LogicalOne Putter: "An excellent putter, a wonderful story and a great cause"

So maybe I’m not cynical enough, especially not for a golf and travel journalist. Maybe, upon hearing a story about a father and his critically ill son designing a putter together, I should suspect exploitation, opportunism, and greed.

But gosh darn it, upon reading the story behind the LogicalOne Putter, instead of a twinge of disdain, I get a little verklempt.

I won’t try to re-tell the story, so here’s a thumbnail taken directly from the website, written by putter designer Kelly Thompson:

“The ’story’ behind this putter is one that is very close and very special to me. This putter was designed and developed by me, with the aid of my 6 year old son. Not only by just watching him and understanding how kids adapt to the game of golf, but by learning from him that strength and belief are key elements in life.

“You see, in 2003, my son, at the age of 3, was diagnosed with a blood disorder/autoimmune disease called ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura). This is a disease where, in simple terms, the antibodies kill the platelets and there is no cure. Obviously platelets play a crucial part in the blood clotting process and the normal human body count/range is 150,000 to 400,000. When my son was first diagnosed with ITP, his counts were at 3,000, which is life threatening. To this day, I can not believe how close I was to potentially loosing my son.

“Anyway, I am not trying to make this a ‘pity/sob’ story, but I made a promise to myself that I would have more strength and more belief in life after seeing what my son went through with all of the hospital visits (when his counts get low he needs to go in for a two day infusion process) and how much strength and belief he had while doing so. I have also determined that a portion of each sale will be contributed to the PDSA (Platelet Disorder Support Association), which provided us with resources and information to help us get through what we have been going through.

“This putter will soon be available and my son and I are looking forward to and are excited about this golf season and are hoping to make a big impact…..in and out of the game of golf!!”

And here’s a picture of Kelly Thompson and his son Kendric.

I will, however, summarize what makes this father-son duo’s mallet putter unique (besides the story): Like pretty much every putter on the market these days, it has a built-in alignment aid, in the form of sightlines extending from the face to the back of the putter head. Unlike other alignment aids, though, there are three sets of sight lines: one set that is the width of the hole, one set that is the width of the ball, and one set that is the width of the sweetspot of the putter.

I haven’t tested one yet, but this strikes me as potentially very clever, and, well, even logical.

The Thompsons were aided in the development of their putter buy another great family-oriented golf equipment designer, Mike Tait of SMT Golf, which is a nice story in and of itself.

The LogicalOne Putter can be purchased directly from the website for $209, which includes extra grips, hat, T-shirt, and information about Kendric’s disease (ITP) – called collectively “The Awareness Package.” Numbered limited edition models are also available for $249.

I like this story, and from the looks of it, I like this putter. You want cynical, you go to my pal Chris Baldwin.

Call me a big softy, if you will. Call me sentimental. Just don’t call me late for my tee time.

The LogicalOne Putter