Caddies lining up putts for their players

[lordnazgul2]

Here is one for thought, do you think that a caddie should be allowed to line up a putt for their player. Im not talking about helping read the putt but rather where the caddy stands directly behind the player and lines them up for the putt. The likes of JB Holmes springs to mind.

I personally think that it should not be allowed and here is the reason. Putting is a skill and crucial part of the game. If a professional is unable to line themselves up to putt then as far as i am concerned they have a major flaw and therefore are not good enough to play the highest level. Imagine in pool or snooker if the player were to have someone line them up for each pot, it would not be fair and one would have to question the ability of the player.

Let us know what you think and why.

[beachbreak]

It should not be allowed.

[Big_M]

Not to threadjack... but what is even more annoying is how on the LPGA many of the woman use their caddy to line up EVERY single shot. If you can't line yourself up with a driver or iron... get the hell off the course.

[pshizz]

Not to threadjack... but what is even more annoying is how on the LPGA many of the woman use their caddy to line up EVERY single shot. If you can't line yourself up with a driver or iron... get the hell off the course.

i agree. These people are being paid to play, they should be able to line up a shot. Also i think it slows down play, which is never good.

[goblue107501]

I think it would be an embarrassment for a professional golfer to have help lining up a putt. If you are playing at that level and can't line yourself up 2 balls outside the right, you should either suffer the consequences, or find another line of work. I don't ever think to much into a putt, but I can put the ball where I want to. Haven't they ever heard of spot putting? Pick out a target 6-8 in front of the ball to line up and hit that spot.

That being said, I have a friend who can not, repeat CAN NOT, line himself properly for putts. It is so bad, that if you tell him to line up outside right edge, he might be 3-4 inches outside left before he hits. The guy carries a 4-5 handicap , but can't putt to save his life. We figured out a few years ago during a scramble that if I stand behind and tell him where to line up he will make more. Sure enough he made about 6-7 putts that day that he normally wouldn't have. Ever since then when we play, if we are not playing against each other, I will help line up his putts. He figures he makes about 50% more putts when I play with him, and if nothing else, gets all of them on the line we choose.

[HSip]

I think it would be an embarrassment for a professional golfer to have help lining up a putt. If you are playing at that level and can't line yourself up 2 balls outside the right, you should either suffer the consequences, or find another line of work. I don't ever think to much into a putt, but I can put the ball where I want to. Haven't they ever heard of spot putting? Pick out a target 6-8 in front of the ball to line up and hit that spot.

That is really curious. On the other hand must give you a pretty confident feeling if you're playing him match play.

[Bourbon and Coke]

I think it would be an embarrassment for a professional golfer to have help lining up a putt. If you are playing at that level and can't line yourself up 2 balls outside the right, you should either suffer the consequences, or find another line of work. I don't ever think to much into a putt, but I can put the ball where I want to. Haven't they ever heard of spot putting? Pick out a target 6-8 in front of the ball to line up and hit that spot.

Why doesn't he just use the alignment aid on the ball to line up his putts then? I mean it's so simple. Read the putt, approach the ball marker and line up the aid, retreat a few yards and confirm alignment, then line up the putter head with the aid and putt.

If aim is his problem, it should be an easy fix. If reading the greens and finding speed is his problem, then he needs work.

[johnL7]

This shouldn't be allowed, I think that these guys who are playing at such a high level should have to line up the putts themselves.

[goblue107501]

That is really curious. On the other hand must give you a pretty confident feeling if you're playing him match play.

It can be fun to play against him at times. We always play straight up, but his lack of putting skills make up for it. The problem is he never loses a ball and hits a bunch of greens, so he makes a ton of pars.

Why doesn't he just use the alignment aid on the ball to line up his putts then? I mean it's so simple. Read the putt, approach the ball marker and line up the aid, retreat a few yards and confirm alignment, then line up the putter head with the aid and putt.

He has no problem reading greens, it is just his alignment. He does everything right, he just can't see how he is lined up. Nothing works for him. He uses an Odyssey 3-ball putter and it still doesn't help. It does make it real easy for me to line him up.

[Bourbon and Coke]

Tell him to use the method I just described with any putter with a single sight line.

If he can read the greens, then he can see the alignment from behind the ball. That's the whole point; all you have to do when you're over the ball is make sure your putter's aiming line is aligned with the ball's aiming aid.

[runwme]

That being said, I have a friend who can not, repeat CAN NOT, line himself properly for putts.

Same thing was happening to me. It was extremely frustrating missing even the shortest of putts. Turns out it was because I am very right eye dominant, and even when I would mark line on my balls, line the ball up, I still wouldn't trust it.

I was advised to try putting left handed, and now I am putting 1000% better. I am right handed, play right handed and putt lefty now. Its more common than you may think.

[iWALK18]

I personally think that it should not be allowed and here is the reason. Putting is a skill and crucial part of the game. If a professional is unable to line themselves up to putt then as far as i am concerned they have a major flaw and therefore are not good enough to play the highest level. Imagine in pool or snooker if the player were to have someone line them up for each pot, it would not be fair and one would have to question the ability of the player.

I respectfully disagree, and have an issue with your logic.

Reading a green is "a skill and crucial part of the game". Judging conditions is similarly a skill. Figuring distance is a skill. But these are all things where a caddy may help, so just because something is a crucial golf skill doesn't always mean it is up to the player. So I think you need a better or clearer reason for thinking it should not be allowed. Whats the difference you see between helping a player line up a putt and helping him read the break?

[iWALK18]

i agree. These people are being paid to play, they should be able to line up a shot. Also i think it slows down play, which is never good.

In almost every case on the LPGA, it takes all of 5 seconds (often much less) for the caddy to line a player up, it doesn't take any more time than most other pre-shot routine steps. I actually like it a lot because it definitely makes a player more confident.

On the putting front, what slows down play is not a caddy helping to line up a putt, but rather having players taking the extra 30 seconds to line up the line on their ball with the intended line of the putt.

[mcfc_nick]

i completely disagree with caddies not being able to line them up! they are there to help the player throughout their round! there's no difference between helping read the break and lining them up! if you stop them doing this then you might aswell stop them from helping choose the right club to play!

[DBake]

Not to threadjack... but what is even more annoying is how on the LPGA many of the woman use their caddy to line up EVERY single shot. If you can't line yourself up with a driver or iron... get the hell off the course.

Did Brian Gay's caddie do this for him this week at Harbor Town?

And no I do not believe lining up putts or shots should be allowed...

[RC]

I have no problem with caddies helping read putts or talking about alignment, but I think all this should be done before addressing the ball. Once the ball is addressed, I would prefer the caddie should not be allowed on the line or an extention of the line behind the ball. It's not that big a deal to me, but personally it looks weird to see some one over a shot and their caddie adjusting their aim. That seems dangerously close to assisting the stroke. The caddie cannot physically move the players shoulders or hand position, etc., why allow them to advise after address?

A unique situation arises when hitting to a blind target (such as an approach where you cannot see the flag.) The caddie can go forward and stand or indicate the line of flight, but before the stroke, I think he should move away from the line. I don't remember whether this is required, and I have seen caddies hold the flag aloft so you can see the hole location, or go forward and stand on a hill to indicate the direction of a shot. That seems less "intrusive" in some way.

In a nutshell, the easy proposed rule would simply say that once a ball is addressed (the club soled,) no competitor nor any caddies should be permitted on the line of the shot or putt, including an extension behind the ball. This would negate caddies aligning players from behind while addressing the ball -- so I guess there would be some opposition to this idea, especially some LPGA players.

I need to go read the rules and the decisions on the rules again... for about the 100th time.

[Neco]

Playing professional golf is a team sport. A team of two people, the player and the caddie.

[lordnazgul2]

I respectfully disagree, and have an issue with your logic.

While i do completely agree that all of those above mentioned are skills, they are undoubtedly things that the golfer is able to do for themselves. If a golfer is completely unable to read a putt then there is no way they could have got where they are, and anyone can read a yardage book (generally) and work out yardages.

The caddie is not allowed to place the ball on the ground for the player, and is therefore not allowed to physically line it up, how is standing behind their player telling them to move an inch left any different to that? If a professional player struggles with their alignment, they should spend a lot of time with their very expensive coaches and gadgets and get it fixed, rather than relying on someone else to do it for them.

In a nutshell, the easy proposed rule would simply say that once a ball is addressed (the club soled,) no competitor nor any caddies should be permitted on the line of the shot or putt, including an extension behind the ball. This would negate caddies aligning players from behind while addressing the ball -- so I guess there would be some opposition to this idea, especially some LPGA players.

I totally agree with this, its simple and makes a lot of sense.

The reason i have posted this poll is that i was watching the european tour and one of the players, Gonzalo Fernandez Costano spent a lifetime being lined up for putts by his caddie and it got very irritating. If he's thhat poor at putting then he shouldnt be playing for money!