Undergrad Designs Metal AM Adjustable Golf Putter

Caroline Means, an undergraduate in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, has been working on a metal AM project that could make it easier to experiment with golf putters. The project’s goal is to allow golfers to adjust parts of their club to find a better stroke, rather than having to buy a new club. It also could help equipment manufacturers reimagine their prototyping and design process.

Caroline Means, an undergraduate in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, has been working on a metal AM project that could make it easier to experiment with golf putters. The project’s goal is to allow golfers to adjust parts of their club to find a better stroke, rather than having to buy a new club. It also could help equipment manufacturers reimagine their prototyping and design process.

For the last year and a half, Means has been designing a putter using an advanced metal-depositing 3D printer that is usually used to make aircraft parts. Working with Jud Ready, principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the idea was to be able to adjust the putter’s key characteristics, toe hang and loft, and explore new kinds of face materials.

The team’s prototype putter is made from stainless steel with an innovative shaft attachment method that allows for continuous adjustment of the toe hang. Its face inserts are made of either metal or a polymer. The inserts come in a variety of angles to adjust the club’s loft. They can be combined or stacked and easily removed via a unique attachment system.