strikes.
" If you look at my history of working with Phil Rogers, the
great short game guru, he always wanted your hands slightly
ahead of the putter head at impact, " Bobka says. A loft between
1° and 2° is the perfect launch for a putter-it gives you a slightly
positive shaft angle and just delofts the putter slightly at impact
and creates the perfect roll. The loft design was based on everything
I teach from a putting standpoint. "
If a golfer prefers more or less than 3° loft, the BOBKA can be
bent to accommodate them. The weight of the carbon steel putter
head is 355 grams.
" It's kind of in-between what's out there, " Bobka says of the
weight. " There are a lot of 380-gram putters right now and there
are some 330s and 340s. I like the weight to be where you feel like
there's some heft to the putter, but you don't want to feel like the
putter is swinging you. "
A Minimalist Design
For alignment features, Bobka created a minimalist design, eliminating
a lot of extraneous flash and eschewing alignment lines altogether.
" It only has a sight dot; there are no lines on the putter, " Bobka
says. " Lines, for most people, can influence them too much.
Originally, I was going to make it without even a dot, but I want
people to focus on hitting on the center of the putter. So, I put sight
dot in the center of the sweet spot where you're going to strike it. "
Bobka tapped an old colleague at KBS Shafts for a shaft that he
could tip for the best feel. Then he called his childhood friend,
Bob Lampkin, Jr., now the CEO of Lampkin Grips, for a plain,
black grip that he says Tiger Woods likes to use.
" We put in a shaft that offers solid feel at impact and put a grip
on it to position your hands the way I like to teach people to put
their hands on the putter, " Bobka says.
mngolf.org
Summer 2022 MINNESOTAGOLFER
13
BOBKA putter. " To me, it's more of an implement rather than
working to put this line or that mark on it so 'it's really cool.' I
don't have to do that. I'm not Odyssey or Cameron or anybody
else; I'm not trying to sell 50,000 or 100,000 putters. These are
just limited-edition putters for people to go out and play really
good golf with. I've tried to put as much as possible into the
design that will make you putt better. "
Larry Bobka is a master clubfitter at 2nd Swing in Minnetonka.
He has 45 years as a clubfitter, clubmaker and short-game instructor.
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2022

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