Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto Putter

• The Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto putter is named after the college location of professional golfer and club maker Bob Rosburg.
• The Toulon Palo Alto is based on Rosberg’s iconic Rossie mallet design.
• Available Oct. 24 at ToulonGolf.com with a MSRP of $1,800.

The home of Stanford University

The Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto is named after the city where Stanford University is located. However, the “Palo Alto” is not really referencing the city nor Stanford University but rather one of golf’s often-overlooked and historical figures who played there college golf at Stanford.

No, not that Stanford golfer.

It’s not Tom Watson, either. The Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto was inspired by a major-winning golfer who also spent years in the ABC broadcast booth.

If you are under a certain age, you’ve probably never heard of this golfer but I bet you’ll recognize the name of the mallet putter he designed.

Some guy named Bob

The Toulon Small Batch Palo Alto is named after the location where Bob Rosberg played college golf. Everything makes sense now doesn’t it?

No?

Were Bob Rosberg’s six Tour victories including the 1959 PGA Championship not enough to make him memorable to you? Being that I was negative years old at the time when he played, I didn’t know who he was either … before this putter.

That said, I have heard of the putter he designed that was eventually named after him and I bet you have as well: the Rossie.

Specifications: Toulon Small Batch Palo Alto Putter

• Material: 904L stainless steel / 7075 aluminum sole plate
• Construction: CNC-milled
• Finish: Midnight Blue
• Face: Spider Web Milling
• Neck: H5 mini slant
• Toe Hang: 45°
• Offset: One-half shaft
• Loft: 3°
• Lie: 70°
• Weight: 360 grams
• Shaft: Black stepless steel
• Grip: Toulon Mid-sized Dark Blue Pistol
• Production run: 75 
• MSRP: $1,800

A historical mallet in a field of blades

Though it seems impossible, given today’s mallet-rich landscape, there was once a time when mallet putters were uncommon, if not altogether absent. Blades were the thing and mallets were likely viewed as just a crutch for poor putters.

Though that “crutch” mindset continues to this day, mallet usage has exploded in the past couple of decades.

At the time, Bob ‘Rossie” Rosberg’s putter design was an outlier and he was one of the few professionals playing a mallet. If we are to trace mallet evolution back to its origin, the Rossie no doubt was the common ancestor of many modern mallets.

Innovations abound in Palo Alto

I view what goes on at Stanford University with awe and admiration. The research innovations at Stanford are next level and the medical facility there is the reason why a good friend of mine is alive today.

Football may only thrive when Christian McCaffrey is there but the rest of the university is all amazing, all the time. That little university in Palo Alto is one of the epicenters for innovation and advancement in our society.

In that, I see why Toulon would name this putter after Palo Alto. The modern Rossie originated with the Bob Rosberg design but it has evolved and improved since its inception.

The Palo Alto shape is similar to the current Odyssey Ai-ONE Rossie S. It has broad, sweeping edges, a top line for alignment and a short slant neck. The new Spider Web milling is a little shallower than the traditional Toulon diamond milling, likely firming up the feel a touch.

Overall, it is a little deeper, and maybe a bit more bowl-shaped than the original Rossie design, but it looks like a Rossie to me.

Final thoughts on the Toulon Small Batch Palo Alto

Most surprising about the naming of the Palo Alto putter is that it references a Stanford golfer other than Tiger Woods. As it turns out, quite a few other amazing golfers were also smart enough to get into Stanford. Some well known, others not so much.

Though part of the Stanford Golf Hall of Fame, Bob Rosberg was not a name I knew before seeing this putter.

I knew the Rossie name, though. In fact, an Odyssey Rossie was my first “real” putter back in the ’90s. Arguably, I can blame at least part of my current putter obsession on Bob Rosberg. Were he still alive, I don’t know if I would send a thank-you note or hate mail.

Regardless, the Toulon Small Batch Palo Alto is a cool limited-edition putter. From the origin story to the engraved trees on the sole plate, it brings something special to the table. Stanford grads and maybe even a certain Arizona State grad would be happy to plop the Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto in their bags.

Find out more about the Toulon Golf Small Batch Palo Alto Putter at ToulonGolf.com

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