The Ultimate Barn Find

I’ve spoken many times over the years about how Chip Usher of Usher Golf has been one of my great mentors in golf.  He’s taught me so much about the industry, equipment, the people, history, and even equipment history.  One of those great experiences came by way of a super unique “barn find” – a “prototype” Tad Moore Pro 1 TS putter with quite the back story.

How it All Started

Just about ten years ago, I reached out to Chip to have a putter made for me under his putter company at the time, C&L.  I was even fortunate enough to have a vacation lined up that took me through Savannah, Georgia.  During that trip, I took time to swing through his shop and meet Chip in person.  Chip was the definition of southern charm.  He was so was friendly to the point that it felt like we were old friends.  No question I had was too silly or insignificant.  You’ll find that this is a quite common theme with Chip and his customers.  Anyone who has bought from Chip in the past knows exactly what I’m talking about.

Fast forward a few years and I reached out to Chip when I started doing this whole internet golf thing.  As expected, Chip was the same friendly gentleman I always remembered.  Chip coincidentally was in the process of relaunching a new custom putter brand called Black Lab Golf.  Shortly thereafter, we embarked on a custom putter project that I would review and shed a little light on his new brand.  This was just the start of a great working relationship and would lead to some fun projects.

“You might call this a nice barn find.”

The memory of where this all started is still pretty vivid to me.  One day at work, I saw Chip was calling my phone but I couldn’t take his call at the moment.  His voicemail simply said something along the lines of, “hey, it’s Chip, give me a call when you can.”  (If that sounds familiar, you’ll find I had a similar experience with another putter a few years later.)  Nowadays, Chip has me trained to know what kind of thing to expect with a message like that.  Back in those days, I couldn’t imagine what he had to talk to me about!  So I eagerly called Chip back to find out what was going on.

“I know you’re a putter guy. I have a classic putter that might interest you. You might call this a nice barn find.”  Chip then explained to me that he was old friends with Tad Moore, a legend in golf gear.  Tad had recently told Chip of some old putters he designed years prior called the Tad Moore Pro 1 TS.  These putters were a prototype run of about 350 heads by a milling company that shut down and still had them in their possession.  We’re talking almost totally raw right off the mill.  While Tad didn’t have a use for them at the time, he thought Chip might be interested in acquiring them.  Chip would end up acquiring these classic blade putters, but the story of why these putters existed in the first place made them quite the find.

The Tad Moore Pro 1 TS‘s Story

First, if you don’t know who Tad Moore is, I don’t have enough time in one post!  Tad’s one of the great legends of modern golf equipment and there’s so much history to cover.  Tad’s made putters and clubs for decades and has had equipment in the bags of Major champions.  Oh, and if you need some high-end playable hickory clubs, Tad might be the best in the world in that arena.  When I first started working on this project with Chip, he put me in touch with Tad to learn more about the putter.  I got to spend a good amount of time talking to Tad, not just learning about this putter, but many of his classic stories from his life.

Around 2001 or 2002, there was a great race to get a new putter in the bag of one of the best golfers of all time.  You may have heard of him before, his name is Tiger Woods.  Nike was looking to get Tiger out of his Scotty Cameron and into a Nike putter, just the same as they were with the rest of his clubs.  They knew if they wanted to be a high-end contender in the market, they needed Tiger to play Nike clubs.

Tad’s goal was to sign on with Nike to make some putters.  He knew that he would have to appeal to Tiger if this was going to happen.  So Tad made the Pro 1 TS putter which was his interpretation of the Anser 2.  He even put a sight dot on the topline per Tiger’s preference for an alignment aid.  Nike would put the Pro 1 TS through extensive testing, and allegedly Tiger tried it out as well and had a positive response.  Tad told me that through Nike’s testing, they found significant performance improvements from his signature “washboard face milling”.  Ultimately, Nike chose to go another route, but fortunately, that initial batch of putters survived somewhere and would resurface years later with a cool story attached to them.

On the Course

The Tad Moore Pro 1 TS is a classic putter that embodies the era of the late 90s/early 2000s perfectly.  Putters from that era tended to be 300-330 grams with lighter face millings as opposed to the heavier weights and deeper millings we see today.  The Pro TS 1 comes in right around 330 grams like many great putters of that time and had Tad’s washboard face milling.  This milling is a faint, yet noticeable, series of horizontal lines that run across the face.  The milling helps put a nice roll on the ball while also giving you good response in your hands.  Soft carbon steel and a thinner topline result in a soft click at impact.  The overall feel is very soft and smooth unlike anything you’d see off the rack today.  Generally speaking, it’s a lot of fun to putt with and even nostalgic on the greens.

Final Thoughts – Tad Moore Pro 1 TS

Every now and then you’ll see one of these Tad Moore Pro TS 1 putters pop up somwhere.  These putters were extremely limited, and once the internet found out a few years ago that Chip Usher had them available for custom orders, they flew out the door.  Not only is it a great flat stick, but it has a really interesting backstory directly related to the greatest golfer of all time and one of the best golf club designers of the modern era.

In my opinion, the Pro TS 1 has everything you’d look for in a great barn find story.  While it never made Tiger’s bag, I like to imagine how different the world of golf gear would have been if it did!  Regardless, the Tad Moore Pro 1 TS is definitely one of the coolest putters in my collection and worth keeping your eyes peeled for on the secondary market.

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