The New Scotty Cameron: Toulon Golf is bringing the “most exquisite” putters in the world to market

We sat down with owner, founder, and club designer Sean Toulon to discuss his latest putter series, life back as an independent brand, and the future of the game

Sean Toulon, founder of Toulon Golf, is a man who isn’t content to sit and watch the world go by. Having received his big break from Gary Adams at TaylorMade Golf in 1982, he’s been at the cutting edge of club design ever since with models under his belt that include the iconic 300 Series woods and irons, the still impressive R510 Driver, the first adjustable weight driver model with the R7 Quad, and plenty more (M1/M2 woods, the R11, and the Spider putter series for you younger golfers reading this).

He signed on with Callaway Golf in 2016, spearheading the reinvigoration of their Odyssey Putter department until 2023 when he decided to return to his namesake company, briefly started in 2015 before Callaway’s job offer brought the business into the Odyssey fold.

The industry titan now has a more personal, yet just as singular, goal in mind: Can he, with his boys in tow, craft the most exquisite golf equipment on the market today?

It’s a difficult task for sure, and one that Sean acknowledges hasn’t been easy, with 100-hour work weeks for himself and his sons, Tony and Preston, to get the family business into the best position for it to succeed going into 2024 and beyond.

If the First Run putter collection released earlier this year is anything to go by, though, there’s no doubt that Toulon Golf is going to be setting several benchmarks in the putter space going forward and we’re truly excited to see the direction the company goes in.

As Mr Toulon says himself, the design philosophy in the company is summed up in six words: Always New, Always Cool, Always Rare.

So rather than have you read any more of our opinion, we’d rather you hear it from the man himself. You can listen to the full, nearly one-hour interview with Sean Toulon by heading over to our YouTube channel, but if you don’t have time and you’re saving it for a freer period in your day, we’ve highlighted three of our favorite learnings from our time together.

The USGA and R&A got the ball rollback wrong

“I think they goofed with the golf ball.”
“…and I get that Bryson [DeChambeau] should probably play with something different.”

When asking Mr Toulon about where he sees the future of the game, there was no hiding his opinion on how the governing bodies have gone about the rollback of the ball technology due to come into play in 2028.

The way Toulon sees it, the USGA/R&A decision to do a blanket rollback has done zero favors to the future of the recreational game. Yes, the professional game is gaining distance at a rate that should be addressed, but it shouldn’t ever come at the cost of the weekend player who can’t get close to the speeds of these Tour Pros.

Toulon isn’t just making putters this time

“You’ll notice that I didn’t just say putters.”

This might be my favorite quote and discussion from the session. I’ve been a Toulon putter fan for a long time, the combination of innovation in materials and face designs, as well as the stunning craftsmanship of the putters has always appealed to me as a traditional blade player.

Feel free to sift through the back catalog of eye candy Small Batch putters at your own leisure.
The idea that I might be able to soon see a set of irons or wedges bearing the brand’s exacting touch is really exciting (Sean, if you’re reading this, please: Left-Handed blades, lil’ bit of offset, traditional lofts, thanks)!

I’ll even be happy just to see a Toulon Golf-branded hoodie and bobble hat…

AI technology is only just scratching the surface

“How [Callaway] is using Ai is so different from how everybody else is doing it.”
“You used to get five [iterations in a club life cycle], now you get tens of thousands… the speed at which you can improve a product is way faster now…”

For our Gear Head followers, this is probably some of the best news to come from an industry insider. The idea that we may be approaching a slowdown in new club technology has felt like the coming apocalypse: we love being able to see if there’s a difference in clubs year-on-year, looking for that tiny little tweak that pushes our numbers to higher and higher peaks.

To have someone who knows the design space so well, yet doesn’t have a stake at play in it, confirm we’ve got more to unlock with equipment in the future is music to our ears.

For the full interview, don’t forget to visit our YouTube channel here.

About the Author

Lewis Daff

Lewis joined the Today’s Golfer digital team in 2024, having spent more than a decade in both big-box golf retail and independent stores working as a club fitter and builder.

Experienced with every level of golfer, from beginner to professional, he has achieved Master Fitter and Builder status with most major manufacturers, including Mizuno, Taylormade, and Callaway, helping him to cement both a wide and deep knowledge base, ideal for helping guide golfers towards the correct equipment for them. Lewis specializes in Clubs, Shafts, Training Aids, Launch Monitors and Grips.

In Lewis’ bag is Titleist GT3 Driver (9º) with Fujikura Ventus Black, TaylorMade SIM Max Fairway Woods (15º and 18º), Wilson Staff D9 Forged 3-iron, Srixon ZX7 MKii Irons (4-PW), Titleist SM9 Wedges (52º, 60º), Toulon San Diego Putter, and the Titleist ProV1X Left Dash.

Talk to Lewis about why steel shafts are now dead and graphite is the only way forward, or any other equipment you’d like to debate, via his email, Instagram, or Bluesky.