Golf Putters Add to calendar LaMont Mann ♦ MannKrafted Kustom Milled Putters Fountain Hills, AZ | Golf Putters | Website Golf Putters | LaMont Mann has always felt that the putter is the most personal club in a golfer’s bag. In 1996, he still hadn’t found his dream putter. So he set out to make one with just some raw steel and a grinding wheel. From that one putter, a company was born. Today, Mann custom mills putters for golfers, getting to know his customers personally, and keeping in touch with them every step of the way. The result is a putter they create together that suits the customer’s needs perfectly. On his website, Mann says, “It matters who makes the putter, who forges the putter, who hand shapes the putter, who stamps the putter. It matters to me because it’s my name that goes on it. I always go back to my original dream which is to take a block of steel and turn it into someone’s pride and joy- it’s YOUR putter.” Get to Know LaMont What drew you to your chosen craft? The chance to craft putters for golfers who desired the very best equipment, but were being sold a bill of goods in the putter department. There were brands that claimed “Handmade” or “Handcrafted,” but were neither. The consumers were not even aware of the fact that they were buying products based on “perception of quality” instead of a quality product that was crafted by someone who genuinely loved the putters he was creating. That was a niche that I learned I could fill. What do you enjoy most about your craft? The best part of what I do is the emails, text messages and phone calls that I receive from customers after they receive their new putter. Some are calling to celebrate their best round in years, some are calling to say it is the most beautiful item they have ever purchased and some are calling to tell me that they cannot believe they had missed out on the experience for years longer than they needed to. Why is it important for people to make things with their own hands? I believe that one of the challenges that we face as a nation is that there is very little pride in workmanship in most industries. Companies produce such large quantities of products, mostly outside of the USA, and there is seldom anyone held accountable for quality of product. When a person takes on a project and creates something with his or her own hands, the resulting pride in workmanship is nearly inevitable. In what ways are handmade goods better than those that are mass-produced? Handmade goods can be crafted in such a way that there is a lot more attention to detail, at every step. A mass produced product needs to be made in such a hurry that it is very easy for corners to get cut, sacrifices in quality to be made and the end product is less perfect than that which has been crafted a little slower, but with a human being watching every single step, along the way. What does the future hold for your type of work? I believe that my type of work will always be a niche that exists, but never really explodes in size. It is a time-intensive process to hand mill a putter and very few people are willing to put in the time to create the product when there is no guarantee that there will be a market for every single club they build. Part of my personality make-up is a faith that there is a customer for every putter I build. Somewhere, there is a person who is seeing the putter I am crafting in their mind’s eye and I just need to put my work in front of enough people that I find THAT person. It is an age of CNC machines that can take a block of steel and using a program that a person has written, can create what a craftsman does. The CNC is faster and more able to duplicate, but I feel a putter made entirely by a machine lacks a soul. THAT is what makes my putters different, IMHO. When you hold a putter that says “MANN-MADE” on it, you know that it was my hands that turned the cranks on the milling machine to determine where every cut was made. It was my eyes that looked at the piece and saw what needed to be removed and what curve needed to be shaped. Every piece I create is an extension of who I am and the passion I have for the craft. Violins, Yarn, Golf Putters EPISODE | SCHEDULE ♦ VIOLINS | YARN DISCOVER OTHER ARTISANS [rev_slider alias=”crafts”] #HandcraftedAmerica