Golf Magazine Innovator Awards 2007
4 of 12
The Inventor
TIMOTHY WINEY, 41
Crafting a 'revolutionary' putter for a British Open champion
Torpedogolf.com
"I don't work for a big club company. I'm just a guy
in his basement who found a better way to make
a putter. I've studied how to make violins, instruments
that give you the kind of instant feedback
through sound and vibration not possible with
traditional putters. Your putter should be your
instrument, not just a stick with a weight on the
end. I consulted with top neurophysiologists,
then placed a brass fixture halfway up the shaft.
Simply put, that tells your hands where they are
in relation to the putterhead, and by doing so
tricks your neuromuscular system into thinking
the putter is a foot long, and more controllable. I
call it the Torpedo, since you 'sink' more putts. It
opens the lines of communication between your
hands and the putterhead. Testers report an almost
clairvoyant ability to 'feel' the difference between,
say, a 40- and 41-footer. It's like hearing in stereo
instead of through a cup-and-string. Padraig
Harrington used my shaft at the [2007] Wachovia
when he had just 24 putts in the first round. Then
he used it to win the Irish Open and called it
'revolutionary.' He switched shafts at the British,
but I like to think that with the Torpedo, he
wouldn't have even needed the playoff to win."
