The Proof Is in the Putting—and a $10,000 Check

PGA professional Ronnie Pritchett has done well marketing his line of putters, but sales may skyrocket after he used one of his own creations to win the inaugural at . The $10,000 winner's check will go a long way toward getting out Pritchett's message.

In a sudden-death playoff with Steve Vaughn, the director of instruction at The Crossings, Pritchett used his his Roundabout putter to sink a 25-footer on the first extra hole Sunday to claim the championship. 

In 2004, the Ramona resident founded Ashdon Golf, producing three putters out of his home workshop that he felt would improve a golfer's ability on the green. He widened the point of contact between the shaft and blade in the belief that torque could be reduced and yipped putts eliminated.

About 200 entrants in the professional field (there also was a contest for amateurs) played 72 par-2 holes on The Crossings' two-tiered practice putting green, with the top 72 qualifying for Sunday's final, which was set at 63 holes. After a morning cut, 24 golfers advanced, with Pritchett and Vaughn tying for first at 12-under.

Pritchett, 58, moved west in the mid-1990s after working as a teaching pro in the Southeast and on Long Island. The Los Angeles Times, in a 1996 story, reported on his Bermuda Triangle Putter (it "Makes Your Putts Disappear"), which Pritchett sold out of his garage in San Clemente.

His Ashdon Golf just happened to be the presenting sponsor for the putting championship, and Pritchett will use his prize money to secure patents for his products, which now include drivers, irons and golf balls. He sells his products on the Ashdon Golf website and at demonstration days at ranges and courses in the area.

"I’ve always worked extremely hard on my putting," Pritchett told the San Diego Union-Tribune after winning the Putting Tour title. "I’ve had a good touch for distance and a good eye. I’ve always felt like when I stood over a putt that I could make it."

And he's hoping his line of equipment eventually will be in the hands of golfers from beginners to Tour pros.

"I’m not trying to compete against the big companies," he told the U-T. "They can bury you. But I think there’s plenty of room out there for the small guy who had good products."