American Classic 3

The American Classic 3 line is Scotty Cameron's reworking of the bullseye shape, and the record holds two releases under the name: the American Classic 3 and the American Classic 3 Heavy Flange. Both take the center-shafted bullseye form as their starting point, but the two releases push it in different directions, one closer to the original's proportions, the other built up with a wider flange.

Reviewers who put the two side by side kept coming back to that same word, bullseye, and to the sense that Cameron had modernized rather than replaced it. Best-putter.com called the standard American Classic 3 "a simply gorgeous reworking of the Bullseye shape," pointing to new materials and workmanship, while adding "Still not that forgiving, though!" The Heavy Flange drew a similar mix from the same outlet: "If you like the classic center-shafted bullseye putter shape, and you want an updated version then the Scotty Cameron American Classic 3 Heavy Flange is the best one we've seen. The feel is firm, but you'll probably get used to it. The roll is excellent." Other opinion on record for the Heavy Flange credited it with a bigger sweetspot than the original bullseye and an elegant, well-crafted shape, but flagged the off-set hosel covering the leading edge as a real aiming problem, and warned the firm, hard click feel and the putter's behavior made it a poor fit for slower greens under nine or ten on the stimpmeter.

Best-putter.com's own reporting on the Heavy Flange fills in some of what separates it from its sibling: a wider flange than the original bullseye flanges, a line on the back of the flange, and an off-set hosel described as covering the heel, feel logged as a hard click, and length noted at 33 inches, with head weight described, somewhat contrary to the model's name, as not that heavy. That last note is worth sitting with, since a Heavy Flange that reviewers and the publication itself describe as not particularly heavy says something about how the name was chosen versus how the putter actually plays.

Across its two releases, the American Classic 3 line reads as a single idea worked twice, the bullseye reimagined once in a form closer to its roots and once bulked up in the flange with a look toward more forgiveness. Whether that bulk delivered forgiveness or just changed the feel and the aim is left unsettled by the record, with praise for the roll and the craftsmanship sitting right alongside complaints about the hosel and the click.