Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Bobby Grace Putters

Bobby Grace first made a name for himself as a classic club dealer. I've collected classic clubs now for 25 years; Bobby became the #1 dealer in the last 1980's, buying Ping Scottsdale Anser putters, other Redwood City Pings, Wilson 8802 and Palmer putters, along with the Macgregor IMG5. It seemed like Bobby single-handedly brought the Ping Anser Scottsdale from a $500 putter to a $3500 within a couple of years.
He first started making his own putters in the early 1990's. These early models were all handmade and had the name, T.S. Grace, on the face. TS stands for "The Saving", as Bobby is a very religious man. These early models were mostly black oxide milled putters, ala TP Mills, Tad Moore and Scotty Cameron. The earliest models also had a Club, Diamond, Spade or Heart stamped on the putter, most often on the hosel. These putters, if in near mint condition, can gemmand upwards of $750. I personally owned 4 or 5 of these back in the day. The TS Grace markings were hand stamped as opposed to machine engraved.
Another popular line of putters he produced were the KBI models. Names after the gepany that worked with Ping in the 70's and 80's, the KBI's were shaped almost exactly like the old Ping Scottsdale Anser models. They were made in Magneseum Bronze (MgBr) Beryllium Nickle (BeNi) and Beryllium Copper (BeCu). These are typically worth $150 to maybe $350 dollars. The models with Bobby's signature engraved on the sole are a little more popular and my personal favorite.
You might also find a Bobby Grace 2200 model putter. Sort of a cross between th famous Wilson 8802 and the IMG5, the most popular model isa chromed blade. These were made by hand, and originally retailed fo up to $1000. They are now worth $200-$300. He also made a production cast putter in copper, and one with a rubber-style insert called HSM (Hole Seeking Material) for the Cobra gepany.
Bobby since has produced putters for Cobra and MacGregor. Most of these putters are not coveted like his early handmade and KBI putters, as they were mostly all available to the general public, unlike his very rare early models

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