Ryan Duffey poses with custom Meridian putter heads. 

Finished putters (left) are ready to be shipped, while others still need to be gripped. 

Putter heads have been cut from a single block of 303 stainless steel. 

Duffey with a block of 303 stainless steel, used to manufacture Meridian putters. 

Ryan Duffey poses with custom Meridian putter heads. 

All the signs were pointing toward Ryan Duffey getting into the golf business.

In 2020 and ’21, the pandemic slowed work orders for his machine shop, Engineering Resource Center in Germantown. For fun, and with little else to do, in the fall of 2021 he produced a small batch of Ryder Cup-themed putters under the name Meridian and they quickly sold out on Instagram.

As Christmas approached that year, Duffey marketed a Black Friday sale of Meridian putters online, thinking he’d sell a few more.

“We sold 60 putters in 24 hours,” he said. “I mean, we could barely make them. I told everybody, ‘You’ll have them by Christmas.’ I came in the shop and the guys were like, ‘How are we supposed to do this?’

Finished putters (left) are ready to be shipped, while others still need to be gripped. 

“There were these nuggets where I was like, ‘Wow, OK, that went well.’ That’s when I knew Meridian might be more than just a hobby.”

Then, last March, his landlord asked him to sign a 10-year extension on the 30,000-square-foot building he was leasing. That was the tipping point.

“To me it was a sign, like, this might be the time to jump in with both feet to Meridian,” Duffey said. “Putters had always been sort of in the back of my mind. That has always been a ‘wouldn’t it be fun to do that’ type project.”

Duffey took the plunge. He downsized his company and moved his machinery into a 10,000-square-foot building in Brookfield. Engineering Resource Center had done some contract work for Nike Golf before Nike shut down its club manufacturing business, and Duffey reconnected with that company's engineers.

“I reached back out to some of those old contacts,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing these days? I’ve got machines, I’ve got steel and I want to make some golf clubs.’ One of them said, ‘I’d love to do it. I worked on Nike’s putters. I can help you with the geometries and I can help you get the balance and talk to you about the science behind it.’”

Duffey, a longtime member of Blue Mound Golf & Country Club who plays to a plus-1 handicap, plans to officially unveil Meridian Putters at the 70th annual PGA Merchandise Show, Jan. 24-27 in Orlando. There are four models: Charleston, Okatie, Tybee and Edisto.

“The guy who designed our putters is very talented," Duffey said. "I have confidence in him and his expertise. We have a great engineer designing these clubs. These are really high-quality putters.”

Duffey with a block of 303 stainless steel, used to manufacture Meridian putters. 

"What I want to be able to do is offer golfers the opportunity to have a high-quality, machined putter made in the USA that is not just a stock offering that you get at a big-box store. You can get your initials on it. You can color it a certain way. You can put your company’s logo on it. And you can do all that without having to make an uncomfortable payment.”

Unlike some of the big OEMs such as TaylorMade and Ping, which mass-produce cast putters, every Meridian putter is milled from a block of 303 stainless steel.

Cast putters, made from hot metal poured into a mold, are less expensive to manufacture but can result in inconsistencies across the face. And in many if not most cases, the golfer is buying the putter off the rack at a sporting goods store or golf shop.

There is no such thing as a “stock” Meridian putter. The customer configures his or her putter, from shaft length and grip to custom face treatments. Meridian thus will compete with other companies that produce precision milled putters, such as Scotty Cameron and Bettinardi. While those putters sell for $500 or more, every Meridian putter costs $250.

Putter heads have been cut from a single block of 303 stainless steel. 

“We’re automated here,” Duffey said. “There’s (three) guys who are making the shop run. So there’s not a lot of direct labor involved, which means we can keep our prices very competitive. What I want to be able to do is offer golfers the opportunity to have a high-quality, machined putter made in the USA that is not just a stock offering that you get at a big-box store. You can get your initials on it. You can color it a certain way. You can put your company’s logo on it. And you can do all that without having to make an uncomfortable payment.”

Duffey hopes to write a lot of sales orders in Orlando and is ready to ramp up production.

“This is sort of the introduction to the professional side of the golf world,” he said. “We’ve been on the social side and the niche side. We’ve had people say, ‘Can we get 60 putters with our logo on it?’ Over this last summer the answer was, well, no. But now that we’re set up, that’s definitely something we want to offer. We’re excited about it.”

Ultimately, Duffey would like to get a Meridian putter in the hands of a PGA Tour or LPGA Tour professional, but that’s not his main goal.

“Honestly, I’m sort of a manufacturing guy,” he said. “I like making a good quality product. I like making it in the USA. I like providing value in this marketplace. I feel like there’s an opportunity. Just watching it sort of grow the way it has, it’s been very fulfilling and it’s been exciting. I want to be a really good putter company, making a nice quality product right here in Wisconsin.

“Selfishly, of course, I’d love to see a putter make its way to that world. But that’s not the objective. I want to make a good high-quality product. I want to sell it for an affordable price. I just want to see this thing become a nice company that I can feel good about. That’s really it.”

Duffey has signed a five-year lease with a three-year option on the building in Brookfield, so there is no turning back. Meridian Putters is here to stay.

And whether he sells 1,000 putters or 100,000, he’s having the time of his life.

“At the old Engineering Resource Center, I enjoyed it, but this is way more fun,” he said. “I used to deal with Kohler (Co.) and Briggs & Stratton or some of these big companies. You’d go to these meetings and I’d be staring at engine parts. All this old industrial stuff.

“Now, I look at these putters and my mind is racing. Who can I talk to? How can I get in front of this group? It’s fun.”

Gary has covered golf in Wisconsin since 1980 and is a multiple award winner in the GWAA writing contest. He was inducted into the WSGA Hall of Fame in 2017 and joined Wisconsin.Golf in 2018 after a distinguished career at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

The week's top news and feature stories delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. 

The latest "D'Time with D'Amato" and "Hidden Gems" reviews from Gary D'Amato and Dennis McCann.

Alerts on the biggest news when it happens.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

The week's top news and feature stories delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. 

The latest "D'Time with D'Amato" and "Hidden Gems" reviews from Gary D'Amato and Dennis McCann.

Alerts on the biggest news when it happens.