A Custom Fit

Edel Golf, a legendary leader in putter fitting and club design for more than 25 years, brews a new beginning in north Denver.

by Andy Bigford

As the glamorous showcase for 21st-century club technology, driver fittings have become standard protocol for most serious golfers. Beckoning with a wide assortment of multi-adjustable clubs and shafts in a rainbow of colors, these nowubiquitous, testosterone-fueled affairs offer a resource-laden path to hitting the longest ball possible. Meanwhile, the tool that is used more than twice as often— and is generally considered to be the king of all “scoring clubs”—gets virtually ignored.

“It’s unfathomable,” concludes Cameron Morton, the head professional at Lake Valley Golf Club in Niwot and an insightful authority on both golf technology and instruction. Don’t misconstrue: Morton loves those extravagant driver demos and the stunning results they can deliver for his members. What he can’t stomach is the relative neglect shown to custom fitting for the all-important putter—a club that can easily add or subtract a half-dozen strokes in a round. While Morton continues to lobby the major clubmakers to give putters more respect, he’s gone to great lengths to ensure the short stick gets the attention it truly deserves at his own course.

In 2017, Morton traveled down to Liberty Hill, Texas, the then-headquarters of a tiny but legendary company that for more than 25 years has been the leader in bespoke putters. Its founder, David Edel, is a near-mythical figure among gear aficionados, a philosophical renaissance man whose PGA Tour dreams were scuttled by a balky, confounding flat stick. Moving on to become a globetrotting teaching pro, Edel was constantly reminded that “golfers are always searching for a putter that works for them.” His solution was obvious: “The wiser choice is to have a putter that’s made for them.”

So that’s exactly what Edel did, designing a fitting process and then hand-building custom putters for a growing, cultish clientele that included several high-profile names, including PGA Tour players. In an ever-evolving mission to bring science into what many still consider a black art, the Edel Alignment System (EAS) now uses biomechanics and laser technology to capture every element of set-up and stroke. It then dials in a near-infinite number of adjustments, including grip, putter head type, alignment lines, loft and shaft length.

As a certified Edel fitter, Morton excelled as the brand’s pied piper in northern Colorado. He extolled the merits of Edel’s unique approach to putters, then fit and sold the company’s other offerings as well, including revolutionary irons and weight-adjustable wedges. David Edel had designed and built the single length irons Bryson DeChambeau used to win the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Amateur in 2015 (before jumping to a big contract with Cobra), and he eventually brought the concept to market. Meanwhile, Morton’s evangelizing on the benefits of the custom-made putter produced astonishing results, with fully one-third of Lake Valley’s members becoming converts—while forking over $450 for the privilege.

“I’d pay twice that,” says Lake Valley member and Edel devotee Matt McCullen, a 9-handicapper who is now on his second set of Edel irons and wedges. As an architect with a keen eye for both process and design, he’s a disciple of all things Edel—and worships his game-changing Edel Brick putter.

“It might end up in my casket,” he says. “You’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands.”

New Owner. New HQ

Three years after Doug Coors first tried an Edel putter, he bought the company. Coors, who hails from the renowned Golden brewing family, worked for two decades as an innovative executive at CoorsTek, the billion-dollar behemoth that manufactures technical ceramics for a wide array of industries, from aerospace to automobiles. A graduate of the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in engineering physics, Coors has been described by colleagues and co-workers as smart, honest and genuine, with a particular bent for manufacturing processes and environmental sustainability.

A very youthful appearing 55, Coors actually grew up in Oregon, where his best friend was former PGA Tour player Craig Kanada. He now carries an impressive 3.1 index, loves the game, and has played it around the world. In Colorado, he’s stayed true to his family’s roots as a longtime member of Golden’s scenic Rolling Hills Country Club, where he also lives.

Coors had developed a surf park in Austin (which he eventually sold to Kelly Slater) and was familiar with Edel, which was located 40 minutes to the north. Through a friend, he was recruited to visit the Liberty Hill facility and offer suggestions on improving its manufacturing. The trip included the nice bonus of a putter fitting, and Coors came away thoroughly impressed with the process, product and potential. In early 2020, on the eve of the pandemic, he acquired full ownership from founder David Edel and his partners.

In late December, Coors moved Edel’s headquarters and assembly operation into a 4,000-square-foot facility in north Denver, which will allow the company to meet growing demand in the wake of Covid. With a grand opening planned for mid-April, it will also house world-class fitting facilities, where Coloradans can now be fit by a team of master fitters. (Liberty Hill will continue to offer fittings while focusing on developing prototypes in its boutique-like Machine Shop).

A quick learner, Coors has already sat through some 200 fittings. The experience has only reinforced his view that while design in putters and wedges has progressed, the fitting and adjustability process have not kept pace. Edel is a tiny company, and through the years it has struggled with profitability. Selling about 3,000 putters annually, and roughly the same number of wedges, Edel has 350 certified fitting locations in total and a dozen in Colorado, including major players Club Champion and GOLFTEC. Edel shares similarities with Bettinardi, which was founded in 1998 but lacks Edel’s custom-fitting emphasis. In the U.S., more than 90 percent of Edel’s clubs are indeed custom fit. Ironically, in Edel’s largest market, South Korea, it sells all stock product, with consumers buying based on reputation alone.

There is ample room to grow, especially with Coors’ capital and a focus on improving efficiency in operations. Besides the foundational EAS putter builds, Edel offers a Swing Match System (SMS) in both irons and wedges. SMS features three weights, and the ability to move the heaviest weight to either the heel, middle, or toe to achieve the optimal strike. Edel wedges also come in five grinds, ranging from the P (players) to the D (digger, for a steep angle of attack).

SMS full-set irons debuted with a forged, hollow- body players distance version; Lake Valley’s McCullen was so impressed that he ditched his beloved original, single length set. The new irons come with traditional, variable length shafts; the company has discontinued the single-length line, partly due to shaft supply issues but also because of sluggish demand. In January, Edel unveiled a second SMS model, a pure players version, hailed by the company as “the most technologically advanced players iron ever.”

Edel pricing is beyond easy: including fitting, the cost is $450 for putters, $250 for irons, and $200 for wedges. Better yet, in a golf retail climate still suffering post-pandemic supply chain issues, Edel usually ships product within seven to 10 days of order.

To help get Edel to the next level, Coors in fall 2021 hired a new chief operating officer with an intriguing background. Rocky Hansler is a native Texan who was a former student and teacher with the legendary Harvey Penick. Most recently, Hansler held a series of high-level e-commerce and digital marketing positions, but earlier in his career he spent a dozen years working in the golf business for Golf Digest, Golfsmith and the PGA TOUR.

In the Name of the Founder

When Oregon native Edel moved his company to Liberty Hill, he did so with another project in mind, building a “lost MacKenzie” course, El Boquerón, in the Texas Hill Country. As a serial entrepreneur who has created products ranging from fragrances to custom flyrod reels, Edel has now left his namesake company to pursue his dream of bringing the Alister MacKenzie design to fruition. Edel’s talented CMO, Chris Koske, has also departed, becoming the senior vice president of marketing for SkyTrak in the robust launch monitor category.

Edel marketing manager Blake Whittemore likens the current Edel climate to that of a fastmoving startup, but one with a storied history. The company still has a deep bench of gear junkies, including David’s talented son, Nico, a former DII college golfer who handles putter builds and limited runs. The design engineer is Preston Smith, who, like Coors, is a graduate of the School of Mines. Edel will also utilize outside design consultants as it builds out its Denver team, with an expected staff of 18 employees.

Coors and Hansler are committed to following the founder’s legacy, while also expanding its footprint. “(David) did things for the right reasons,” Coors says, noting that Edel’s highly individualized products were always grounded in a deep understanding of the golf swing and mechanics.

“We’re a company of golfers for golfers,” adds COO Hansler. They both know that their customers—whom founder Edel once likened to the “high-hanging fruit”—are loyal and passionate but also demanding.

“We need to innovate. We need to grow,” Coors says. “And we have a really great team to do it.”

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Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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