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  OUR STORY  

The Miraculous and Victorious History of Bobby Grace Putters

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Bobby's is an authentic American success story that began when he was a teenager in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Taking up golf at a very young age, Bobby quickly became a champion junior golfer, winning many titles and even competing in the US Amateur and the British Amateur. He soon realized that his fascination with the game extended beyond participating as a player to its history, with a particular focus on the classic game-changing clubs.

He developed an eye for rare clubs and over time his personal collection evolved into a full-blown business whose clientele included many Touring Pro’s who, like Bobby, loved the legacy of the game.

As his "classic club" business flourished, Bobby started to tinker with club design using the insights he had gained from studying the all-time great golf clubs.

Starting off with a big, "Fat" win!

By 1992 Bobby had recruited a local manufacturing team and was producing “prototype” putters that he introduced to the PGA TOUR PLAYERS. In August 1994, Bobby had the opportunity to show one of his “prototype” putters to Nick Price – and after Nick put the Fat Lady putter in play he was soon to become the Number One player in the world.

Nick was warming up for the third round of the tournament when he tried Bobby’s putter. He became so excited by the feel and results he enjoyed on the practice green, he immediately replaced the putter he had been using and used Bobby’s prototype, called “The Fat Lady,” for the final two rounds.

When Nick returned to his home, he asked Bobby to send him another “Fat Lady” with some minor adjustments. The following week Nick used the “Fat Lady” at the PGA Championship, winning wire-to-wire and talking about his new putter the whole time.

Because Bobby's name was known throughout the golfing world – and because Nick Price was so enthusiastic in his praise for this miraculous putter – the week after the Championship the newly formed Bobby Grace Putters received 27,000 orders for "The Fat Lady".

Attracting the biggest names and brand names in golf!

Bobby’s reputation as an unorthodox and innovative designer attracted a great deal of attention from Tour players and other manufacturers over the next few years and in 1997, Fortune Brands, which owned Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra, bought Bobby Grace Putters and made it the premium putter brand of the Cobra line.

In 2000, Bobby bought back his brand and focused on creating his High MOI (moment of inertia) triangular mallet, the first in a significant series of innovations that continue to be incorporated in his putter designs today. This design was enthusiastically embraced and won many tour victories for #1 players, including Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Bart Bryant (Jack Nicklaus’ PGA Tour Memorial at Muirfield) and Fred Funk (The Players Championship) and Greg Chalmers (3 Majors in Australia).

In 2003, MacGregor Golf capitalized on Bobby’s unparalleled success by purchasing his company and the winning streak continued. From ’04-’07, Bobby’s putters captured over $60 million in prize money on tour, without paying any placement fees! It was during this period that Bobby advanced the science of insert technology by introducing the distance corrective material he dubbed “HSM” or Hole Seeking Material.

Business issues at MacGregor led Bobby to once again reacquire his brand and in ’09 reestablish Bobby Grace Putters in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

An intense two-year period of research and development followed, which resulted in an exponential improvement in the "HSM" radial face insert that allowed for early roll in addition to distance correction. The new, improved insert was dubbed "HSM²".

Keeping an eye to the future.  Moving his Tour Shop custom putter "Fitting Studio" to Highlands, NC in August of 2016 Bobby and his wife Ann are enjoying hiking and playing golf and the wonderful towns of Highlands and Cashiers in the mountains.  Playing the greatest courses like Highlands CC (1928 Ross), Mountain Top (Fazio), High Hampton (Fazio), Wade Hampton (Fazio), Cullasaja (Palmer), WildCat Cliffs (Cobb), and Highlands Falls (Lee).    

In the years since, Bobby has continued to innovate with both his designs and use of materials at his state-of-the-art Machine Shop, where he personally oversees every aspect of Made in America design & production in Tampa Florida, he spends most of his time custom fitting Amateurs and Pros alike in his Studio in Highlands, NC

When not hard at work in the Shop, Bobby is out in the field recruiting and training Regional Fitters who will control certain regions through a Joint Venture agreement and have their own Mercedes Sprinter Van customized to do personal fittings at private clubs.

If history is any indication, the future of Bobby Grace Putters looks very bright indeed and we anticipate many more miracles and victories for many years to come.

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