Jeff,
I think for the pros, putting is a critical part of the game because it represents such a high portion of the total strokes they will take during the round.
Lets say on your average tour stop, your average pro shoots par of 72. With 18 greens, he's likely to putt about 27-30 times, (given a few greens he'll one putt, a few others he'll get it up and down after missing the green).
27-30/72 = 38-42% of his strokes during the round will be putts. He won't be anywhere close to using 1 other club in his bag anywhere near that % of the time. So i think it is important to regulate what is happening with the putter as it pertains to the "spirit" of the rules.
Kalen,
I'm not debating that putting isn't a "crucial" part of the game, although your math is a bit skewed in that it includes gimmes that would be made no matter what style or putting ability one has.
I'm saying golf has undergone a significant change for the worse with poorly regulated distance gains of the past 10 -15 years and that impacts every course, no matter what clever responses come back at me from the treehouse after my rant.
Good players are now 70 yards shorter than the pros/long hitters and average golfers are 100-150 yards behind them as they just don't get any of the benefits that a high speed swinger gets.
and to combat this we have new tees costing more money and further bifucating the game by having players all over the place playing different tees
(I say bifurcate the rules instead)
Does anyone really think changing the grooves did anything? (although I'm fine with that restoration of the rules as well)
I'm not supporting long putters, I'm just saying
that the USGA either can't see the obvious or simply goes after the battles it thinks it has a chance of winning (evidently Titleist has deeper pockets than putter shaft makers)
People love to hit it far and watch people hit it far, but that;'s absolutely all relative.
I didn't love golf any less when I watched Jack Nicklaus rip it 300 yards in 1975-seeing Bubba hit it 350 isn't any more impressive, particularly when 1/2 half the TOUR can fly it 290.
All of these distance gains result in the backward and game slowing thinking of "defending par at the green" or with deep rough and pinched "driving areas", instead of simply restoring the challenge of the entire game by limiting "bought" distance gains.
maybe though if they keep the long putters and people start making everything they'll start putting the contours back into the greens they've been flattening
in order to make them faster so they can challenge the players
That's sentence that makes my head hurt.
Seriously though Kalen.
The "spirit" of the rules.
with cheater lines? and caddies lining up players?
that ship has sailed