A major piece of the golf industry is the refurbishing and customization of golf clubs. There is a massive niche market in putter restoration and customization and it can get pretty expensive. I decided to try and find a pretty beat putter and fix it up into something beautiful.
I went to Golf Galaxy near my house and found this used Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport in pretty beat up shape. The damage wasn’t so bad that it was beyond my means of fixing up, but bad enough that it would prove to be a tough endeavor.
The first thing I did was use a small file to work out all the deep dings and scratches. This picture shows a bulk of that phase. I proceeded to work out the bumps a little more after these pictures were taken.
After that initial phase, I went to a 220 grit sandpaper and wet sanded the putter down even more to smooth out the finish a step further. After that, I proceeded to use a 400 grit sandpaper and wet sanded the putter again to make it even smoother and cleaner.
Wet sanded with 800 grit. Starting to shine a little.
Last bit of wet sanding with 1000 grit paper.
After all the sanding, I used Brasso polisher, did some hand polishing, then some Dremel polishing, then more hand polishing and that about did it for the finish. The picture of the face is not completely polished in this picture. I didn’t really do anything to the face of this putter to avoid ruining the milling on the face.
Last but not least, the final product. Ok, not final, I’ve changed the paint on the flange line 3 or 4 times.
A slideshow to be able to browse straight through:
Bill Bush
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Great refinish. I’m thinking of buying a studio style newport 2 that’s a little beat up but is going for cheap to restore. Do you buy any chance take a video when doing this?
Thanks.
Hi Leo,
Thanks for stopping by and the kind words. I did not take a video, and for a couple of reasons. Primarily, I didn’t just sit down and work on this. It was very much done in passing. Also, I did it by hand so the video would have been pretty long and uninteresting. I dream of potentially doing some restore videos, but time is always the biggest adversary there.
Good luck on your project. Hope it turns out well and would love to see it when it’s done.
Bill
Hi, the putter looks great! What type of paint was used?
Thank you. I used Testor’s enamel.
Thanks I have the same putter and looking to do a little restoration work. Thanks for posting this!
Had the finish already been removed? If not how did you get the original satin finish off? Also after all the sanding and such did you put any type of new finish on? Wouldn’t leaving the raw steel on cause it to rust after a while?
I mentioned how all finishing work was done within the post. The “satin finish” is actually not an applied finish. It’s just roughed, or media blasted, steel. As far as rusting, this putter won’t rust (assuming kept taken care of reasonably well) because it is stainless steel. The Studio Stainless, Studio Style, Studio Select, ’12 Select, and ’14 Select have all been stainless putters. If it were carbon steel, you wouldn’t get the same high-polish finish and it would rust if you didn’t keep proper care.
Best,
Bill
Thanks a lot for the reply. I just bought the same putter which is why I was curious. Thanks again!
Hi Bill, I’m looking to do something similar to my same model putter. What did you do about the face? I’ve restored putters before but messing with the face and in this case insert are always a concern for me. Any tips would be appreciated!
Paul,
Unfortunately, Bill is not writing for PIG at this time.
Best,
Matt