Making long putts ... Links courses ....

[Mike Benham]

For Tom Watson, it was the short putt that ultimately ended the dream.

However, he made a fair share of "bombs", long putts, 30, 40, 60 feet in length for birdies.  Go back to Constantine Rocca on the 18th at TOC for an electrifying moment in golf as a result of holing a long putt.

Without statistical data to back it up, are more long putts holed at links style courses then traditional US courses?

Assuming I am correct ,  why is that?  Are links greens a perfect blend of speed and undulation?  Are US greens too small?  Is it a matter that links greens have many little hollows and bumps that the golfer just picks a line and hits the putt, not worried about having to have the perfect line?

[Wayne_Kozun]

On links you can putt from off the green - wasn't the Rocca putt that you referred to from off the valley of sin which is well off the green.  On most US courses you would be chipping not putting as the course isn't firm enough for putting or the grass is too long - think of Tiger's chip in at 16 in the Masters a few years ago where the ball briefly hung on the lip or Mize's chip in.  Don't forget that some links courses, particularly TOC, have double greens where you can have extraordinarily long putts from on the green - in the US these would likely be chips coming from the rough.

As far as putts on the green I think you see as many long putts in the US as in links golf. Watson got lucky a few times at Turnberry which is often required to win a tournament.

[JESII]

Mike,

Despite the overwhelming amount of evidence you presented I am going to have to disagree with your premise...I would suspect the greens in the US are larger than on links and that alone would explain a higher percentage of long putts made here than there...

Re: the Valley of Sin...I thought the green dipped down the slope, maybe not to the bottom of it, but part of the Valley is mown as green, no?

[Anthony Gray]

  Mike,

  I would have to agree with you. I have wondered the same thing. For one thing with the slower green speeds in the UK you can be a little bolder.

  Anthony

[JESII]

...from 40 feet?

[Anthony Gray]

  Exactly Jim...you can really give it a wack insted of hitting that soft lag. Just seams to make since.

  Bump

[Brent Hutto]

I think Watson's fusillade of long putts was just what it looked like, a guy putting like a demon and having everything fall his way for 71 holes in a Major. No need to invoke "links golf" as a mitigating factor. I'd think medium-speed greens like at Turnberry result in fewer really long putts made than the lightning fast and true greens on most U.S. PGA Tour courses. I've heard good putters say that the faster the greens the better your chances of making a 20, 30, 40 footer. I would assume that extends to 60 feet and beyond just as well.

[JESII]

Anthony,

Shouldn't that be cents?

[Michael Dugger]

Hale Irwin dropped a bomb on the 18th at Medinah

I can remember Crenshaw sinking some long ones at Augusta en route to his first victory in the Masters

Tiger made a nice one against Bob May on one of the playoff holes in that epic battle

[JESII]

I made a 40 footer at Hogs Neck in Easton, MD in 1997 during a college golf tournament...

[Anthony Gray]

Anthony,

Shouldn't that be cents?

  Sorry Sully................And I've been doing so well, I'm going out to golf with Garland in two weeks. Wait til you see our tatoos.

  Anthony

[Wayne_Kozun]

Here's Rocca's putt on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCf5UeVU1us.  It looks like he was just off the green - and he doesn't appear to mark the ball which would seem to clinch it that he was not on the green.  I forgot that he chili-dipped his chip just beforehand.

The clip spends a lot of time in close-ups with Daly and wife du jour - presumably one of the Exes that wears Rolexes.

[Ulrich Mayring]

Links greens are hard and therefore less susceptible to spike marks and other damage during play. Irregularities are few, I have never putted on truer greens than on links greens.

Ulrich

[Tom_Doak]

The greens at Turnberry (and some other championship links) are relatively flat, so you can bang a 40-footer at the hole and not worry about breaks which reduce the margin of error for holing a putt.