It took a playoff, but in the end 19-year-old Jordan Spieth took the hardware at the John Deere Classic and became the youngest player to win on the PGA tour in over eight decades. But the “hardware” in this case isn’t just your run-of-the-mill trophy. The striking bronze sculpture is the work of master sculptor Malcolm DeMille, who uses 3D Systems’ Geomagic Freeform to design and produce everything from original trophies to a range of collectibles.
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| Malcolm DeMille with some of his creations. |
“In designing trophies for PGA Tour events it’s always important to find a way to highlight the company sponsor and present them in an appropriate way. John Deere Company is recognized as the premier supplier of golf course maintenance equipment worldwide. So, it was natural to incorporate the signature golf hole on their own course into a design that has their logo deer leaping across the fairway,” he says.
For this particular piece, Malcolm used Freeform to refine and resize hand-sculpted wax pieces that were scanned into Freeform. In fact, he still likes to sculpt by hand, especially when creating natural, realistic pieces. “I like the feel of clay and wax,” he says. “I can create quickly and more fluidly this way.” After hand sculpting he makes technical adjustments within Freeform; these adjustments enable him to make good working models and molds for reproduction.
You can catch more of Malcolm’s trophies at PGA events around the world, like the AT&T National, the Greenbrier Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship. Check out this video to see more about Malcolm’s methods, and stay tuned in the coming weeks for a full case study on Malcolm’s work.
You can catch more of Malcolm’s trophies at PGA events around the world, like the AT&T National, the Greenbrier Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship. Check out this video to see more about Malcolm’s methods, and stay tuned in the coming weeks for a full case study on Malcolm’s work.