Pro Platinum Big Sur

The 2002 Big Sur marks the redesign that pulled the model into the Pro-Platinum Series, and the maker's page describes it plainly: "The Big Sur was re-designed in 2002 and became part of the Pro-Platinum Series, known for its crisp sound and feel." That's a departure from the Classics-era Big Sur that preceded it, and the changes are specific rather than cosmetic.

The head itself moved to a heel-shafted setup, paired with what the maker calls "a slightly thinner profile and stiffer, proprietary, single bend shaft that has no offset." The redesign also added thicker walls where the shaft enters the head, which the maker's page ties directly to "better sound and feel." Length holds at 48 inches, with loft at 4 degrees and lie at 80 degrees, and the grip was changed to a split, round grip.

Set against its own line, this release sits at a hinge point. The 2001 Classics version carried a 4.5 degree loft, 79.5 degree lie, and a black oxide finish under the older construction. The 2002 Pro Platinum version is the first to carry the new heel-shafted head and thicker-wall construction, at 4 degrees loft and 80 degrees lie. That same head and shaft design carried forward into the 2003 Studio Stainless version, where the maker's page repeats the "slightly thinner profile and stiffer, proprietary, single bend shaft" language nearly verbatim and adds a milled 303 stainless steel head. The 2002 Pro Platinum Big Sur, then, is the year the redesign debuted before the material changed again the following year.