Seattle company to unveil acrylic putters

If you read up on golf club specifications (and I know you do), you won't immediately see much new in the marketing for Pollen Golf's line of acrylic polymer putters.

It’s a lot of MOI and COG and perimeter weighting and energy transfer. And forgiveness – it’s all about forgiveness.

Ian Burke, the guy who’s handling press for Pollen’s Mezzo (mid-mallet) and Macro (full mallet) putters, admits he talks in buzzwords. Such as “price points” (about $200 for these first two models).

We can find forgiveness ourselves for Pollen, a Seattle company founded in 2009 and still so new to the golf industry that its product won’t even launch until this weekend at the Seattle Golf Show.

Here’s Burke, in his first official press interview, describing what sets Pollen apart in what he calls the “bluster” of the putter world. Translation to follow:

“The acrylic is so light, we have to add weight to the putter to get it up to USGA standards. Since we made most of the putter out of acrylic, we have a bigger area to be able to precisely weight the putter and still have solid contact with the surface.

“The putter material mimics the ball surface, and it makes an even energy transfer. The COG’s (center of gravity) in dead center, which leads to a high MOI (moment of inertia), making for more forgiving putts on mis-hits.”

Dumb it down, Ian.

“The putters are beautiful, and they work great,” he said.

What is new, Burke said, is the heavy science and deep non-golf design experience that Pollen Golf brings to crafting “next-generation plastics” into putters.

The acrylic in the putter head is a completely recyclable polymer, which fits with the founding design principles of Pollen president and designer John Bergquist.

Bergquist, according to Burke, won awards for his work as a furniture designer by using materials such as sustainably designed metals, bamboo and 100 percent recyclable plastics. For example, recycled pop bottles were turned into municipal park benches.

Not only does Pollen Golf use recyclable materials, the putters themselves also are recyclable in the fullest sense of the word.

Through the company’s lifecycle program, Pollen owners looking to trade up will be able to sell back their putters for credit toward a new model. The plastic from the old putters will be reused in making new ones, Burke said.

Environmental consciousness is not foreign to golf equipment manufacturers, but neither is it our first consideration when we brand-shop for a putter.

Dude, does it work?

“We think once you putt with the putter, you’ll like it,” Burke said. “And it looks like nothing else out there.”

Burke figures that upwards of 2,000 people will get to putt the new putters at the Pollen-sponsored Washington State Putting Championship this weekend at the golf show.

Contestants will use Pollen putters exclusively during the first two rounds of competition, in which they’ll stroke three 21-foot putts in closest-to-the-pin scoring on Friday and Saturday. In the match-play finals Sunday, contestants can use any putter they choose.

“I’m thinking they may just stick with the Pollen,” Burke said.

Pollen’s publicist tried out a few lines:

“Everybody’s got the high-tech ‘Transformers’ look. We’re more like a Euro-sportscar look.”

And: “Color choices and customization options are endless. That’s a key point for us moving forward.”

The company is so new Burke wasn’t sure about the copyright implications of the proposed color names for the Macro: Aston Martin White (pearl-colored) and BMW Silver.

For a newbie, Burke can talk the talk. Can Pollen putters putt the putt? The playing public, in one tough marketplace, will make that call.

Said Burke, still working it: “We’re the little putter that’s trying to make good.”

Bling for the golfer’s soul: They’re billing it as the kickoff to golf season, and in fact, the Seattle Golf Show is a month earlier than normal this year.

More than 200 exhibitors from the golf industry will be on hand at the show this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Qwest Field Event Center.

Freebies, cheap stuff, demos, contests and all the latest and hottest in equipment, golf travel and golf courses will be under one roof at the expo center next to the Seahawks’ stadium.

New products from the major club manufacturers (along with aspirants such as Pollen Golf) will be available for test drives at 20 indoor hitting stations. If you like what you hit, they’ll take your money if you want to buy on the spot.

Freebies? Every paid adult admission ($12 at the door, $9 pre-show at Puetz Golf stores) earns a free round of golf. Participating courses include Port Ludlow, Eaglemont (Mount Vernon), Eagles Pride at Fort Lewis and Whispering Firs at McChord Air Force Base.

Attendees also receive a free one-year subscription to Golf Digest magazine and a free Washington State Golf Course Directory.

If you’re cheap, the show’s PGA Clearance Center will offer deep discounts on brand-name stuff, with savings up to 70 percent off regular prices.

Show hours are noon to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

You can check out the whole golf bag at www.seattlegolfshow.com.

Freelance writer Bart Potter can be reached at greygoatee06@comcast.net.