Milled Wilson Staff 8802

So a little Wilson Staff love…….

It should be known that I carry Wilson Staff irons and wedges so i am a little bias.  Like a good friend of mine explained to me about why he still rides a steel Italian bike...some brands just seem to have soul.

Most will agree one of the best golf clubs ever invented was the Wilson 8802 putter.

From the sandtrap.com:

Arnold Palmer made it famous, but one of the best putters of all time - Ben Crenshaw - elevated the Wilson 8802 to a special place in golf's history. Nicknamed "Little Ben," Crenshaw's 8802 was with him through thick and thin, but a replica was used to win the improbable one in 1995 (see comments below). Said Crenshaw's dad of Ben's original 8802, "It was just a putter in Harvey Penick's shop. Ben felt it and waggled it around for a while. 'Dad, I'd like to have it,' he said, so I bought it for him. That club's been the best provider in the family." The putter cost Crenshaw's dad $20.

The 8802 is a simple putter with no heel-toe weighting to speak of and a very clean, simple look. Its design may have been inspired by Calamity Jane, and it won nearly as many majors. Arnold Palmer used the 8802 (and a small revision, the 8813) to win several of his majors, and Phil Mickelson has always seemed to putt best with his remake (currently made by his sponsor Callaway - i.e. Odyssey) of the venerable 8802.

There are many, many versions of the 8802, even if you are talking just abou the ones made by Wilson.

But to me, the best version is the Gun-Metal Milled version that was sold in the mid Eighties. These were crafted in the same manner that top putter makers today use. Take a solid block of carbon steel and mill out the desired shape. Pretty hard to find these days, I came across one that had seen better days. Here it is before:

A little elbow grease and sanding, a fresh treatment with Gun Barrel Bluing solution and I got her looking like this (I also hand-stamped a site-dot):

One last touch, I also found a 8813 that had a perfect original W/S leather wrap on it. I switched the shafts so that this now beautiful 8802 had all the trimmings:

She is a real beauty, and the best part.......I putted the eyes out of the ball the first time I took it out.

Fairways and Greens!