Picture below: Putter guru Bob Bettinardi at BMW PGA Championship

Bettinardi putters hit the European Tour

The Pro's will tell you that Mizuno irons are all about 'solid feel and precision'. Now, with a link up to the guru of the greens, Bob Bettinardi, you can bet they'll be saying the same about Mizuno's new putters.

The man who has worked on precison milled parts for the US military has revolutionised the putting business. His decision to honeycomb the putter face was the work of a genius. Now, from his Chicago base, Bettinardi has joined up with Mizuno to produce some models that are certain to catch on in a big way.

Mizuno Workshop boss Andy Kikidas is very excited about the new partnership: "We've been out of the putter market for a couple of years now but have had some decent success in the past with the likes of Retief Goosen and David Howell picking up wins using our forged Tour Style putters. So we looked at ways of getting back into the putter market but didn't want to just produce a 'me-too' range.

"Then the opportunity to link up with Bettinardi came towards the end of last year. "Bettinardi has a great reputation of manufacturing some of the most precise putting instruments available and we felt that matched well with our product philosophy in working to the tightest tolerances and producing equipment that looks and feels fantastic.

"So when the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the European Tour's flagship event, came along in May, Bob Bettinardi himself came over to help us out on the workshop. Our main focus was to promote the new line of putters that will be available in Europe around the time of the Open (July 20-23) . There will be two milled aluminium mallet designs (A Series) and four milled carbon designs (C Series) but in addition to that Bob also brought over some very interesting prototypes with half an eye on future years' models.

"The players' reactions were great, and from my point of view if the product is good then my job of promoting it becomes a lot easier. Every player remarked on Bettinardi's reputation and, on trying them, were keen to take away a couple for further testing. We managed to get a couple of putters into play that week, which I was happy with, as it's unusual for pros to switch straight away, especially considering the size and prestige of the event.

"The custom fitting of putters at retail level is still to take off in a big way but on tour it's very rare for a player to use a standard spec putter. The main trend is for shorter shaft lengths - 34" is very common, while 33" and 32" are certainly not unheard of, as players feel they can produce a more consistent stroke by really letting their arms hang down. But just cutting down a 35" putter isn't recommended as the swing-weight will become very light. To combat this, each of the models we will offer will be available with a heavier head weight - signified by an 'H' after the model number - and used for 34" or shorter head weights. "You'll be hearing a lot more about these putters in the near future when we officially launch them in Europe at the Open Championship.

"Bob left us as play started on the Thursday morning at Wentworth, his work done, having enjoyed his first trip to Europe and having learnt a lot about the "European way of doing things"!

Andy had more interesting product news, which benefited Marcel Siem: "MX-900 was a model we introduced at the end of last year and was aimed at the mid-handicap player. The positioning of weight in the clubhead provides a high launch angle and makes them the most forgiving iron we've ever produced. I didn't really see this model as something that would be used on tour but sometimes things don't always go as expected. In the past couple of weeks we've made up three sets and had some very positive feedback.

"Costantino Rocca has put in some serious testing and is close to putting them in his bag but, Marcel Siem, with only a few hours practice on the range put them straight in the bag to play in Wales. Marcel has used MX-20, MX-23 and MP-60 in the past and prefers the slightly bigger clubhead size that the MX-900 offers. He's a strong hitter and the flight he produces with them is very impressive - very high, long and straight with an arcing flight. There is no sign of a high-spinning, rising trajectory that steals valuable distance."

Siem's form hasn't been great of late but all that changed at the Wales Open. He obviously got on well with his MX-900s because he had his best finish for a while - tied seventh.

Mizuno is not all about clubs and putters, though. The lads in the workshop are real Sir Galahads when it pours down, as Andy explains: "The awful weather in May saw the Mizuno workshop at full stretch - keeping everyone dry. Following beautiful weather at the Spanish Open we moved to the British Masters and then the Irish Open, both of which had some of the worst weather I've seen, particularly in Ireland. Bobble hats, thermal mittens, waterproofs and umbrellas were all in high demand - the players being more interested in trying to keep warm and dry than making any adjustments to their clubs.

Then at the beginning of the BMW PGA Championship week the weather didn't appear to be getting any better. This event, being one of the largest on the schedule and close to London, means a lot of the players bring their wives, families and friends along and, of course, they all want to stay warm and dry too. Looking after them (whilst gaining extra brand exposure on the course!) meant a total re-stock of brollies and waterproofs, especially considering that our next event was the Wales Open, where historically the weather is anything but good. Remarkably, the sun shone at Celtic Manor and the need for foul-weather gear relented.