Don T. "Scotty" Cameron (born November 8, 1962) is an American golf club maker primarily known for marketing putters.
Cameron was born in Glendale, California. He later moved to Huntington Beach, where he attended Edison High School. Having started making putters in a machine shop owned by a friend of his father, he later setup his own workshop in his mother in law's garage. In 1986, he started his first job in the golf industry with Ray Cook Golf Company in general sales. When the president of Ray Cook changed Cameron from being paid a salary instead of commission, Cameron decided it was time to leave.
After parting ways with Ray Cook Golf he spent his time honing his machining skills and studying the putter designs of T.P. Mills and Karsten Solheim. It was not until 1991 that Cameron manufactured his first retail production putter. It was nicknamed the Fry's Pity Putter.[1] John Fry, the owner of Fry Golf in South San Francisco, CA. and Cameron were playing golf and Fry felt sorry for Cameron and agreed to place an order for 700 putters. As Fry had suspected, his generosity gave Cameron the confidence to begin his own business and was the launching pad for Scotty Cameron putters.
He then began making putters and selling his putters directly to some of the major golf equipment manufacturers, including Maxfli, Cleveland and finally in late 1991 or early 1992 exclusively for Mizuno. In late 1992 Cameron tried to get Mizuno to produce an Anser style head. When Mizuno turned down the idea Cameron and Mizuno parted ways. It was then, in Late 1992, that Cameron and his wife Kathy set up Cameron Golf International and began selling the Scotty Cameron Classic line of putters. In 1993, Bernhard Langer won the Masters Tournament using a Cameron[2] prototype Anser style putter that had been made when Cameron was making putters for Mizuno. This prototype was hand stamped Mizuno for the purpose of being included in the Darrell Survey. Even though Mizuno had decided against production of the prototype Anser head style, Mizuno was credited with the 1993 Masters Tournament win because the putter was stamped as a Mizuno model. Cameron used Bernhard Langer's Masters Tournament win to jump start Camerons' new company, Cameron Golf International (1993–1994) and this head style (the prototype Mizuno Anser used by Bernhard Langer) became the Classic I.
In 1994, after an initial phone call during The Players Championship, Cameron met with Wally Uihlein, the CEO of Acushnet Company, Titleist's parent company and a subsidiary of Fortune Brands. In August 1994, Titleist opened their bank account and fought off competition from five other companies to contract with Cameron and acquired the legal rights to the Scotty Cameron name.[2] Since then, with the financial backing of Acushnet, the Scotty Cameron brand has grown to be one of the leading names in golf.[3]
Acushnet has since purchased all the rights to the Scotty Cameron brand and the focus of Cameron's work is now centered on marketing the products that Acushnet/Titleist contract to have manufactured by third parties with name Scotty Cameron on them, in addition to doing specially commissioned work for tour professionals.
Putter heads for Titleist's Scotty Cameron brand were manufactured by X-cel Golf/Bettinardi between 1993 and 1997. Slivnik Machining Inc., who with Scotty Cameron jointly hold the patent on the Tei3 putter,[4] and K-Tech Machine Inc.[5] have also made putters for the brand.
The Scotty Cameron brand becomes a subsidiary of Fila Korea. May 20, 2011 - Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO) announced a definitive agreement for the sale of its Acushnet Company golf business, including the Scotty Cameron brand, to a group led by Fila Korea Ltd., the owner of the Fila brand globally, and Mirae Asset Private Equity, the largest private equity firm in Korea. The purchase price is $1.225 billion in cash.[6] According to Gene Yoon, chairman of Fila Korea, the acquisition provides them with well known brands to sell in emerging markets in Asia.[7]
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Tiger Woods used a Scotty Cameron copy of a Ping Anser 2 for the majority of his career and during 13 of his 14 major championships(he used a different Scotty Cameron putter in his 1997 Masters victory). It is made similarly to his original Ping which he grew up playing. It is made of 303 German Stainless Steel. Another identical putter has never been able to take the place of Woods' current putter, even with Cameron making 3 to 4 'backup' putters a year. These are never used and typically given away as mementos. German Stainless Steel is a stainless steel from Germany and Acushnet Corporation (Titleist's parent company) holds a Trademark (Serial Number: 78380445 08-Mar-2004) on the term GSS which denotes German Stainless Steel. Woods's putter is 35.25", D7 swingweight and approximately 326 grams. It has a single sight dot and a red "cherry dot" on both the face and in the back cavity. The putter also has a blank sole and has "Tiger" on the left bumper and "Woods" on the right bumper. Tiger uses a Ping grip on his putter. Woods has used a Scotty Cameron putter for all of his professional golf victories and his current putter was first put into play in July 1999. A number of other professional golfers use Scotty Camerons including those that are on staff of many other major golf companies (Nike, Taylormade, Callaway, etc.).[8]
Since 1993 more than 100 worldwide tournaments and about 1/3 (Tiger Woods has won almost 1/2 of these with his current putter) of the four majors have been won by a player using a Scotty Cameron putter. In 1996, The Scotty Cameron brand won its first putter count on Tour via the Darrell Survey [9] Scotty Cameron putters rank second in wins in the modern era, behind Ping.[10]
| Year | Product information |
|---|---|
| 1992 | Scotty Cameron designed putters for Mizuno. Four production models were designed for the U.S. market: the M-100, M-200, M-300 and M-400. These were copies of TP Mills designs and the Taylor Made TPA XVIII |
| 1993 | First line of Scotty Cameron putters released by Cameron Golf International, referred to as the Classics. These were one piece milled putters manufactured by Bettinardi. |
| 1994 | Second line of Scotty Cameron putters released by Cameron Golf International, referred to as the Scottsman series. These were two piece milled putters sold at a lower price point. |
| 1995 | First line of Scotty Cameron by Titleist putters released, with all models taking their names from locations in California: Newport, Catalina, Coronado, Del Mar, La Costa, Laguna,and Napa. Santa Fe, Newport 2 and Sonoma models were added in 1996. |
| 1996 | Santa Fe, Newport 2 and Sonoma models were added. |
| 1997 | Teryllium series was introduced, featuring an alloy face insert. Three models were initially released: Newport, Newport 2 and Santa Fe. |
| 1998 | Oil Can Classics, a revision of the Classics product line was released with a new oil can finish. Teryllium Del Mar 2, and “Long Neck” versions of the Newport and Newport 2 were released. |
| 1999 | The second generation Teryllium II series was launched, with a polymer cushion added behind face insert to soften the feel. Pro Platinum series was introduced, featuring a non-glare finish, and available in four models: Newport mid-slant, Del Mar 3, Laguna 2, and Sonoma 2 mid-slant. |
| 2000 | The Oil Can Classics series was discontinued. Mil-Spec Newport putter was released, featuring different length, weight, and lie angle options to allow for custom fitting. |
| 2001 | Studio Design series was introduced, featuring a classic blade-style design, and were the first Cameron/Titleist putters missing the familiar California names. There were four models: 1, 1.5, 2 and 3. Bulls Eye, Cameron's interpretation of the classic design in a “pro platinum” finish, was released with two models options: flange and non-flange. |
| 2002 | The Teryllium II series was discontinued. Studio Stainless series was introduced. They were milled from 303 stainless steel and available in four models: Newport, Newport 2, Newport 2.5 and Newport Beach. |
| 2003 | The Pro Platinum series was discontinued. Futura model was introduced with a radically different design from anything Cameron had produced in the past, and available in standard and mid (44” long) models. |
| 2004 | Red X, mallet-style, series was introduced, featuring a high-grade stainless steel face insert intended to enhance feel. |
| 2005 | The Studio Stainless series was discontinued. Studio Style series was introduced, mimicking the appearance of the Studio Stainless while incorporating the insert technology of the Red X. This series featured four models: Newport, Newport 1.5, Newport 2, Newport 2.5. The Futura series was renamed Futura Phantom and its appearance updated, with two mallet-style putters added to the line. |
| 2006 | Circa ’62 series, referring the year TP Mills started making putters, was introduced, featuring a classic design similar to that of the Studio Design series, with models named in the same numeric fashion (1,2,3 & 5). Red X Mid (43”) and Long (48”) models were added. Detour model was introduced featuring a very unconventional design. Napa Valley limited edition was released, with 2006 pieces (1,800 right-hand and 206 left-hand) available. |
| 2007 | The Circa ’62model line was updated with a new “Charcoal Mist” finish, and the number 5 model was replaced with the 6. The Red X series had two new models introduced that did not feature the face insert of the originals. The Detour series was adapted for use in two “conventional” putter models: Newport and Newport 2.5. Teryllium Ten (T10) limited edition was released, featuring a brilliant black pearl finish, stepless chrome shafts, and a hand-stitched leather grip. There were 2007 pieces available in each of the Newport 2, and Newport 2.5 models. Catalina Classic limited edition is released with 2007 pieces available. |
| 2008 | The Studio Style series was discontinued. Studio Select series was introduced. An update to the studio style, it had a higher toe designed to prevent pulling putts to the left, factory adjustable weights near the heel and the toe, a solid stainless face and the tour "cherry bombs" on the back and on the head cover. It was available in Newport, Newport 1.5, Newport 2 and Newport 2 midslant models. Button Back Newport and Button Back Newport 2, similar to the Studio Select line but with a copper insert in the face, was introduced. It was available in limited quantities of 4000 each world wide. Cameron introduced what he called one of his "finest creations", the Damascus 009.[11] |
| 2009 | Studio Select Kombi, Studio Select Kombi Mid and Studio Select Kombi Long, all mallet style, were added to the Studio Select series. The "California" Series was released, bringing back older models Del Mar, Coronado, Sonoma, Monterey in a honey dipped finish with interchangeable weights similar to the "Studio Select" line. The "Napa California" was also released in a Gun Blue finish and a leather headcover. It was the first limited edition putter to feature the "Pittard's" leather stitchback grip, with 3,500 made (3,250 right-hand and 250 left-hand) available. |