Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



The Loop

President Obama's $1,400 putter

May 02, 2013

The catalog of gifts that President Obama received from foreign dignitaries in 2011, released last week by the State Department, included a Kramski HPP 340 putter, courtesy of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, its value estimated at $1,400.

Kramski Putter, a German company founded by Wiestaw Kramski in 2002, is largely unknown in the U.S. But its putters have had tour success in Europe; Laura Davies has won on the Ladies European Tour using a Kramski putter.

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad761eadd713143b427146_golf-equipment-blogs-newstuff-Kramski%20HPP%20340.jpg

The HPP (High Precision Putter) 340, according to the website, is a "high-speed milled premium putter made of stainless steel in a discreet mocha hue (ruthenium coating). Sandblasted, featuring multiple coatings and fitted with a flexible plug & play training aid (which can be removed by hand during tournaments), this high-quality blade model was engineered with the needs of the ambitious golfer with exclusive taste and certain shortcomings in aiming in mind. The steel striking face is precision milled to a tolerance of a few thousandths of a millimeter, and the contact surface's strike zone is polished to a glossy finish. The shaft features a double bend, putting the ball's position below the left eye."

The president is not using the putter, incidentally. It has been turned over the National Archives.