The Project
I recently reviewed the Scotty Cameron 2016 Select Newport putter, and I wasn’t all that impressed, but man…what a blank canvas these putters are. After seeing some of the Tour versions of this putter, and seeing how many different pieces there were, I had a million different ideas if I ever got to customize one. Well it turned out that our own Thomas J. O’Connell decided to cash out of the Tour Scotty game, but he still wanted a unique one-off putter to set himself apart from the rest of golfers on the course. Somehow, I let this guy sweet talk me into customizing his First of 500 2016 Select Newport. Like most internet golf nerds (a title Tom wears proudly), Tom is in love with the tie-dye torch look of blues, purples, gold, and bronze so that’s what he asked me to do.
Tear Down
As I said in my review of this Newport, the feel was pretty dead. Not soft, dead. Tom agreed, so he was all for adding a little more click to the putter. When I removed the face “inlay” by removing the four screws seen in the cavity, applying a little heat, and using a metal pick to push it out, I exposed the 3M double stick tape they apply between the two layers. This material is pretty worthless and would not be returning to the putter.
Next, I removed the rubber O rings from the weights, threw all the hardware in some acetone and let it sit to remove the paint and eat away at the tape and residue. Some of the paint was a little more stubborn than typical, but it all came out eventually with a little help from the trusty metal pick.
Sanding
This putter was mint, but since Tom wanted a lot of blues and purples I had to put a nice high polish on the putter. One could argue that you could do that from the stock bead blast finish, but I wanted to prep the metal as much as possible before buffing. I started with 100 grit sandpaper, moved on 220, then did a 220 grit wet sand, a 400 grit wet sand, 800 grit wet sand, and then a 1000 wet grit sand. Below is the final product.
Polishing
With the putter now being sanded down, buffing to a high polish wouldn’t be that difficult. I used a buffing wheel and dremel with green polishing compound to get a mirror finish. This mirror finish is key to making your colors pop after torching. If you don’t polish, they just don’t look as good and get cloudy. Below are pictures with the mirror finish. For my money, you could also stop at this stage.
Final Finish
Tom wanted the blues and purples, but I encouraged him to leave the face and weights bonze-ish. After doing the usual dish soap and degreaser prep work, I put a considerable amount of time into torching this putter. I did the weights and face by just setting them on a vice and blasting them with a torch. They took about ten minutes total. One theory is that if you don’t let the metal cool on its own and dunk it in water instead, the metal reacts different and you get a “clickier” end result. Considering Tom was looking for that, and I also didn’t want to risk anymore color change as the parts sat cooling off, I dropped the face in a bucket of water to cool.
Next was the putter head. Man, when that thing got true bronze with a few hues of purple in that high-polish finish, it was FILTHY! I opted to leave the neck golden/bronze and was sad to not be able to leave the whole putter that color. I guess it’s just my personal taste. After heating this thing to beyond belief, red hot in some cases, I dunked the head in water and was finished.
After seeing the putter done and in different lights, it was obvious to me that it would have been a disservice to fill in the bombs on the cavity, so I left those empty. Tom is partial to lime green so I just did all the paint in white and lime green, threw the putter back together, and Tom was in business. So far the feedback is that the face has a bit more click and more life to it, so we succeeded there. By all reports, Tom is happy with the putter.
The Finished Product
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-11
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-13
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-14
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-15
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-16
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-17
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-18
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-19
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-20
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-21
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-22
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-23
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-24
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-25
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-26
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-27
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-28
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-29
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-30
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-31
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-32
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-33
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-35
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-36
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-37
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-38
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-39
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-40
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-41
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-42
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-43
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-44
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-45
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-46
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-47
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-48
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-49
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-50
Scotty-Cameron-Select-Newport-51
Bill plays Scott Readman Concepts putters and accessories.
- Puma Ignite PWRADAPT Golf Shoes Review - March 22, 2018
- TaylorMade M3 Driver Review - March 14, 2018
- TaylorMade M4 Driver Review - March 5, 2018
Wow, this looks fantastic! You should get a side business going…you’d certainly have onne customer!
I appreciate it, but no thanks! To do that as a business would take up a TON of time. This putter alone took me damn near forever.
Hey mate love the putter, I’m currently doing a similar project on my gamer..
Just wanted to ask if you glass bead blasted the weights and insert before torching.
I plan to bronze the weights and insert only can I do it with the stock finish?
Thanks mate keep up the good work!!
I didn’t do anything but clean degrease.
An unreal job, wow. I would just like to ask. Do you just use a normal octane torch? And before torching you you need to prepp it with anything? Lastly after torching it what needs to be done to the metal to keep it as is? Once you torched it the first time that finish you got is what I would like to achieve, just not sure what to do before and after?
Fortunately I have what you’re looking for a few clicks away. Take a look here.
That looks awesome Bill. Tommy is a lucky guy.
Thanks, Meeks!
Looks fantastic!
It looks great. What is the face material and body made out of stainless steel? I was wondering if they are different materials. I guess I don’t see the point on an inset unless they are different metals.
I have an old RIFE 450 silencer that is the softest putter I have ever had without an insert and it rolls great on top of that. Not that softness in everything but great feedback is to me.
Both stainless on this one. Have to try and decide what you buy into from Scotty to decide if there’s a good reason for it.
What did you use to put the face back together? More 3m tape? Thanks
Just the four screws in the cavity.
What kind of feel is it now? Thank you.
Found in the “Final Finish” section:
So you just sanded it polished it and then torched it? Looks amazing!!!
Correct. Thank you.
Hi, I just bought mine and just now saw I’m missing one of the screws for the plate. Do you know where I could find one? Thank you.
I can’t speak from experience, but I know people have gone to hardware stores and found replacement screws for previous Scotty putters. I imagine you could do the same with these. Worst case, contact Titleist or a local Titleist dealer and see what they can do for you.
Best,
Bill
What kind of torch did you use? Does the degreaser contribute to the finish or is it all off the putter by the time of torching.
Propane.
The degreaser is just for grease and oil removal. You want it clean and dry before torching.
I want to know why you didn’t use an oil quince? And for brilliant blues and violets I suggest using two map torches so you can evenly heat the putter from both sides. I do this for a living but soon I’m prototyping with my new shop where I have a 5 axis mill, 2 water jets and several lasers and other mills for fabrication purposes. You can have a lot of fun doing this but you need to learn the process completely and find a good PVD company to support your colorful finishes.
I just bought a used Futura 5s and it has some bag chatter so I’m gonna sand it and I would like to torch it. Do you remember how long it took you to torch it for that color?
Totally depends on a wide range of variables such as what kind of torch you use and how cold it is wherever you do it. I don’t remember how long it took me.
This by far is the coolest putter I have ever seen. Did you sand this all by hand? How did you get into the small spots? I am going to do this to my own putter and trying to get a little more info so I don’t mess mine up. Did you do anything to the face, beside the insert you took off?
Drew,
Unfortunately, Bill is not writing for PIG at this time and can’t answer your question. Good luck with your work.
Best,
Matt
Interested in removing the tape as well. Are the screws aluminum? We’re they easy to remove?
JP,
Unfortunately, Bill no longer writes for PluggedInGolf and thus cannot answer your question.
Best,
Matt
Great job on the putter sir; I recently acquired one of those putters, love anser shape and this one to me is fantastic, to bring more life the sound all I have to do is remove the 3m tape correct? Thanks
Tavo,
Unfortunately, Bill no longer writes for Plugged In Golf and thus cannot answer your question.
Best,
Matt
Looks great, trying to remove the face off my M2 Newport but struggling to find an allen key that fits the 4 screws, can anyone let me know what size these are as I have tried imperial and metric at the moment, feel like they could be 1.4mm but can’t get hold of this size anywhere.
Kind regards,
Alan