- The Toulon Golf Small Batch Tulsa putter is inspired by the Tulsa Sound of the city of Tulsa, Okla.
- The Toulon Tulsa is a classic blade design with a fresh Toulon spin on the flow neck.
- Available Sept. 19 at ToulonGolf.com with a MSRP of $1,800.
Living on Tulsa time
Odds are I’m going to make some of the people who live in Tulsa feel slighted today. Not intentionally, of course, it’s just that I don’t know much about Tulsa. As such, I initially had no clue why Toulon would choose to name their latest Small Batch putter after this city in northeast Oklahoma.
There is a golf presence in Tulsa. The Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa has hosted quite a few major golf tournaments. The course has been the venue for three U.S. Opens, a handful of U.S. Amateur tournaments and five PGA Championships. The most recent major played there was the 2022 PGA Championship. Belated congratulations to Justin Thomas if he’s reading this.
That country club has an amazing tournament history but is that enough to name the putter after the city of Tulsa?
Maybe Sean Toulon is a big Sylvester Stallone fan and is all pumped up for Season 2 of Tulsa King.
As it turns out, Toulon’s reason for naming this Small Batch putter after Tulsa was not really golf or Stallone motivated. Instead, the motivator was sound.
Take me to church
Last month, when talking about the Toulon and Sons Small Batch Scotland putter I mentioned how the releases of Toulon Small Batch putters are accompanied by knowledge nuggets. For example, the story of the Toulon Scotland putter taught me that people walk their dogs on the Old Course at St Andrews on Sundays.
This time, the Toulon educational extra focused on The Church Studio in Tulsa.
The Church Studio is one of those magical places where the right mix of artists, acoustics and producers comes together to make something special.
In the early 1970s, Leon Russell and JJ Cale converted an old church into a music studio and produced a combination of blues, country and rock that was later dubbed the “Tulsa Sound.”
Big-name artists like Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Bob Seger, The Gap Band and George Harrison all recorded music at The Church Studio.
Though perhaps not quite as historically significant as the Sun Records Studio in Memphis, The Church Studio has a similar “significant music happened here” vibe.
Cool story, but how does putter connect with a music studio?
Specifications: Toulon Small Batch Tulsa Putter
- Material: 904L stainless steel
- Construction: CNC-milled
- Finish: Tour Satin Mist
- Face: Double Fly Cut with Big Tuna Milling
- Neck: H5
- Toe Hang: 60°
- Offset: One Shaft
- Loft: 3°
- Lie: 70°
- Weight: 353 grams
- Shaft: Chrome stepless steel
- Grip: Custom Toulon Collection Candy Red Pistol
- Production run: 75
- MSRP: $1,800
Planet of sound
The story of the Toulon Small Batch Tulsa is a story of sound. Early in the developmental stages, Sean and sons noticed the unique tones produced by the Tulsa at impact.
Some of you may not realize it but sound production plays a significant role in putter design. A design that works as a putter but produces unpleasant sounds at impact will be retooled to remove or adjust the pitch of the tones produced. “Looks great but sounds awful” is not a viable market strategy.
Very quickly, achieving what I’ll call The Toulon Sound became the design mission for the Toulon Tulsa.
Love is the Anser
The Toulon Small Batch Tulsa design started out as a Toulon Austin. The Anser-like Austin was then modified to generate the sought-after sound. The face thickness was changed to generate a deeper impact sound.
Face milling, bumper shape and even the neck shape were all targets for tonal adjustment while searching for the ideal sound.
Speaking of the neck, the H5 flow neck provides more toe hang than a traditional plumber’s neck. I appreciate the aesthetic of the rear of the neck meshing seamlessly with the rear of the topline.
It’s such a clean transition and gives the Tulsa an amazing look at address.
Final thoughts on the Toulon Small Batch Tulsa
Overall, the Toulon Small Batch Tulsa is a very understated design, especially for a limited-edition putter. Like the Tulsa’s sound, this minimalist aesthetic is also intentional and intended to represent an Art Deco design style.
Did you know Tulsa is also a great place to travel to if you want to see Art Deco-style architecture?
Since the Tulsa is made from the 904L “Rolex” stainless steel, let’s use a watch example to explain the elegant simplicity of the Toulon Tulsa. Some days, you want to wear an extensively complicated Rolex Daytona on your wrist. Other days, the simple elegance of a Rolex Submariner is the proper selection.
(Hypothetical, of course, since I own neither watch.)
Regardless, the more I learn about the city of Tulsa, the more curious I get. Great music, arts and championship-caliber golf courses? Count me in.
Find out more about the Toulon Golf Small Batch Tulsa Putter at ToulonGolf.com
FAQ: Toulon and Sons Small Batch Tulsa Putter
Seventy-five Small Batch Scotland putters will be available worldwide from the Toulon website.
Sometimes, less is more. By limiting the engraving and stamping on the Tulsa, Toulon allows the curves and character of the metal to take center stage. In many ways, this putter reminds me of the putters made by Byron Morgan, where a couple of stamped lightning bolts and Byron’s name stamped in the cavity were enough decoration to make the putter pop.
I’m not quite sure that the music scene and history is on the same level as it is in those two cities. However, the more I learned about the history of the city, the more I began to think that the Tulsa Sound is worthy of more exploration. There are a whole bunch of interesting looking venues for live music in Tulsa. I would welcome a weekend or two checking out the scene.
Sure thing. The population is just a bit above 400,000, making it the 47th most populous city in the nation and it sits along historic Route 66. Oil production was big business in Tulsa and at one time it was called The Oil Capital of the World. That is where all the money came from for the Art Deco buildings in the 1920s, by the way.
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