“Double Duty” Divot Repair Putter a real back saver

Mike Shumaker
Posted 2010-08-30

Every day in the world of golf a new gimmick comes to the market with manufacturer’s promises of improving your game if you buy the product. It makes no difference if it is a golf club, a ball or a great golf glove.

There are all types of great clubs, balls and gloves on the market today. Most fail to deliver on the promises of the manufacturer. Once in awhile a product comes along that has the potential to improve a player’s game, plus make it less strenuous on the body.

Walter Graves invented such a product. The Double Duty Divot Repair Putter is an interesting and very practical putter and divot repair tool combined. My reaction was probably a lot like yours. SURE, followed by a short laugh.

Mr. Graves completed course work in Architecture in 1966 and course work in Business Administration in 1968.

As the owner of W.H. Golf LLC, Mr. Graves specialized in sales. After selling textiles for 20 years and restaurant equipment for 10 years, he decided to design the putter that helps prevent back pain. The putter meets the USGA specifications and can be used by right or left-handers.

The whole process started because Walter experienced an illness in 2004 that left him unable to bend over to repair ball marks on the greens. For someone who had played golf most of his life and prided himself on practicing proper golf etiquette, a resolution to this problem became a big focus.

With many hours of research, Mr. Graves found there was a way to attach a divot tool to the head of the putter. The divot tool is attached to a great looking putter and meets the standards of the rules of golf according to the USGA.

For the average golfer, playing 18 holes of golf can be a very tiring experience. Performance suffers when you get tired, and we all know the shots get worse when tired. People with back problems, knee problems and just age problems have trouble bending over to fix their ball divot on the greens. That problem is now solved.

The “Double Duty” divot repair putter is made of 431 stainless steel with a 72 degree shaft angle, a 35 ½ inch shaft, 360 gram head weight, swing weight of F2 and 3 degree face loft. These specs allow the player to roll the ball with a little top spin which is so important to putting.

On the website for the Double Duty Divot Repair Putter it is mentioned that this putter has many features and benefits that will help the golfer. Like:

-- Divot repair tool, eliminating bending over.

-- Ball grabber, eliminating bending over.

-- Head cover, protection of clubhead

-- 3 degree face loft, true ball roll

-- 72 degree angle shaft, more comfort in putting stance

-- Stainless steel construction, long club life

The first time I learned of this putter was at the 2010 PGA Show in Orlando, Florida. As I walked around looking at all the products, I came upon a small booth that had a putter. Honestly it looked like some sort of weapon that could be used in time of war

I just couldn’t pass it up. I took some literature with a chuckle and moved on. A month or so after the show, I pulled out my bag of information and found the brochure.

After reading it, again with a chuckle, I started to think about the whole idea of what Walter Graves was pushing. Being a golf instructor for many years and still teaching around 15 golfers a week, I decided to test the value of this putter myself and use some of my older golfers to test it and see if it had any value. I bought a putter and started my testing procedures.

The first person in the testing was myself: Having putted with a Tommy Armour Iron Master since I was 13 — the same putter all these years — I wanted to know how it rolled the ball. The answer, to my surprise, was very well. Better than my antique putter for sure.

I felt comfortable over the ball and the putter had a very solid feel when striking the ball. You might ask: Did I change putters? No, I didn’t, too many years with the old one. I did find out that the Double Duty putter has a good feel

Over a period of four months, eight students, with bad backs or or some other problem that prevented them from bending over as well as they did in their younger days, tested the putter.

The testing started with me giving the players a DVD explaining how to use the Divot tool to repair a ball mark. The designer also included a card further explaining how to use the divot tool. A putting green demonstration concluded the teaching.

Each player used the putter for two weeks. The results were mixed. Two players liked the putter but did not do well in fixing ball marks. Two players liked the Divot tool and how it worked but they did not like the feel of the putter. Four players liked both the putter and the divot tool.

What can I say—not scientific at all, but it told me there is a place for this putter in the market today.

A nice feature of the “Double Duty” is each club comes with a ball grabber attachment. The benefit to you is you don’t have to even bend over to retrieve the ball either. The “Double Duty” divot repair putter is designed to make your day on the golf course as enjoyable and stress-free as possible.

I like the concept of the Double Duty divot repair putter—it tries to promote etiquette. From personal experience with the putter I found no problem fixing a divot and very much liked the feel and balance of the club itself. I must admit when I first saw it, I thought it was some sort of gimmick.

Well, I was totally wrong. I would recommend this putter to anyone. The putter does cater to a certain group of golfers. How big that group is, I just don’t know.

If you want more information on this putter, go to www.divotrepairputter.com or call 843-399-4043. The putter normally retails for $149.95.