Anchored Putters Rules Change (Effective January 1, 2016)

[ay33660]

Finally the right decision was made.

Now I am curious ..... just how many of those who threatened to quit if the ban was implemented will or was it just all hot air?

[dave67az]

Originally Posted by ay33660

Finally the right decision was made.

Now I am curious ..... just how many of those who threatened to quit if the ban was implemented will or was it just all hot air?

May as well have asked how many people moved out of the U.S. because Obama got re-elected.

The numbers are probably the same.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by ay33660

Finally the right decision was made.

Now I am curious ..... just how many of those who threatened to quit if the ban was implemented will or was it just all hot air?

Anybody threatening to quit was likely an amateur who would never admit to it.  I don't recall any pros ever being specific about any action, and only remember vague threats/ultimatums.

[thanw]

If they adopt this rule I won't quit playing or quit anchoring. I just won't watch pro golf anymore and won't even bother to read the usga rules of golf because it is all just one big joke and won't buy anymore new clubs either. Continue with the circle jerk I'm out.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by thanw

If they adopt this rule I won't quit playing or quit anchoring. I just won't watch pro golf anymore and won't even bother to read the usga rules of golf because it is all just one big joke and won't buy anymore new clubs either. Continue with the circle jerk I'm out.

Boy, now that's an adult response... I don't really think that anyone cares what you do.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by thanw

If they adopt this rule I won't quit playing or quit anchoring. I just won't watch pro golf anymore and won't even bother to read the usga rules of golf because it is all just one big joke and won't buy anymore new clubs either. Continue with the circle jerk I'm out.

Okay. Bye bye.

[David in FL]

If they adopt this rule I won't quit playing or quit anchoring. I just won't watch pro golf anymore and won't even bother to read the usga rules of golf because it is all just one big joke and won't buy anymore new clubs either. Continue with the circle jerk I'm out.

Well damn, there's a shot the entire golf industry won't recover from......

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by thanw

If they adopt this rule I won't quit playing or quit anchoring. I just won't watch pro golf anymore and won't even bother to read the usga rules of golf because it is all just one big joke and won't buy anymore new clubs either. Continue with the circle jerk I'm out.

You may not agree with it, but it's not a joke.  It's no more a joke than it was to outlaw croquet style putting.  You're just too damn sensitive.

[mp33 man]

That had nothing to do with the definition of a swing.  It only addressed the issue of the rough no longer being a factor in the pro game unless it was cut to more than typical US Open height.  Note the comments from the last few US Opens prior to the groove change.  The rough was getting so bad that no club was capable of escaping from it.  By making that small change in the groove allowance they were able to set up courses which allowed the players to play golf again.  This is just silly.  My swing is the same with my Callaway Diablo Edge as it was 23 years ago with my TM Tour driver, despite the fact the the TM was probably less than half the displacement.   The only difference with a hybrid is that it doesn't require the same perfection of swing that my 3I required, and the same basic adjustment was possible with a 7W, so that argument is shot down before it begins.   At this point in time it's just sour grapes to start trying to compare equipment evolution to a change in the traditional stroke.  All of the clubs you mention require that the stroke be made with the club held freely in the hands.  All the new rule is doing is maintaining this consistency through the putter.

Your swing may be the same but simple logic would tell you that a driver with sweetspot the size of quarter (rather than that of a dime) is easier to hit. You just applied the same rational to hitting a hybrid as opposed to a 3i. The statement was made that anchoring can eliminate the mental part of the game, I don't know about you but Ive NEVER played a sport that was more mentally challenging than golf (unless we're considering chess a sport) and whether your hands are swinging freely or not you still must read the break and speed of the putt... an anchored putter does not help with that. I also think that its just as much "sour grapes" for guys that don't anchor to whine and bitch about guys that do. If its such a freaking advantage then do it yourself. I don't remember Justin Leonard complaining about the need to outlaw metal or titanium drivers/woods, he wanted to continue to hit wooden clubs so because he liked the way they felt so he kept on hitting them.

[jamo]

Your swing may be the same but simple logic would tell you that a driver with sweetspot the size of quarter (rather than that of a dime) is easier to hit. You just applied the same rational to hitting a hybrid as opposed to a 3i. The statement was made that anchoring can eliminate the mental part of the game, I don't know about you but Ive NEVER played a sport that was more mentally challenging than golf (unless we're considering chess a sport) and whether your hands are swinging freely or not you still must read the break and speed of the putt... an anchored putter does not help with that. I also think that its just as much "sour grapes" for guys that don't anchor to whine and bitch about guys that do. If its such a freaking advantage then do it yourself. I don't remember Justin Leonard complaining about the need to outlaw metal or titanium drivers/woods, he wanted to continue to hit wooden clubs so because he liked the way they felt so he kept on hitting them.

For the last time, THE ARGUMENT AGAINST ANCHORING IS NOT THAT IS PROVIDES AN ADVANTAGE. I don't mean to single you out, but misrepresenting the argument isn't going to win it for you. Read the thread. And your "sour grapes" assumption is wrong.

[indyvai]

For the last time, THE ARGUMENT AGAINST ANCHORING IS NOT THAT IS PROVIDES AN ADVANTAGE. I don't mean to single you out, but misrepresenting the argument isn't going to win it for you. Read the thread. And your "sour grapes" assumption is wrong.

Sadly... that will not be the last time. What is thought and what is presented are 2 different things. The truth is there is a perceived advantage that they are eliminating without having to prove or address it.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by jamo

For the last time, THE ARGUMENT AGAINST ANCHORING IS NOT THAT IS PROVIDES AN ADVANTAGE. I don't mean to single you out, but misrepresenting the argument isn't going to win it for you. Read the thread.

Well, it kind of is now. I was kind of weirded out by the USGA's press conference, but they clearly added the whole "advantage" angle to their reasoning. Before, back in November, it was just about "it's not a stroke." Then a week or two ago they added the "advantage" angle.

http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/Explanation%20Draft%20-%20May%2017%20Revision%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Found on 19 pages:

I was right there with ya, Jamieson, but the USGA and R&A; did a head fake and added the "advantage" thing.

And make no mistake about it - it IS an advantage (not a quantifiable one as you can't design that test) - but that's not the reason why I feel the practice should be banned. And until May 21, it wasn't the USGA's either. :P

[jamo]

Well, it kind of is now. I was kind of weirded out by the USGA's press conference, but they clearly added the whole "advantage" angle to their reasoning. Before, back in November, it was just about "it's not a stroke." Then a week or two ago they added the "advantage" angle. [URL=http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/Explanation%20Draft%20-%20May%2017%20Revision%20-%20FINAL.pdf]http://www.usga.org/uploadedFiles/USGAHome/rules/Explanation%20Draft%20-%20May%2017%20Revision%20-%20FINAL.pdf[/URL] Found on 19 pages: I was right there with ya, Jamieson, but the USGA and R&A; did a head fake and added the "advantage" thing. And make no mistake about it - it IS an advantage (not a quantifiable one as you can't design that test) - but that's not the reason why I feel the practice should be banned. And until May 21, it wasn't the USGA's either. :P

:doh: I probably shoulda read the whole thing. What a cluster-eff of a situation. (The clean version of that phrase is rather pointless.)

[Fourputt]

I still feel that the statement doesn't mean that it creates an advantage over other players but an advantage over himself with a standard stroke.  I think that the statement is poorly worded and gives the wrong impression.

[newtogolf]

I think the USGA has been trying to tip toe on the whole advantage issue.  While you may not be able to measure the advantage in a scientific manner, the intrinsic data suggests that a golf pro would not putt in a certain manner if they did not feel it was most advantageous to them.

Keegan Bradley may turn out to be just as good a putter without an anchored stroke but there's a reason he opted to use one to begin with, the same is true for everyone else that uses an anchored stroke, especially the older guys that started out with a traditional putter and unanchored stroke.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I think the USGA has been trying to tip toe on the whole advantage issue.  While you may not be able to measure the advantage in a scientific manner, the intrinsic data suggests that a golf pro would not putt in a certain manner if they did not feel it was most advantageous to them.

Keegan Bradley may turn out to be just as good a putter without an anchored stroke but there's a reason he opted to use one to begin with, the same is true for everyone else that uses an anchored stroke, especially the older guys that started out with a traditional putter and unanchored stroke.

Of course he had a reason - for him it was easier to putt with the anchored stroke than it was with the traditional stroke.  It gave him an advantage that he didn't feel he had with the traditional stroke.  In a way it does work out be an advantage over his fellow competitors because he putts better anchored than not.  However, that doesn't translate into a blanket advantage for all players.

[mp33 man]

For the last time, THE ARGUMENT AGAINST ANCHORING IS NOT THAT IS PROVIDES AN ADVANTAGE. I don't mean to single you out, but misrepresenting the argument isn't going to win it for you. Read the thread. And your "sour grapes" assumption is wrong.

I don't think that I have to use all caps to single you out, and I am trying to single you out. To almost quote you "Read the report". I wasn't trying to make an "assumption" but instead a comparison. I'm sorry if you didn't like my comparison , I was simply trying to make the argument that our game has evolved a lot in the last 100 years or so and I think that some of the other advances have changed the game way more than anchoring. My opinion is and has been that some players (not myself as I stated earlier in the thread) feel more comfortable with the putter being anchored to some part of their body. I really have to think that if everyone felt that it truly was an advantage that more people would be doing it. And just for the record, I've been curious while walking through Golfsmith to pick up and try an anchored putter... Not easy to use. It still takes a lot of practice to be able to putt well with an anchored putter ( just ask Phil).

[dfreuter415]

This is not the first time that the USGA has banned a style of putting.  Bob Duden and his putter, "The Dude" had made a splash with a putting style that straddled the line of the putt, and was often called croquet putting.  Most notably, Sam Snead used the straddle style regularly on the PGA tour.  Snead once said. “I would’ve won Augusta again if they let me putt that way.” The straddle method was banned in 1968.  Reportedly Bobby Jones played a large role in having the technique banned. Snead remarked, “Bob Jones got that banned, I’m sure of it,”

Banning anchoring seems to be consistent with the prohibition against straddling the line of your putt. Joseph C. Dey Jr., executive director of the USGA at the time, said. "Bizarre stances and clubs were beginning to make [golf] look like another game."

But, the croquet-style, like anchoring, is more than just "bizarre looking": Some insist it is a competitive advantage. Others would say it is merely an improvement, and what's wrong with that?  I guess it's just a case of establishing where to draw the line.

I putted croquet style more than 45 years ago, and changed. I am still in favor of having the anchored putters approved, but like 1968, the higher powers will prevail.

Bob Duden played the Professional Golfer’s Association Tour periodically in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He won a 54-hole tournament event at Las Vegas one year and tied for the second in three tour tournaments between 1959 and 1964.