“The Switchblade Putter ” by Brandon Molson

Scotty Cameron- Watch out! When New Jersey’s own Brandon Molson, an eighth grader attended an Industrial Arts class, he had golf on his mind.

Tom Murphy and Brandon Molson with the new Switchblade PutteBrandon is an eighth grader at the Edison Middle School in Westfield, New Jersey. When his metal shop teacher, Raymond Brevere announced to the students that they would be graded on the quality of their project, Brandon had an idea. He did not want to build a coat hanger or basketball hoop. He would tackle the design and building of a golf club.

The idea was not that unusual for Brandon. He has a keen interest in golf. Playing for only three seasons, he finished in second place in the Union County Junior Tournament at Ashbrook last summer. Brandon also competed on the NJ PGA Junior Tour and represented Plainfield West 9 Golf Complex on their junior traveling team.

“Brandon is improving at a very fast rate”, said Bill Castner, the Director of Instruction at Plainfield West 9 Golf Course. “He really enjoys golf and has a great work ethic. Often when the weather is unpleasant he will be the only one practicing on the driving range. I know he is looking forward to playing golf on the Westfield High School golf team next year.”

Brandon decided to use his knowledge of golf to build a putter. He selected the materials and started working on shaping the parts. He worked on it for approximately forty-five minutes each school day for two weeks. “The hardest part was drilling the ¾- inch steel in order to pin the shaft to the head”, Brandon said. “It was tiring after a while just using a handsaw to cut through the steel”.

Tom Murphy and Brandon Molson with the new Switchblade PutterBrandon says some of the main features in his putter design were: a long face design, large sweat spot, heavy weighting, ease of alignment, and the ability for both left-handed and right-handed golfers to use it.

Brandon claims that the fact that he plays golf left-handed had nothing to do with his putter being two- sided.

When asked what advice he would give to other golf club makers, Brandon replied, “Be very careful. You do not want to hurt your hand and miss a golf season”.

Brandon took the grip-less finished product to Tom Murphy, the Master Club Fitter and Builder at Hyatt Hills.

 “If Brandon had made the head on the putter a little bit shorter I would have hired him on the spot,” said Murphy. It seems that Tom thought the design was almost perfect.

Because of the available materials in the metals shop, Brandon was forced to use a solid tube to form the shaft. Normally golf club manufacturers use hollow tubing when creating the shafts.

Golf club companies use a choice of many exotic metals to create the delicate balance required. But somehow Brandon’s club was weighted very similar to the popular Heavy Putter. Tom was impressed.

Tom showed him how to properly position a line on top of the head for alignment purposes. Finally, Brandon purchased a grip from Tom, had it glued on the shaft, and the project was complete.

The new Switchblade PutterDid Brandon name the putter? "The Switchblade," was his reply. May we suggest “The Molson” Maybe a well-known beverage company of the same name will help market it.

Because of weather conditions, Brandon has not had the opportunity to use his putter on the putting green but said that the putter feels good on the carpet at home. When asked if he is planning on using his putter in tournaments, Brandon replied, “No, I think I will stick to my Titleist Scotty Cameron Detour”.

Good work, Brandon.

(P.S. Brandon received an “A” on his project)

Recent Update - Brandon Molson

Brandon MolsonBrandon Molson, a junior, won his first high school championship when he fired a four-over-par 76 to take the Union County Tournament and lead Westfield to the team crown yesterday at the Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield.

Second place went to Kevin Russell, also of Westfield, with a 78. Jacob Stockl of Johnson, last year's winner, shot 80 and placed third after winning a one-hole playoff with Jason Scarpa of New Providence.

Westfield finished on top with a 323, 19 strokes over runner-up Gov. Livingston. New Providence was third with a 346 after a chip-off under the lights on the 18th green. Scarpa hit his chip 10 feet from the cup for his squad to end playoff at 8:45 p.m.

"It feels good to win it, my first high school championship, Molson, a 17-year-old, said. " "I shot a 37 on the back and, in our dual matches here, we don't play the back nine. I made some tough shots and some nice one-putts to save par.''

Molson, a 5-10, 145-pounder, birdied the par-five fourth hole when he two-putted from 20 feet, but bogeyed the third, doubled the fifth, and bogeyed the 14h and 15th holes.

"The greens were faster than normal today and I took 35 putts,'' Molson said. " "My putting was good all day. Also, I hit a lot of greens and fairways."

"The key here at Echo Lake is to hit fairways, especially on the front nine because it's so tight. If you can do that, you can get up to the greens.''

Brandon Molson of Westfield took the Union County title at Echo Lake - (Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger)