Quick Facts
Scorpio
Biography
Don T. "Scotty" Cameron (born November 8, 1962) is an American golf club maker primarily known for making putters for the Acushnet Company, which operates the Titleist brand of golf balls and clubs. The Scotty Cameron putter brand has been part of Titleist since 1994.
Personal life
Cameron was born in Glendale, California. He later moved to Fountain Valley, where he grew up, attending high school in nearby Huntington Beach Edison High School. He now lives in Carlsbad, California with his wife and two daughters.
Career and company
Cameron learned how to make putters with his father in the family's garage at an early age.
During the mid-90s, a number of CNC milling facilities around the country, including X-Cel Technologies in Chicago, provided milling services for Scotty Cameron.
In 1991, Cameron designed and manufactured putters and worked directly with select golf equipment manufacturers, including Maxfli, Cleveland and the Ray Cook Golf Company. During this year, he manufactured his first retail production putter, nicknamed the Fry's Pity Putter. Later that year, Cameron began producing putters exclusively for Mizuno.
In late 1992, 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 prototype putter. The win helped to jumpstart the Camerons' new company.
In August 1994, Titleist fought off competition from five other companies to contract with Cameron to make putters exclusively for the Acushnet Company. Since then, the Scotty Cameron brand has grown to be one of the leading names in golf.
In 1996, the first Scotty Cameron Putter Studio was established in San Diego's North County where the top players in the world came to analyze and understand their putting strokes and have custom putters created by Cameron.
In 2004, the Acushnet Company expanded the Putter Studio's square footage and capabilities. Cameron and his team moved to a new research and development facility built from the ground up. The Putter Studio also houses the Custom Shop, where anyone can prepare an order online and send a Scotty Cameron putter for restoration and/or customization.
In 2007, the Scotty Cameron Museum & Gallery was opened in Japan near Tokyo. It houses many one-of-a-kind Scotty Cameron products, putters and prototypes, including many personal artifacts.
On May 20, 2011, Fortune Brands, Inc. announced an agreement for the sale of its Acushnet Company golf business, including the Scotty Cameron brand, to a group led by Fila Korea Ltd., for $1.225 billion in cash. According to Gene Yoon, chairman of Fila Korea, the acquisition provides them with well-known brands to sell in emerging markets in Asia.
Golf galleries
The Scotty Cameron Golf Gallery, a place for golfers to experience the Art of Putting, the same methodology and technology used by Scotty Cameron in fitting the best players in the world, opened its doors on July 9, 2014, just north of San Diego.
The gallery, located off Highway 101 in the quaint Southern California beach town of Encinitas, is described as "part retail space, part high-end product gallery, 100-percent putter fitting facility." It is an extension of the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio, which Tour players from around the world visit regularly. At the gallery, golfers gain the knowledge provided by Cameron's proprietary high-speed video putting stroke analysis tools, as well as the expertise of his highly trained fitters.
The gallery also features a rotating array of rare Scotty Cameron Tour putters and one-off creations. Luxury apparel personally selected by Cameron is also available.
In May 2016, Cameron opened the doors to the Scotty Cameron Golf Gallery Tokyo in the chic shopping district of Aoyama. Located on the third floor of the Jewels of Aoyama building, visitors are presented with an elegant boutique experience that mirrors the essence of Cameron's brand.
Similar to the California Gallery, the Tokyo Gallery houses limited and unique Cameron creations, apparel and never-seen-before Tour putters crafted for discerning players and connoisseurs. A fitting studio opened in the summer of 2016 presents players with the same Tour-quality putter fitting experience offered in the California Putter Studio and Gallery.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods used one specific Scotty Cameron putter for the majority of his career and during 14 of his 15 major championships (he used a different Scotty Cameron putter in his 1997 Masters victory). It is made of 303 German Stainless Steel. It has a single sight dot and a red "cherry dot" on both the face and in the back cavity. The putter has a blank sole and has "Tiger" on the left bumper and "Woods" on the right bumper. Woods uses a Ping grip on his putter. He had used a Scotty Cameron putter for all of his professional golf victories up to December 2011. His most used Scotty Cameron putter was first put into play May 1999 at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic- Where he shot 61 in his first round with the putter.
This historic putter, possibly was originally milled By Bob Bettinardi, as were most Scotty Cameron putters from 1992 - 1998/9
In 2010, Woods switched from the putter he had been using since 1999 to a Nike Method 001 putter. This change was not without controversy, and Woods spent almost a year experimenting with different Nike models before settling on a configuration he liked.
In 2016, at the Hero World Challenge, Woods went back to his Scotty Cameron putter after not playing a tournament in 16 months. He said the putter went back into his bag the day after Nike announced their exit from the golf equipment business. It is the same putter that he used to win 14 of his 15 majors.
In 2019 Tiger Woods used this putter to capture his 15th Major.
Major victories
A number of other professional golfers use Scotty Camerons, including some who are on staff of many other major golf companies (Nike, Taylormade, Callaway, etc.). Since 1993, more than 500 worldwide tournaments and about 1/3 (Tiger Woods has won almost 1/2 of these with his Scotty Cameron 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. Scotty Cameron putters rank second in wins in the modern era, behind Ping.
- 1993 Masters Tournament - Bernhard Langer
- 1997 Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods
- 1997 Open Championship - Justin Leonard
- 1998 PGA Championship - Vijay Singh
- 1999 PGA Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2000 U.S. Open - Tiger Woods
- 2000 Open Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2000 PGA Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2001 Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods
- 2001 Open Championship - David Duval
- 2001 PGA Championship - David Toms
- 2002 Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods
- 2002 U.S. Open - Tiger Woods
- 2003 Masters Tournament - Mike Weir
- 2003 Open Championship - Ben Curtis
- 2004 Masters Tournament - Phil Mickelson
- 2005 Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods
- 2005 Open Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2006 U.S. Open - Geoff Ogilvy
- 2006 Open Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2006 PGA Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2007 PGA Championship - Tiger Woods
- 2008 Masters Tournament - Trevor Immelman
- 2008 U.S. Open - Tiger Woods
- 2011 U.S. Open - Rory McIlroy
- 2011 Open Championship - Darren Clarke
- 2012 PGA Championship - Rory McIlroy
- 2013 Masters Tournament - Adam Scott
- 2013 PGA Championship - Jason Dufner
- 2015 Masters Tournament - Jordan Spieth
- 2015 U.S. Open - Jordan Spieth
- 2016 U.S. Open - Dustin Johnson
- 2016 PGA Championship - Jimmy Walker
- 2017 U.S. Open - Brooks Koepka
- 2017 Open Championship - Jordan Spieth
- 2017 PGA Championship - Justin Thomas
- 2018 U.S. Open (golf)- Brooks Koepka
- 2018 PGA Championship - Brooks Koepka
- 2019 Masters Tournament - Tiger Woods
- 2019 PGA Championship - Brooks Koepka
- 2019 U.S. Open - Gary Woodland
Product timeline
| 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. |
| 1993 | First line of Scotty Cameron putters released by Cameron Golf International, referred to as the Classics. |
| 1994 | Second line of Scotty Cameron putters released by Cameron Golf International, referred to as the Scottsman series. |
| 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. |
| 1996 | Santa Fe, Newport 2 and Sonoma models were added. |
| 1997 | The 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 | The 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, was released as flange and vintage. The flanged version had a milled finish and was released as 1.25, 2.25 and 3.25 models. |
| 2002 | The Teryllium II series was discontinued. The 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. The 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 | The 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. The 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, and Newport 2.5. The Futura series was renamed Futura Phantom and its appearance was updated, with two mallet-style putters added to the line. |
| 2006 | The Circa '62 series, referring to the year Cameron was born, 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 and 5). Red X mid (43") and long (48") models were added. The 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. The 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 of each of the Newport 2 and Newport 2.5 models. The Catalina Classic limited edition was released, with 2007 pieces available. |
| 2008 | The Studio Style series was discontinued. The 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, were introduced. These were available in limited quantities of 4000 each worldwide. Cameron introduced what he called one of his "finest creations", the Damascus 009. |
| 2009 | The 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, and 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 (3,250 right-hand and 250 left-hand) available. |
| 2012 | The previous models Studio Select Kombi, Newport, Newport 2, Newport 1.5, Newport 2.5, and the Newport 2.5 Notchback remained favorites. Most of these models were improved upon with the edition of a black matte finish. The California series continued to be produced: the Del Mar, Fastback, Sonoma, Monterey, and Monterey 1.5 models. Cameron introduced the newest edition to the putters offered, the GoLo. The GoLo and the Kombi were offered in three sizes continued from 2009, the Kombi/GoLo regular (33 in, 34 in, and 35 in), the Kombi/GoLo mid (43 in and 44 in), and the Kombi/GoLo long (47–49 in). |
| 2013 | The Futura X™ — based on the major-winning prototype design trusted to victory by Adam Scott in 2013 - was introduced. The line was extended with the Futura X Dual Balance. A limited release Squareback, GoLo N5 and GoLo N7 were also introduced. |
| 2014 | The Select line was redesigned to include the Newport, Newport 2, Newport 2.5, Fastback and Squareback with new shapes, graphics and a Silver Mist finish. Four new GoLo models - GoLo 3, GoLo 5, GoLo S5 and GoLo 7 - were also introduced. These mallets featured modern, easy to align, rounded profiles with select weighting technology and a new soleplate design. The Futura X5 and X5R models were added to the Futura X line. A limited release My Girl Select Newport 2 and a Futura X5 H-14 were also released. |
| 2015 | The Select line was expanded to include the Roundback. The GoLo line was redesigned and re-introduced to include the GoLo 3, GoLo 5, GoLo 5R, GoLo 6 and GoLo 5 dual balance models. These multi-material designs featured a lightweight aluminum face-sole core surrounded by stainless steel frames with vibration dampening technology. The Futura X line was expanded to include the Futura X7, X7M and the Futura X7M dual balance models with new face-sole core technology with advanced perimeter weighting. A limited release My Girl Select Roundback and a Roundback H-15 were also released. |
| 2016 | The Select line was re-designed and introduced with new face inlay technology including enhanced multi-material constructions to include the Newport, Newport 2, Newport 2.5, Newport 2 Notchback, Newport M1 Mallet, Newport M2 Mallet and the Newport 2 Notchback dual balance models. |
Players
These are some big names on tour who use Cameron putters:
- Jason Bohn
- Rafael Cabrera-Bello
- Bud Cauley
- Gary Christian
- Ben Curtis
- Jason Dufner
- Rickie Fowler
- Bill Haas
- Charley Hoffman
- Charles Howell III
- Trevor Immelman
- Patton Kizzire
- Brooks Koepka
- Davis Love III
- Matteo Manassero
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Joe Ogilvie
- Geoff Ogilvy
- Sean O'Hair
- Scott Piercy
- Adam Scott
- Jordan Spieth
- Kyle Stanley
- Justin Thomas
- Nick Watney
- Gary Woodland
- Tiger Woods
