I didn't realize the Stimp came in in 1977. It makes sense though because I can vividly recall the speed of our greens increasing dramatically not long afterwards. I remember hitting a putt into water and thinking wtf? That never happened before on that green. I was sure they were much quicker, but I don't recall anybody bragging about it - it just seemed to happen. I was a kid though so I probably didn't pay attention to some stuff. I can also recall two guys putting off another green end ending up 40 yards off the fairway! I never dreamed such a thing could happen to guys who knew the course like the back of their hands. Anyway, I was always told to keep the ball between myself and the hole on this course, but there were often ways to use shelves to slow the ball down if one was happy lagging a putt. Then, by 1981ish, things went haywire, balls just kept going so it really was a case of keeping the ball between the player and the hole or else suffer. I never quite liked this as an imperative because I always felt only good players could really control the ball that much and that everybody else would have a bevy of "impossible" downslope putts. I still feel that today with 10+ green speeds on contoured greens. Its painful to watch 25+ three putts in a round.
Ciao