Tiger Wants to Ban the Long Putter

[iacas]

Quote:

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.

Clubs are limited to 48".

Quote:

c. Length

The overall length of the club must be at least 18 inches (0.457 m) and, except for putters, must not exceed 48 inches (1.219 m).

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

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.

Many belly putters are much shorter than 48". Hell, many broomstick putters are shorter than 48".

[newtogolf]

My mistake, I wrongly assumed putters were limited by the 48" rule as well.  That's why one should never assume.

Originally Posted by handlez42

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%

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by turtleback

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.

I have no problem with that either, cuz Ray didn't anchor it against his body. He has short arms & liked to stand more upright..that equated to a longer putter.

[Drstrangelove23]

I think that anchoring the putter against the body does go against the ideal of the stroke. And is possibly an unfair advantage. For the record, it looks ridiculous too.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by iacas

Clubs are limited to 48".

Many belly putters are much shorter than 48". Hell, many broomstick putters are shorter than 48".

And I would have no problem with them so long as they are not anchored.  I was addressing 2 separate issues.  1) No anchoring - with this I really don't care how long the putter is except, 2) no outlandishly long clubs that make club length standards for drops unfair - hence the across the board ban on clubs longer than 48".  As an alternative they could keep the length restrictions as they are now and just provide that in measuring club lengths for dropping purposes the putter may not be used, since it is not subject to the length restrictions.

[Merfal]

I agree 100% with what Tiger Woods had to say. I believe that a putter anchored to the body should be banned in competitive play.

[Jwat381]

As do I. Wasn't it Langer who said belly putters aren't a fad, but a virus?

Originally Posted by Merfal

I agree 100% with what Tiger Woods had to say. I believe that a putter anchored to the body should be banned in competitive play.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Merfal

I agree 100% with what Tiger Woods had to say. I believe that a putter anchored to the body should be banned in competitive play.

I agree with Tiger's intent, but not with his solution.  He wants to limit the length of the putter.  I have no problem with a long putter so long as it is not anchored.  That takes care of the guys with the bad backs who need the longer putter so they don't have to bend over so much.

[kathybhylton]

Originally Posted by LuciusWooding

"Tiger Woods last night called on the golfing authorities to ban belly putters. His view is bound to cause reverberations across the sport, particularly as the former world No 1 revealed he has been in talks with the Royal and Ancient "for a number of years".

Indeed, to judge by Woods' comments, Peter Dawson, the R&A; chief executive, is ready to outlaw the putter, which won Keegan Bradley last year's USPGA Championship and has become so popular on Tour. In its annual meeting with the USGA – the other governing body – the R&A; may well take steps to implement Woods' plan this year.

"I've never been a fan of them," said Woods at Pebble Beach, where he plays this week. "I believe it's the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendulum motion. I believe that's how it should be played."

Added Woods: "I've talked to Peter Dawson for a number of years and we've gone back and forth of how we could word it. My idea is to have it so that the putter would be equal to or less than the shortest club in your bag.

"Peter's looked into it for a number of years, trying to get it to work, and you [would] actually measure everybody's sand wedge and putter before you go out and play."

He dislikes other players' method of putting, and calling it an unfair advantage is to call it cheating. It's just that the rules don't forbid it, yet. He is defining the golf stroke to exclude the belly putter, and by extension, players who use that type of stroke should be considered in breach of the rules.

Adding to my point is that he has tried a belly putter in practice, considered using it, but decided not to because he didn't like it! So do you think if he thought it would really help his game he'd be saying that? He wants it banned because it's a rule that would hurt his competitors and not affect him.

Tiger is really serious this time. But I understand his sentiments to this. I still support him no matter what.

[Texian]

What's the definition of "anchor"?

Does that mean "putter touching body"?

What if the hand holding the putter is touching the body, but the putter is not?

[Gifted Golfer]

I would support a ban if it came to it. Thanks for the information!

[walk18]

Originally Posted by Texian

What's the definition of "anchor"?

Does that mean "putter touching body"?

What if the hand holding the putter is touching the body, but the putter is not?

To me anchoring would mean the club touching any part of the torso or hips.

[bwdial]

Originally Posted by Texian

What's the definition of "anchor"?

Does that mean "putter touching body"?

What if the hand holding the putter is touching the body, but the putter is not?

That is still anchored.  Just because the hand wraps around the top of the putter and prevents the club from making contact with the body doesn't mean that the club is any less anchored.

In regard to banning them, I agree they should be banned in competition.

[mtsalmela80]

I have not seen one good reason for any of you to support the ban. Even the head admin can only come up with "its not the way a golf club is meant to be swung"

there is no correlation between using a belly putter and more wins, I wonder if most of you would secretly change your mind if Tiger came out tomorrow and declared his support for belly putters. I would do almost anything to have Tiger starting using a belly putter next time he is playing, just to see where this thread goes from there.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

I have not seen one good reason for any of you to support the ban.

Then you probably never will.  It's not surprising, really.  Lots of people approach debatable topics that way.

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

I would do almost anything to have Tiger starting using a belly putter next time he is playing, just to see where this thread goes from there.

I imagine the pages of the thread would double, but nothing significant would change other than him being wrong on the subject instead of being correct.

Brandon

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

I have not seen one good reason for any of you to support the ban.

Then you probably never will.  It's not surprising, really.  Lots of people approach debatable topics that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

I would do almost anything to have Tiger starting using a belly putter next time he is playing, just to see where this thread goes from there.

I imagine the pages of the thread would double, but nothing significant would change other than him being wrong on the subject instead of being correct.

Brandon

It sounds as if you've seen no good reasons to support not banning them?

[mtsalmela80]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Then you probably never will.  It's not surprising, really.  Lots of people approach debatable topics that way.

I imagine the pages of the thread would double, but nothing significant would change other than him being wrong on the subject instead of being correct.

Brandon

My guess is people would change their minds to go along with Tiger. Maybe not all, but a lot.

[newtogolf]

Just because people like Tiger Woods as a golfer doesn't mean they don't have their own opinion on the use of long putters.  You Tiger haters give him way too much credit for influencing public opinion on this topic.

Originally Posted by mtsalmela80

My guess is people would change their minds to go along with Tiger. Maybe not all, but a lot.