I’m a big Ian Poulter fan and have been for a really long time. Before you even bust my chops about it, don’t even bother. It won’t sway nor upset me one bit. I’ve personally met him on a couple of occasions and he’s a great guy. Anyway, around 2010 he swore by a putter made by a brand called “Rife”. His setup was a Tour Issue Rife Antigua with a classic Odyssey DFX grip on it, and it was great! (Hey, Odyssey, can we get the DFX grip available at retail again, please?!) As I understand it, Poulter used his Antigua to win the ’10 WGC Match Play and a few other tournaments, including the 2010 Ryder Cup.
These Tour Issue Antiguas were supposedly the genesis of the retail Aruba model. The Aruba is a wildy underrated putter, by the way. I gamed one for a long time and converted others as well. The stock retail Antigua has a mid-slant neck, but as you can see, this putter has a standard plumber’s neck – like the Aruba. There are a few other small differences from retail as well, but that’s the basic idea. Also, these Tour Issue ones were supposedly milled out of better steel and in the US. I can’t personally confirm if that’s true.
Look what just got dusted off… Rolling it nicely… Might have to make another appearance.. Did alright in the past. ???? pic.twitter.com/Fsxpgj0gqI
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 11, 2017
Ian Poulter’s Tour Issue Rife Antigua
See the explanation above, but add the tungsten weights in the bumpers. The story goes that Rife made a handful of heads with the tungsten weights for Ian Poulter to get the right weight and balance, and the ones you see surface in the wild are the ones he didn’t keep for himself. In terms of white whales for Tour Issue Antiguas, these are it. Now if you want a UNICORN of a Tour Issue Antigua, you’re looking for one where the soles have a “serial number” engraving indicating they were made for IJP. I’ve seen two of them, and they weren’t for sale. Hell, I don’t think Poulter’s keepers even had that engraving.
In terms of my Tour Issue Rife Antigua, it was cut down and regripped at some point so it’s not setup great for me. I plan on eventually ripping the grip off, extending the shaft, and throwing a DFX grip on it to keep it “Poulter-esque” in the collection. It isn’t a primary gamer so there’s no real rush to do it, but it will happen. That said, this is a fantastic putter and it does feel incredible, so who knows? Maybe one day it’ll get some time in the bag.
