Tigerwood earns its name honestly. Reddish-orange background, bold dark flame stripes — lay it across the crown of a mallet and the whole putter looks like it's moving while it sits still. It's one of the boldest woods I build with, and one of the toughest.
Signature Design · The Savanna
Savanna — Zebrawood & Tigerwood FATTY
$305 — Tigerwood flame stripes meet Zebrawood pinstripes
CNC-machined to exact tolerances, hand-finished in the shop — and ready for your custom engraving on the top and sole (+$40 at checkout).
Design Yours → Add to CartWhere Tigerwood Comes From
Tigerwood — also sold as Goncalo Alves — comes from Central and South America, primarily Brazil. The heartwood is a warm russet to reddish-brown with irregular dark brown-to-black streaks: the tiger stripes. It's famous in flooring and decking circles for one reason — it's extremely hard and wear-resistant. The same toughness that survives decades underfoot makes it terrific in a golf club.
What Tigerwood Brings to a Putter
Movement in the grain. Where Zebrawood's stripes are orderly, Tigerwood's are wild — flames rather than pinstripes. On a top plate the figure flows front to back, and the sun catches it differently from every angle.
Genuine toughness. Tigerwood is harder than Hard Maple and highly resistant to dents and wear. On the Tigris Regal we run it across the top and sole — the two surfaces that see the most contact — precisely because it shrugs off use.
Warm color that deepens. Like most tropical exotics, Tigerwood's background darkens toward a richer red-brown with sunlight, and the stripe contrast stays strong.
How I Work With It
Tigerwood's interlocked grain makes it a wood you machine with patience — it wants sharp tooling and the right feed direction, or the stripes tear at the edges. Sanded out properly, though, it takes our gloss finish like glass and the figure gains real depth, almost three-dimensional.
When Tigerwood carries the face, the strike zone gets our laser-engraved texture — engraved to a consistent depth chosen so the face grips the ball at impact and starts it rolling sooner, with less skid. The engraving reads beautifully against the flame figure. You'll find Tigerwood leading several current builds, from the Tigris Regal to one-of-a-kind FATTYs and lefty builds.
Tigerwood FAQ
Is Tigerwood the same as Goncalo Alves?
Yes — Tigerwood is the common trade name for Goncalo Alves, a Brazilian hardwood known for its flame-striped figure and exceptional hardness and wear resistance.
Is Tigerwood good for a putter face?
Very — it's harder than Hard Maple, giving a firm, crisp strike, and its wear resistance is among the best of any wood we use.
Will the stripes fade over time?
No — the background deepens slightly with sun while the dark streaks hold, so the contrast actually matures rather than fades.
From the Shop
Pick Your Putter — Every One Can Be Engraved
Add custom engraving to any putter for $40 — just select the option on the product page.
The Bottom Line
Tigerwood is for the golfer who wants motion, warmth, and a putter that will physically outlast their swing. Flame stripes over precision machining — the showpiece that's secretly the workhorse.
Make Your Mark on the Green
Every TimberTouch putter is designed in CAD, CNC-machined to exact tolerances, and hand-finished. Pick yours and we'll engrave your story into it.
Shop All Putters →First Look at New One-of-a-Kind Builds
Many of our putters are one of a kind — when they're gone, they're gone. Join the list and see new builds and engraving ideas before anyone else.
Share:
Putter Fitting at Home: Length, Weight, and Style in 10 Minutes
What Is Pure Roll? Skid, Face Grip, and the First Foot of Every Putt