About Kramski

The Company

KRAMSKI GmbH has its headquarters in Pforzheim, Germany and has been in business since 1978. The mid-sized, family owned company is one of the best tool and die companies in the world with more than 400 employees worldwide on 3 continents and 4 production facilities spread among Germany, the USA, India and Sri Lanka.

Milling

Over 30 individual work processes are required to allow the extraordinary geometric contours of the HPP series to take form.  Thanks to the 3D milling procedure, with every head worked from a solid block of material, each one produced is identical. The detail in the head's design is so precise, it takes up to 6 hours to complete one head before it moves on the hand-crafting stage  where another 2 hours is spent hand polishing.

The Founder

Kramski was founded by Wiestaw Kramski after he won a competition offered to aspiring entrepreneurs in Germany. Wiestaw's business plan caught the judges' eye and he came first, ahead of 1200 other applicants. Today his company is very highly regarded. He is known as a genius in his field of expertise and is constantly solving complex problems for companies worldwide.

The precision ground putter insert

The filling of the face insert is a special high tech plastic and metal-alloy mixture which is poured into the milled head of the putter and allowed to harden over 10 hours. Once the mixture has cured completely, it is then precision ground to the required loft, accurate to within 0.003 of a millimetre.  The insert offers a hard durable surface which becomes one with the putter head, resulting in a soft feel and exceptional feedback at impact. The putters are perfectly face balanced and the matt finish eliminates glare.

The Idea

A very keen golfer himself, Wiestaw Kramski decided to design himself a putter. This was after being frustrated by the relatively poor quality of putters available on the market which fell short of his high standards of design and engineering. Starting with the same state of the art 3 dimensional software that is used for industry giants like Bosch and Siemens, he then used the company's extensive tooling machinery to produce a prototype model.

Alignment

A putter which is off line by 1 degree at impact on say, a 12 foot putt, will result in a putt that is 16cm off centre when it reaches the hole. To help combat misalignment, Kramski putters have a distinctive sight system on two levels, with alignment lines running along the back. The half circle frames the ball at address and identifies the sweet spot. The perfectly flat sole assists in aiming, keeping the putter square to the target.

The Development

After a development time of three years, followed by 11 stages of optimisation and two trials at St. Andrews, the Kramski High Precision Putter HPP 330 was finally confirmed to comply with R&A as well as USGA standards. Willi Hofmann, Bernhard Langer's trainer and coach of many years, was thrilled with the Kramski immediately he tried it and commented: “This is the best putter I have ever held in my hands”. This significant expert opinion provided the initial spark that was needed for Kramski to introduce the precision-milled Limited Edition HPP 330 to the market at the beginning of October 2004. Kramski have since established themselves as a highly regarded brand on the Challenge and European PGA Tours, played by several top golfers.

Premium Golf Director, Alex Nicolson, visited the factory in Spring 2009. He remarked: "It's like no factory I've ever seen. It felt more like a McLaren workshop. The machinery, the robotics, the people involved are all geared to complete precision. The golf department is genuinely standard setting." and speaking of the man behind the putter: "Wiestaw is a legend. He brings a much needed different approach to putting design. His putter is almost an extension of his personality - he is focused on function - and in this case the function is holing more putts".