The sad story of the ‘scientifically superior’ golf club

The Yar Oracle GX1 is a golf club. Specifically, it’s a putter, with a strange, cup-holder shape. Grantland’s Caleb Hannan first became aware of the Yar Oracle GX1 when he was trawling YouTube in an effort to improve his golfing skills. He found the club given a glowing review by long-time CBS announcer Gary McCord, and, intrigued, began to research the science behind the oddly-shaped Oracle. Its creator, Essay Anne Vanderbilt, rejected the prevailing wisdom of golf club design. Vanderbilt was no golf expert, but said she had honed her knowledge of physics working on secret projects at the Pentagon, and that her take on the putter would revolutionize the sport. Hannan was “ready to proclaim [Vanderbilt] an unknown genius,” but decided first to get in contact with the scientist for a routine interview to check her story was accurate. That interview didn’t go as planned. Instead, it led to an increasingly sad story of deception, disillusionment, and human psychology that unfolded over months in the cut-throat world of golf club creation.