Putter loft and consequences

[Thomas Dai]

As the game, agronomy techniques, the standard of greenkeeping equipment especially mowers but other equipment too has developed so the degree of loft on a putter face has declined and declined quite considerably with 2*/3* being pretty standard on modern putters.
With sustainability and environmental considerations becoming ever more important within the game would a minimum limit on the loft of a putter, say 5*/6* as was the case a couple of decades ago, encourage a return to higher heights of cut, less stressed putting surfaces, less required inputs, less input costs and overall better environmental and sustainability characteristics etc?
Mind some folks still use older era more lofted putters.
Chicken and egg, egg and chicken?
Thoughts?
Atb

[David_Tepper]

Please, you are grasping a straws (or maybe grass clippings ). Do we really need another (very difficult to enforce) regulation regarding golf equipment?


Suppose it is mandated that all putters must have a minimum loft of 5* or more. What will stop someone from bending the loft on their putter to a lower loft? Will every tournament site have to have a loft/lie machine to check each putter used in the event?

[Charlie Goerges]

I'm super on board with higher heights of cut, but I agree with David that this won't cause that. Even short of people actively cheating, you can just play the ball back in your stance or forward press in order to deloft the club legally.


Edit: But let's definitely try to change the culture around this!

[Matt Schoolfield]

The only thing that will change the race to the bottom is a cultural change. Fast greens are en vogue, and that’s a shame. My main complaint at the Fried Egg trip to the meadow club was the ridiculousness of stimping so high on highly contoured MacKenzie greens.


We’ve already gone as far as butchering the Eden hole, it’s really just shameful.


Like all the pushback to a rollback, the problem is that people actually want this nonsense, not realizing it’s 50% keeping up with the oakmont’s and 50% hedonic treadmill.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

With sustainability and environmental considerations becoming ever more important within the game would a minimum limit on the loft of a putter, say 5*/6* as was the case a couple of decades ago, encourage a return to higher heights of cut, less stressed putting surfaces, less required inputs, less input costs and overall better environmental and sustainability characteristics etc?

I'd just play the ball back a little and/or forward press more. This would be a terrible regulation. It'd make almost all existing putters illegal and has a relatively easy work-around.


The loft of the putter is the reaction to the green speeds, not the other way around.

[Pat Burke]

Would possibly lead to more players looking at armlock style putters, which usually require more loft to work effectively

[Thomas Dai]

Now mirror the point.
Should there be a minimum height of cut?
atb

[Kyle Harris]

Now mirror the point.
Should there be a minimum height of cut?
atb

Yikes, no.

The Rules of Golf do not speak to maintenance standards and for good reason.