Anchored Putters Rules Change (Effective January 1, 2016)

[geauxforbroke]

Originally Posted by dave67az

Quote:

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

That sounds so simple in theory, but what are you lasering?

Seems like standing on the tee and pressing a button on the GPS (turning it into a "fixed point that it knows about") is as accurate, if not more, than a laser.  (Simply because there usually isn't anything on the tee that stands out (and up) enough to be confident you are hitting your spot.

Not sure why this hasn't been a more prominent topic on this thread than it has.  IMO, it's absolutely dead-on accurate.  Nobody (unless they want to sabotage their career just to be a martyr) is going to wait until the last minute to switch, and most will probably find similar results to Petterson.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I've never used the range to dial in my yardages.  One, because a lot of ranges move their range boxes every week, while the yardage markers never move.  And two, because a lot of ranges use practice balls that aren't indicative of how far you can hit the ball you play with.

For GPS, that's all I need (a fixed point that it knows about).  I click on my starting point and my ending point, and that's that.  I have no doubt that if a laser hits the intended target, it will be more accurate, but some are better than others at picking up targets and letting you know which target it has picked up.  Also, I imagine it's only better by a handful of yards, which for measuring driving distance, isn't all that important to me.  I generally round my driving distances up/down to the nearest multiple of 5.

Oh yeah, ban anchored putters!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rulesman

A novel idea. It might ruffle a few feathers though.

I think a laser would be plenty accurate to measure a tee shot.  Just stand at your ball, wait until the next group is on the tee box waiting patiently for you to hit, and take some time to bounce your laser off of them to measure the distance.  They probably won't mind waiting.

As for banning anchored putters, I don't think they'll ever do it.  There's no proof that there's any advantage.  Oh...and the equipment manufacturers would sue if they did.  Oh...and everyone would quit golf and all the golf courses would go broke.

That's all the idiotic comments I can think of off the top of my head.

Glad that last sentence was in there.

[iacas]

Enough of the OT stuff.

Thank you.

[boil3rmak3r]

To give the perspective of an avid golfer who is always looking to improve... I switched to a belly putter some 7 years ago. I made the switch because I struggled with not getting an immediate roll on the ball on long putts. When your long putt starts out by skidding for the first 5 feet, it's really hard to control distance. The belly putter helped with that. Once the ban was announced, I quickly decided to go back to the short stick, figuring I might as well do it sooner rather than later. I wasn't exactly fond of the ban when it was announced, but I am now actually happy it happened. It has forced me to work on mechanics (which I now believe was my trouble all along, not the yips). In fact, I have more confidence and am putting better now than I was 4 months ago with my belly putter. I've had guys compliment me on how many putts I make from inside 6 feet. Full disclosure - once I knew the putting ban was imminent, I went to work. I read books, watched videos, and even bought a Big Moss indoor putting green. I practiced a bunch inside. I recently took a lesson with a Pro and he said I had a good stroke. He just had two recommendations: 1) get my eyes closer to being over the ball; and 2) work on alignment (I had a tendency to align a little right - which has peaked my interest in an Edel fitting...). For anyone on this site who needs to make the transition back, I would suggest to embrace it. The putting stroke is the simplest one to make in golf. Along that same line, it's the simplest one to correct... Do some research, practice, and take a lesson from a pro on just putting. Put the amount of effort on putting practice as you do practicing your driver or irons. If you do this, I'd be willing to guess you'll find similar results that I have and you'll actually have enthusiasm to practice the correct "short stick" putting motion.

[Rulesman]

Isn't it about time this thread was closed.

The decision has been made.

All the views have been aired

Nothing original has been said for weeks.

Move on, please

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Rulesman

Isn't it about time this thread was closed.

The decision has been made.

All the views have been aired

Nothing original has been said for weeks.

Move on, please

Heck, we get people on here arguing that rules that have been accepted and in place for hundreds of years should be changed.  One that hasn't even been implemented yet?  The naysayers haven't even warmed up yet!

[dave67az]

Originally Posted by Rulesman

Isn't it about time this thread was closed.

The decision has been made.

All the views have been aired

Nothing original has been said for weeks.

Move on, please

Originally Posted by David in FL

Heck, we get people on here arguing that rules that have been accepted and in place for hundreds of years should be changed.  One that hasn't even been implemented yet?  The naysayers haven't even warmed up yet!

If we shut down every thread/board/website in which nothing original has been said for weeks (for that matter, MONTHS) we may as well shut down the internet.  I can't remember the last time I saw something truly original on Facebook.  Hell, it's so bad that people don't even bother saying what's on their mind anymore because it's far easier to find an over-used meme with an amusing photo to illustrate their opinion.

You are right that there are a LOT of irrational, recurring arguments in this thread.  But at least there are still guys like Boil3rmak3r who are capable of original thoughts (and honestly I found it a little odd that someone chose to ask the thread be closed after his post, considering it was one of the rare posts that didn't re-hash any of those irrational, recurring arguments).  His post was clearly well-conceived, well-worded, and contributed nicely to the thread, in my opinion.  But then again, if you don't give a crap about his opinion, you probably don't give a crap about mine either.

I say keep it alive as long as people are posting.  If we get tired of seeing email notifications about posts, we can always unsubscribe to the thread.  Know what I mean?

[newtogolf]

I see this thread morphing over time to discuss the impact of the rule on individual and professional golfers versus debating the merits of the rule which is positive.  Seems the counter-balanced putters are getting favorable reviews from guys making the transition from belly putters and an anchored stroke which is good for everyone.

[Kingkat1954]

After all the talk about this................it makes me wonder IF the PGA just SHOULD have its own set of rules.

After all, the USGA is an amateur based operation. Right?

Just wondering what  all this discussion would be IF the PGA set rules for Professional players? Would the Tour have banned the anchor method?

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Kingkat1954

After all the talk about this................it makes me wonder IF the PGA just SHOULD have its own set of rules.

After all, the USGA is an amateur based operation. Right?

Just wondering what  all this discussion would be IF the PGA set rules for Professional players? Would the Tour have banned the anchor method?

Are you planning on banning professional players from at least two of the four majors?

[dave67az]

Originally Posted by Kingkat1954

After all the talk about this................it makes me wonder IF the PGA just SHOULD have its own set of rules.

After all, the USGA is an amateur based operation. Right?

Just wondering what  all this discussion would be IF the PGA set rules for Professional players? Would the Tour have banned the anchor method?

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Are you planning on banning professional players from at least two of the four majors?

Sounds fair to me.  No more pros in the USGA events.  :-)

I think the confusion is when we try to compare golf to other professional sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc).  You see, those sports don't have a central organization that sets the rules for all amateurs.  Why does golf?  Because golf is an individual sport in which the players enforce the rules on themselves.  In order for ALL players to enforce the rules, there has to be a central organization that sets those rules.

The USGA and R&A; aren't simply "amateur" organizations creating rules for only amateurs.  They're sports organizations creating rules for everyone playing golf.  Sure, the PGA Tour has every right to create their own set of rules.  But the result would be golfers who play under one set of rules in PGA Tour-sanctioned events, and another set of rules in USGA-sanctioned events.  It would be chaotic, at best.  You'd be setting the players up for situations (and I have a feeling we'd see them every broadcast) where players would mistakenly apply the wrong rule because they forgot which organization has which rules.  Hell, it's already hard enough to remember all the rules without referring to the rule book while you're playing.  Nobody would want the nightmare that would inevitably ensue, would they?

[mp33 man]

Sounds fair to me.  No more pros in the USGA events.  :-) I think the confusion is when we try to compare golf to other professional sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc).  You see, those sports don't have a central organization that sets the rules for all amateurs.  Why does golf?  Because golf is an individual sport in which the players enforce the rules on themselves.  In order for ALL players to enforce the rules, there has to be a central organization that sets those rules. The USGA and R&A; aren't simply "amateur" organizations creating rules for only amateurs.  They're sports organizations creating rules for everyone playing golf.  Sure, the PGA Tour has every right to create their own set of rules.  But the result would be golfers who play under one set of rules in PGA Tour-sanctioned events, and another set of rules in USGA-sanctioned events.  It would be chaotic, at best.  You'd be setting the players up for situations (and I have a feeling we'd see them every broadcast) where players would mistakenly apply the wrong rule because they forgot which organization has which rules.  Hell, it's already hard enough to remember all the rules without referring to the rule book while you're playing.  Nobody would want the nightmare that would inevitably ensue, would they?

As much as I think that the ban is stupid I still have to agree that there is no way that the different golf authority's can have different rules. I don't know about all of you but when I watch CFL football (which is almost never) or arena football (") it doesn't even feel like football and I would hate to see golf turn into something like that. I still argue that there are bigger issues for the USGA, R&A; and PGA to be worried about.

[Asheville]

Originally Posted by mp33 man

I still argue that there are bigger issues for the USGA, R&A; and PGA to be worried about.

Tell them what you think ... they really want to hear from everyone, but especially from the dedicated amateurs out there. I know a few of the men and women at Far Hills ... they work for us and want hear from us.

[Mulligan Jeff]

It will be interesting to see how many pros on tour who use anchored putter will take the upcoming off season to change to conform to 2016 rule. Do they do it now or wait?

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by Mulligan Jeff

It will be interesting to see how many pros on tour who use anchored putter will take the upcoming off season to change to conform to 2016 rule. Do they do it now or wait?

I'd guess some have already started working with an unanchored stroke (Keegan said he was) during practice but won't make the switch in tournaments until they are just as confident or are forced to in 2016.

[iacas]

It won't do any good, but I emailed the general PGA address, Joe Bishop, and some others a very short reply saying that I fully support the USGA and the R&A;'s anchoring ban, and directly oppose the PGA's for any actions it takes to delay or oppose the proposed rules change.

[bplewis24]

Do we (recreational amateurs) really need more than 2 years to change our putting stroke?  All that would do is delay the time at which those guys would start changing their stroke.

I guess I understand the grooves thing because it was an equipment ban, and they didn't want to force amateurs to spend money on clubs.  I realize most guys with long putters would likely go back to a short putter if they want to conform, but they at least have the option of changing their stroke instead if they don't want to part with the cash to buy a new putter.

[saevel25]

Do we (recreational amateurs) really need more than 2 years to change our putting stroke?  All that would do is delay the time at which those guys would start changing their stroke.

I guess I understand the grooves thing because it was an equipment ban, and they didn't want to force amateurs to spend money on clubs.  I realize most guys with long putters would likely go back to a short putter if they want to conform, but they at least have the option of changing their stroke instead if they don't want to part with the cash to buy a new putter.

No, changing a putting stroke would take minimal work. Of all the guys I have seen use an anchored putting stroke, only one person was good at it. All the others probably used it because it was the new thing to do. So i doubt the impact would be anything like the PGA wants to make it out to be.

[Golfingdad]

Do we (recreational amateurs) really need more than 2 years to change our putting stroke?  All that would do is delay the time at which those guys would start changing their stroke.

I guess I understand the grooves thing because it was an equipment ban, and they didn't want to force amateurs to spend money on clubs.  I realize most guys with long putters would likely go back to a short putter if they want to conform, but they at least have the option of changing their stroke instead if they don't want to part with the cash to buy a new putter.

Right.  The grooves ban was a ban on equipment, and it made virtually every wedge manufactured (I think, maybe I'm wrong) in a 15-20 period illegal.  So without the grandfathering, you'd be requiring all amateur golfers to either spend money on new wedges, or go find 20 year old pieces of junk in their garage.  Not very nice, or even practical.

With the anchoring ban, even for those anchorers who want to switch to a short putter, it would be pretty easy for them to find one in their garage or at a used store for really, really cheap.