A Top-of-the-Line Putter Alignment Tool

The Dirty Larry Navigator may be the most effective aid we’ve seen for lining up putts

By Tony Dear.

Dave Nastalski remembers very well the first time he played Larry Feistel. “He took $55 off me,” says the 2013 graduate of North Carolina State’s PGA Golf Management program. “He was getting on a bit, and didn’t hit the ball very far, but man could he putt.”

At the time, Feistel, now in his early 70s, was the starter at the Arnold Palmer-designed Lonnie Poole Golf Club, NC State’s home course in Raleigh. A scratch player in his day, he had lost some length and finesse, but was still dynamite on the greens and would often take the students’ cash. So potent was his putter in fact, the course professional posted a picture of Feistel in the pro shop with a sign saying “Don’t play with this guy, he’s dirty.”

“Larry instinctively knew his putter face was square,” says Nastalski. “His stroke reminded me of Billy Mayfair’s a little. He cut across the ball, but it was so effective. He very rarely missed from inside ten feet.”

Feistel practiced by taping pipe-cleaners and sandwich bag clips to his putter to act as alignment aids. Nastalski was naturally curious and spoke with Feistel about the possibility of marketing his idea, and together the two formed a company in 2012 – Dirty Larry Golf.

They raised $200,000 from private investors, and received $35,000 from an over-subscribed Kickstarter campaign – cash that enabled them to make and reject nine prototypes before finally deciding on a design they both approved. They called it the Navigator, which made its debut at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

The Navigator’s adjustable arm clamps to the putter shaft and suspends an alignment rod a few inches above the ball. “I like to say it acts like a scope,” says Nastalski. “It shows you exactly how the putterface is aligned. Practice putting with it for just a few minutes, and when you remove it, your mind’s eye sees the line. We tested players with SAM PuttLab software after using the Navigator, and found their aim and direction improved dramatically.”

The number of orders the company received began taking off in 2015 forcing Nastalski to leave his job at GolfTec, where he had worked as an instructor for two years after graduating, and go full-time at Dirty Larry.

“The original plan was to sell the Navigator to instructors and coaches,” says Nastalski. “But the word got out pretty quick.” It even got a foothold on the PGA Tour, with Australian Cameron Percy, the first player to use it, adding it to his practice bag in 2016. Visit the company’s web site and you’ll see all the players that followed his lead – Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, Spencer Levin, Scott Stallings, Matt Every, Kyle Thompson and Ben Martin, as well as highly-acclaimed teachers Jim Hardy and Scott Hamilton.

Though the company first exhibited in Orlando three years ago, it’s possible many people first heard the name Dirty Larry last week, when the company’s commercials ran on Sirius FM PGA Tour radio during US Open coverage. It marked a significant step in the evolution of Dirty Larry, which will make another sizeable leap next year when it plans on launching a full range of training aids. “I can’t specify exactly what they will be yet as they are in development,” says Nastalski. “But we’re very excited to take Dirty Larry to the next level.”
$49; dirtylarrygolf.com

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