Austie Rollinson is the chief designer for putters at Odyssey and has worked on iconic models such as the Two-Ball which has gone on to be one of the most successful model of all time.
He’s made putters for many of the world’s best players working closely with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Henrik Stenson and more recently, Rory McIlroy.
If you look a bit more closely at his surname, it’s no surprise he ended up working in putters.
Mickelson was very quick to praise Rollinson after his Open victory at Muirfield in 2013. The designers has made putters for Phil at very short notice on a few occasions…
But how did he get into one of the most important jobs in the golf industry?
We met him at the PGA Show in Orlando to find out…
Where did you grow up?
New Jersey.
When did you first get into golf?
I was probably seven or eight years old when I started playing golf at my dad’s club.
What was your first job in golf?
Probably a caddie at the club for special tournaments when they needed extra bodies. I was in high school at the time so about 14 or 15 years old.
How did you get from there to where you are now?
I went to college as a physics major so when I was graduating I thought about what I was going to do.
I knew I loved golf so wanted to try and combine the two and looked to get an advanced degree in engineering but then decided not to do that.
Also, I looked at going to landscape architecture school to maybe become a golf course architect.
After deciding against all of that I looked at getting a PHD in physics but my dad said I needed to get a job.
