If you know a guitar-loving golfer (or a golf-loving guitarist) who’s glued to the Masters this week, this might be the perfect putter for you.
Golf-obsessed guitar luthier Jimmy Carbonetti has once again teamed up with Toulon Golf for a special, limited-release putter with ties to Augusta National architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie just in time for the Masters.
You may recall Carbonetti, who makes instruments for members of bands like Guns ‘N Roses (Richard Fortus), Bush (Chris Traynor) and the Black Keys (Pat Carney), collaborated with Toulon on two previous limited releases.
The relationship started when Carbonetti was introduced to Toulon Golf co-founder, Tony Toulon, through a mutual friend. The two had a common link.
“Jimmy, you know, you got to meet my buddy, Tony,” Carbonetti recalled being told to GOLF. “He plays guitar, and he’s into golf.”
Carbonetti works out of his shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn where he crafts the sole plates for the Toulon putter collaborations. But despite the obvious differences in their use and design, he says making putters isn’t all that different from guitars.
“It’s really similar,” Carbonetti said. “It’s basically functional art. And you’re making something for an artist or professional who’s most of the time some of the best at what they do.
“So [Toulon is] trying to make the best instrument for a putter for a pro, and I’m trying to make the best instrument for a musician who’s a pro who all they have to think about is either making the putt or playing the right notes. They shouldn’t be thinking about the tool in their hands.”
The limited edition Toulon Carbonetti Meadow Club certainly qualifies as functional art. The putter’s namesake is the Meadow Club, just north of San Francisco, home of the first U.S. design of Augusta National and Cypress Point architect Dr. Alistar MacKenzie.
The head was designed by Tony Toulon and his father and Toulon Golf co-founder Sean in order to replicate the mallet-style putters Dr. MacKenzie used. It’s made from 904L Stainless Steel — the same grade used for Rolex casings — applied with a black PVD to give it a “piano black” finish.
But the wood used for the sole plate comes from what used to be one of the Meadow Club’s most unique features. Since the course was built, a rare madrone tree stood tall near what would eventually become the fourth tee. In 2022, the tree was deemed an environmental hazard.
Meadow Club was already special to the Toulon family with Tony and his brother Joe having played the course many times during their time on the University of San Francisco golf team. So when they learned the tree was being removed, Tony and Carbonetti started working with the club to acquire the fallen tree and use its timber for the sole plates on the limited run of putters and two matching guitars.
“It’s all about the story,” Carbonetti said. “Anybody can make an instrument, a putter, a tool, but what does it have that grabs you beyond visual? So love the story and love the meaning of where things come from.”
The Small Batch Carbonetti Meadow Club will be available exclusively on ToulonGolf.com on a first come, first served basis. Carbonetti said there would be fewer than 100 putters will be made available for $2,000 each.
