We recently caught up for a conversation with Marcus Potter, PGA Tour putting coach and founder of Potters Putting, who is also a Scotty Cameron influencer and has worked with multiple major tournament champions.
You're based in Portland, Oregon?
That's kind of a home base for me. But I do spend a little bit of time in Jacksonville, as well. Portland, Oregon and Jacksonville, Florida.
Tell us about your background.
I was the Oregon Junior Amateur champion in high school (2010) and played college golf at San Jose State. I always had a passion for putting. It was something I was always interested in. During my senior year of college, I started an Instagram account. And that's kind of what led me deeper into the world of putting. But it all really started just with me having an interest in putting. I grew up with a putting green in my backyard, so I was always able to go hit putts or chips. Having a passion for something I excelled at turned into a teaching career.
What was your first experience with Scotty Cameron putters?
For someone who's been around golf my whole life, I never really played too many Scottys on my own. I knew a bunch of good players who did, and I always thought they were really good looking putters. But I used the same putter from when I was 13 through college. I never really switched. What changed for me was when I started coaching and got out on tour. The products and the service that you guys have is the ultimate package. I felt like the products were high quality and custom made. And your team does a really good job making specific putters specifically for certain players. The service to the players is great. That's what really drew me to Scotty Cameron. I felt like my ethos and Scotty Cameron were the same. We kind of go about stuff similarly. And Drew Page and Brad Cloke out on tour we got along great. They were kind of my initial intro to Scotty Cameron.
What are you gaming right now?
I have a Timeless, smooth face. I love that thing. I've had it for a couple of years now.
You're a blade guy versus mallet?
Definitely. I've got more of a hook style stroke, so that definitely matches the blade better for me. I've never really been able to get the balance with a mallet. Putters have changed a lot over the last couple of years, just in terms of people going to more of a forgiving design. But at the end of the day, you still have to hit a good putt.
Who are some of the players that you're working with out on tour?
Right now the three guys are all Titleist players: Justin Thomas, Jimmy Stanger and Lee Hodges. Lee Hodges is my longest standing player.
How many tour events do you go to per year?
I can actually give you a breakdown of that. I calculated it all out this year. So, the 2018-19 season, I did six events. That was my first season. The 2019-20 season, I was at 18 events. The 2020-21 season, I did 23 events. In the 2021-22 season, I did 21. 2022-23, I did 24 events. And then in 2024, I will have done 31 events. So I traveled quite a lot.
Share your thoughts about online putting lessons versus in-person.
This relates to the whole foundation of everything for my teaching career, really. The first lesson I ever gave was online. And so I've started from that to having given thousands of online lessons since. I travel the tour frequently, so I will give online lessons in my hotel room. I gave a couple of lessons while at the Masters this year, which I thought was kind of cool. With the frequency of my travel on tour, I don't really have a set location to teach from, so I'm always on the move. Teaching so much online versus in-person has been the interesting thing for me. I started selling lessons in 2017, so I got into the online side of teaching before Covid. And ever since Covid specifically, you've seen pretty much every kind of golf coach get into online lessons. It's kind of changed the golf industry a little bit, honestly.
So, an online lesson involves the student sending pre-recorded video of themselves?
Yes, a recording. I ask for a ten foot straight putt because it gives me a little neutral-ness to their stroke. Using that pre-recorded video I'll send it back with a voiceover and talk about what I like about what they're doing, what I want to change, and then videos on how I want to change it, and why we're doing that. It's pretty cool to get to do that. And the people that I've met. The results are interesting too, because I've found that it definitely makes people kind of take more ownership of their lesson and their putting stroke.
It puts the responsibility on the player to complete the work?
Yes. As opposed to if I'm just telling you in person, it could go in one ear and out the other. If I gave you some instructions and you go to the putting green and you're like, okay, this is what I have to try and do. You have it on video. And then you can try and figure it out from there.
What issues do most golfers struggle with as it relates to putting?
It's all setup related. The most common thing I'll see is the player's weight gets too far back. The ball gets too far forward. And that gets the shaft leaning really too far back. And then from there you just you have to make a lot of compensations to try and make contact and hit a solid putt. Whether it's a professional, beginner or high level amateur, if you have a good setup—and that's what I work on with most people—it makes the stroke tend to happen more naturally and everything's much more repeatable day-in and day-out.
Is there one drill or technique that you recommend to all players?
I have become a big fan of a metronome. It's something that you can work with at home or anywhere that creates the consistency and the timing and the tempo of the stroke. This is a foreign concept for most people if you really think about it. But in reality, for the most part, every stroke should be approximately the same time.
So if you're hitting a 3-footer versus a 50-footer, it should take about the same time to hit that putt. Which means on that 50-footer, you have to really pick up the pace on the back stroke of the overall stroke. That's one thing that I've seen make a huge difference, with tour players and amateurs. I've seen speed control, start line, all aspects of putting get dialed in just by them working on the timing and tempo of the stroke through a metronome.
Tell us about your Tap It In app.
It was something that came to life out of necessity. I'm currently working on it with a statistician on the PGA Tour and a couple developers. It's relatively new and available for free in the App Store, but it's allowed me with guys on tour and with online students to have a better understanding of what's actually happening during their putting practice.
Using the app, you can run a nine hole practice game on the green. It tracks the statistics you enter to give you a look at your total performance. For example, if you pull the first three putts and hit three good putts, and then the last three holes you pull one or two. So, you pulled four putts and you had five good putts. You do that over five sessions and I've got a pretty good understanding of what's actually going on with you. And then that helps me in return build the program for you, or see what's actually going on technically and then being able to build a plan from that.
What can you tell us about your upcoming YouTube series?
We're all pretty excited about creating more engaging content and videos to educate the consumer. Genuinely educating the consumer on some of the basics when it comes to setup and tempo of the stroke and giving people ways to use Scotty Cameron putters better.
What are your goals going forward regarding your partnership with Titleist?
I think the biggest thing is to continue to grow and learn together, because I feel like whether it be Paul or anyone at Scotty Cameron...I've learned a ton and I think I provide a different insight as well, from a market perspective and just honestly from a slightly different generation. I really love the relationship I have with everyone right now and I'm looking forward to what the future holds.