Misplaced Effort

[Jason Topp]

I find it extraordinarily strange that the USGA and R&A would choose to attack anchoring of putters at the same time it is consistently making significant and detrimental changes to shrines such as the Old Course, Merion,  in order to make them relevant to host championships.

http://golfweek.com/news/2012/oct/17/usgas-davis-tries-sell-anchoring-ban-tours-players/

I do not have a strong view as to whether anchoring should be legal or not if the decision were made in the abstract.  However,  I think it is a silly issue when players have depended on anchoring for 30 years to make a living and the approach was used by a legendary putter - Billy Casper - 60 years ago.  The issues posed by anchoring are to me so minor in comparison with issues posed by how far the ball flies.

[Jim Sherma]

Jason - I agree entirely. I have heard of no classic architecture needing to be altrered due to some shlub using a long putter. By addressing this but not the driver/ball combination, the powers that be are losing a lot of credibility in my eyes.

(For disclosure purposes, I do use a broomstick but have shot good numbers with a shorty this year. I made the move a few years ago because I was having dissiculty practicing enough due to my back. I find that not only can I practice more comfortably with the long putter but it takes less practice time to maintain my stroke with the long putter. At no point have I felt that I am a better putter with the long putter than I was at my best with a short putter, or that I think I could still be with a short putter given sufficient practice time.)

[Mark McKeever]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

[Mark Smolens]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

+1

[Jim Sherma]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

The drivers need to be addressed as well. If we were all using Big Bertha's and version 1 Tour Burners (with the dimples on the side of the head) the balls would be less of an issue. It's the physics of the combination at high head speeds that is the problem.

[Rick Shefchik]

Like Jim Sherma, I switched to a long putter this year because I was having painful back problems and couldn't practice putting -- and I needed to practice, because my short putting was atrocious.

I putt better with the long putter. It does feel like cheating in a way, since my anxiety over three-footers has disappeared. I make more short ones than I used to, and I would be sorry at this point to go back to the short putter.

But that wouldn't be my primary objection to a ban. I know some guys who would have quit golf if they hadn't turned in desperation to the long putter -- a game-saving option that's been available for 30 years now. Is the USGA really going to remove anchored putting from the game after three decades, and after three major championships have been won with the long putter? Good luck with that. While they're at it, they might want to try Prohibition again.

The USGA had a chance to ban long putters when they were first introduced, and passed on the opportunity. Were they waiting until long putters became popular and successful? What kind of leadership is that?

[Mark Pritchett]

This is the same crowd that felt compelled to roll back grooves.  Does not seem strange to me one bit.  

[Sam Morrow]

This is the same crowd that felt compelled to roll back grooves.  Does not seem strange to me one bit.  

Which brings up a interesting question. Has anyone noticed a difference if they play the new "tournament" grooves? I like them, I've got a Mizuno 52 and a Scratch 58, with the new grooves my wedge shots hit and stop, now I don't have to worry about sucking back wedge shots. I think the new grooves have made things easier.

[Mark McKeever]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

The drivers need to be addressed as well. If we were all using Big Bertha's and version 1 Tour Burners (with the dimples on the side of the head) the balls would be less of an issue. It's the physics of the combination at high head speeds that is the problem.

Agreed Jim.  Let them play with Titleist 975D's again.  I still have mine in the basement.

mark

[Sam Morrow]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

The drivers need to be addressed as well. If we were all using Big Bertha's and version 1 Tour Burners (with the dimples on the side of the head) the balls would be less of an issue. It's the physics of the combination at high head speeds that is the problem.

Agreed Jim.  Let them play with Titleist 975D's again.  I still have mine in the basement.

mark

Bad idea, that was a long driver. Go further back.

[David Cronheim]

I wish they would go after the friggin golf ball so that we don't see 400 yard drives..

Mark

The drivers need to be addressed as well. If we were all using Big Bertha's and version 1 Tour Burners (with the dimples on the side of the head) the balls would be less of an issue. It's the physics of the combination at high head speeds that is the problem.

Let's also not forget the effect of strength training. You've seen a huge surge in golfers, at least at the pro level, lifting to increase strength and power. Combine that with the ball and the clubs and it's even worse now than it was when the problem started because golfers are generating even more swing speed.

[Brent Hutto]

Let's also not forget the effect of strength training. You've seen a huge surge in golfers, at least at the pro level, lifting to increase strength and power. Combine that with the ball and the clubs and it's even worse now than it was when the problem started because golfers are generating even more swing speed.

I'm sure there's a committee of Old Farts at USGA as we speak, working on possible ways to legislate away strength training. And they definitely need to ban those video setups that let you see your swing from three angles in real time as you're practicing.

[Terry Lavin]

Jason,

The members at Merion agreed to change their golf course.  They want the Open, whether they want it for history, for money, for ego satisfaction or for whatever reason.  A club has the right to say "no", after all.  They almost always say, "yes" when the Open comes calling.  Blame the club, not the USGA. 

[Jason Topp]

Jason,

The members at Merion agreed to change their golf course.  They want the Open, whether they want it for history, for money, for ego satisfaction or for whatever reason.  A club has the right to say "no", after all.  They almost always say, "yes" when the Open comes calling.  Blame the club, not the USGA. 

I disagree Terry.  I want to see the US Open at places like Merion. 

[Terry Lavin]

Jason,

The members at Merion agreed to change their golf course.  They want the Open, whether they want it for history, for money, for ego satisfaction or for whatever reason.  A club has the right to say "no", after all.  They almost always say, "yes" when the Open comes calling.  Blame the club, not the USGA.  

I disagree Terry.  I want to see the US Open at places like Merion.  

You're getting your wish.  It's a golf course, not a shrine or a museum, and the members have gratefully altered the course to suit the organization that will help the club make millions of dollars.

[jeffwarne]

The usga can't ban the long putter
They need them to  help dig their heads out of the sand

[Ken Moum]

The usga can't ban the long putter
They need them to  help dig their heads out of the sand

They aren't, apparently, going to ban long putters.

They are going to ban anchoring--whatever that means.

There's no possibility that a rule against anchoring will eliminate broomstick putters.  More than a few users have testified that it's possible to putt very well with one without the club or the upper hand being anchored.

It will eliminate the use of the belly putter in the manner that Keegan Bradley and others use them.  But Matt Kucher uses one without anchoring, and others might well adopt that technique if the rules change.

The whole thing is stupid. Folks used to be offended by the appearance of the broomstick, now they are offended by the nature of the belly putter stroke.

I am good putter and have used both belly and long putters enough to have a pretty good feel for how effective they are. The long putter is a specialized tool and take more than a little work for most people to use effectively.  I never did get to where I could putt a lick with one.

Similarly, I tried belly putters several times and putted awful with them.

Then I realized that no club in the bag requires more careful fitting and more careful stance and setup than the belly. And that, IMHO, is why I think you see so few of them in amateur ranks.

Mine are only about 39" long, and I can't use one that' more than a half-inch longer. I also have to flatten the lie about 8* in order to be able to aim it. Finally, the anchor point and ball position have to almost perfectly in sync. I like having the ball off my left foot, and that requires that i anchor the butt on my left hip.

How many flat-lie, 39" belly putters have you ever seen in a pro shop?  Vijay and Stewart Cink used belly putter that were almost 10 inches longer than mine.

In the end, I putted great for a while with the belly, ended up making about five of them out of putters I owned that were too heavy for me, and after about a month I went back to my short putter.

Just for the hell of it, and partly in defiance of the fools in the ruling bodies who think THIS is important today, I pan to use one of them tomorrow.

K

[Pat Burke]

I quit playing for a few years.
Worked a few jobs, started teaching.
Decided to start playing a little.  With the extra 40 pounds I've gained,
my standard length putter IS a belly putter now