Tiger Wants to Ban the Long Putter

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

This reminds me of the underarm incident in cricket and how you can bowl a ball.

No  one said you couldn't do it - but it was a matter of common sense and gamesmanship

Not sure what's going on there, but the commentators seemed to know what was coming. I've seen this in other sports, where a coach / captain makes sure the referees are on the same page with what's about to happen.

And, like the other sports analogies in this thread, it was already established on this forum that it's not relevant to golf.

[Badger]

Titanium, graphite, steel, carbon steel, stainless steel, MOI, CG, grams, 460 CC, stiff, x stiff, double x, shaft lengths, grip diameter, lite, super fast, face thickness, adjustable, on and on and on. Look at all the terms we use to discuss clubs. And we're talking about putters? It all started when Karsten Solheim founded a company called Ping and radically improved and changed the way iron club heads were made. The rest is history. PGA pros hitting Fairway metals 300 plus yards? Are you kidding me? And the problem is on the green? Changes in equipment over the last couple of decades clearly give an edge to the bombers. All of us have benefited from the better equipment. The game is easier to learn and play. But go to a PGA event and take a look at the range, see many body types that resemble Gary Player, Bob Toski, Jerry Barber, or Corey Pavin and Jeff Sluman?  The tech gains didn't bother Tiger when he first came on the scene, he's no longer the longest out there and there's a slew of guys that walk past his drive on there way to their ball.

Want to change a rule that directly affects the score? How about mud balls? And how about having to hit a ball out of somebody's divot? You stripe a drive down the middle of the fairway and have to hit the ball out of a hole in the ground.

I watch pros, men and women, miss gimmes  on TV every Sunday. It's still the stroke that requires the least amount of co-ordination and input from all the muscle groups and yet it remains the hardest to master. That's why you drive for show and putt for doe.

[brocks]

That's why you drive for show and putt for doe.

Or sometimes a buck.

[k-troop]

Or sometimes a buck.

Hilarious. Anyone see the back-page article in this month's Golf Digest with Hogan, Snead, and Nelson sitting around a table drinking cocktails and talking about equipment and the modern tour?

[handlez42]

Although I do think banning should be considered I also don't see it as too big of an advantage when I SEE the promoters of the long putter like Keegan Bradley and adam Scott still missing key short-mid range putts. People have been commenting on how belly putters sometimes take your eyes away from the position directly over your line. And if belly putters are supposed to be helpful and consistent with tempo and things like that, missing putts really would make that player think "what could I be doing wrong??"

but it's interesting I did not realize till now that long putters give an advantage in drop situations. If they can find a way to revamp that rule so that long putter drop spots are somewhere like the bottom of the grip or something that might work. But getting a bam on the tour is much more realistic and much less confusing

[newtogolf]

There's no simple way to fix that as any pro could carry an extra long driver that they never swing and just keep in their bag for drop situations.  People here keep referring to the equipment and how other clubs have evolved thanks to technology.  The issue with long putters or belly putters is not really about the equipment it's about anchoring the club to the body.

Originally Posted by handlez42

Although I do think banning should be considered I also don't see it as too big of an advantage when I SEE the promoters of the long putter like Keegan Bradley and adam Scott still missing key short-mid range putts. People have been commenting on how belly putters sometimes take your eyes away from the position directly over your line. And if belly putters are supposed to be helpful and consistent with tempo and things like that, missing putts really would make that player think "what could I be doing wrong??"

but it's interesting I did not realize till now that long putters give an advantage in drop situations. If they can find a way to revamp that rule so that long putter drop spots are somewhere like the bottom of the grip or something that might work. But getting a bam on the tour is much more realistic and much less confusing

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by handlez42

Although I do think banning

but it's interesting I did not realize till now that long putters give an advantage in drop situations.

Noone has ever seen someone use a long putter in a drop situation.

They could use it, but they don't, for obvious reasons.

It would seem like .....che##ing.....

[handlez42]

Originally Posted by handlez42

Although I do think banning should be considered I also don't see it as too big of an advantage when I SEE the promoters of the long putter like Keegan Bradley and adam Scott still missing key short-mid range putts. People have been commenting on how belly putters sometimes take your eyes away from the position directly over your line. And if belly putters are supposed to be helpful and consistent with tempo and things like that, missing putts really would make that player think "what could I be doing wrong??"

but it's interesting I did not realize till now that long putters give an advantage in drop situations. If they can find a way to revamp that rule so that long putter drop spots are somewhere like the bottom of the grip or something that might work. But getting a bam on the tour is much more realistic and much less confusing

Originally Posted by newtogolf

There's no simple way to fix that as any pro could carry an extra long driver that they never swing and just keep in their bag for drop situations.  People here keep referring to the equipment and how other clubs have evolved thanks to technology.  The issue with long putters or belly putters is not really about the equipment it's about anchoring the club to the body.

The longest a driver can be is 48 inches and tour pros usually use a 44 inch shaft give or take a half inch.

The avg putter as we know is about 33-35 inches. Long putters start out at about 44-45 inches and go well past that for some belly putters. That's the difference of nearly a foot. Mind you that's if everyone uses round about 44-45 inch long putter. The difference of driver to driver is barely over/under 4 inches from the legal limit where a putter can but longer than a drivers legal limit. Now I know what I'm saying is q bit "out there" but i find it hard to think it's outlandish in comparison to a player carrying a longer driver for simply a better drop that's only 4 inches away from an undesirable spot. And if a player is playing a bag like that, he more than likely isn't competing on the weekend. Or at least has a very low fir%

[LuciusWooding]

The thing about measuring clublengths for a drop is that you get to measure with any club you want. If it behooves you to keep your drop on a good lie, you can measure with a putter or sand wedge to keep your drop from falling off a cliff, like Snedeker did a few weeks ago. On the other hand, you could also measure with a driver or long putter if you want to play back from the tee markers, for example, or declaring an unplayable. So I don't see how using the longest club in your bag is seen as cheating, especially since you'd have to give up a slot in your bag or sacrifice playability in order to max the club length. Quite honestly, it's not that big of an advantage.

[GaijinGolfer]

IMO, they should just say that you cant anchor a club to your body.  Problem solved without a lot of wordy rules.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

IMO, they should just say that you cant anchor a club to your body.  Problem solved without a lot of wordy rules.

Define "anchor".

[GaijinGolfer]

Anchor as in attaching the club to your torso such as holding the grip against your belly or holding it to your chest with your top hand.

[zipazoid]

The club or hands cannot touch the body above the elbows at address. That would be my wording.

[griecke]

I have been playing golf since I retired 4 years ago and I have always used a long putter because that's what my BIL used and he talked me into it. Now, if you outlaw it, one of two things will happen. Either I will ignore the rule and use it anyway or I will quit golf.

Pardon me but isn't this the game that everyone is trying to get more people to play and are spending lots of money and time promoting with all kinds of crazy promotions (6 holes, big city promotions, etc.) Then to pull some silly stunt because a few people win a tour event with a club that the god of golf doesn't like, turns a lot of people off.

It's just plain stupid. What's next hybrids?

Gary Riecke

[zipazoid]

Nobody's telling you you can't use it, Gary. We're talking on the tour - or at least I am. Putt with a shovel for all I care.

And if you have the time, read thru the posts in this thread. Hybrids have been discussed. That's a technology advancement. Anchoring the putter is (imo) not a stroke. It's something different.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Noone has ever seen someone use a long putter in a drop situation.

They could use it, but they don't, for obvious reasons.

It would seem like .....che##ing.....

I've seen it. Once in person and a few times on TV.

[brocks]

I've seen it. Once in person and a few times on TV.

I'm waiting for some guy who can't hit his long irons to throw away his 3-iron and stick a custom made 12 foot long club in his bag for drops. Seriously, this is the 21st century. Why don't they just change the rule to make drops a standard length for everybody? It wouldn't be that hard to carry a small tape measure, or a light wooden measuring stick, or just make a mark on the driver at 40" or whatever.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by brocks

I'm waiting for some guy who can't hit his long irons to throw away his 3-iron and stick a custom made 12 foot long club in his bag for drops.

Seriously, this is the 21st century. Why don't they just change the rule to make drops a standard length for everybody? It wouldn't be that hard to carry a small tape measure, or a light wooden measuring stick, or just make a mark on the driver at 40" or whatever.

I'm in favor of banning anchoring and limiting ALL clubs to the length limit that now applies to drivers.  I think that would solve the long putter issue and the club-length for drops issue.  I have no problem with the kind of long putter Ray Floyd used, where it was used as a regular putter but was easier on his back.