Golf without a putter

[CeciliaJupe]

Is there any requirement to have a putter in your bag? If you got good at "putting" with a wedge or iron, could you then play without a putter and free up the slot for a different 14th club? Maybe even shorten the shaft on the club you use to putt an inch or two to help?

[CarlSpackler]

https://www.usga.org/RulesFAQ/rules_answer.asp?FAQidx=46&Rule=14

I'm not sure why you would want to ditch your putter though.

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, CeciliaJupe said:

Is there any requirement to have a putter in your bag? If you got good at "putting" with a wedge or iron, could you then play without a putter and free up the slot for a different 14th club? Maybe even shorten the shaft on the club you use to putt an inch or two to help?

Undoubtedly what you describe is within the rules.  However, some pretty dang smart people have been working on improving their golf, for hundreds of years, and its pretty much unanimous that a putter is a good thing to have.  I doubt that having one extra "full-swing" club could offset the disadvantage that comes with not having a putter.

[David in FL]

No requirement for a putter at all, and yes, you can play a "putt" with any conforming club in your bag.

I played in a member/guest tournament last year against a guy who carried no putter and used his wedge to "putt".  He was very good at it.  Said that he'd been doing so for about 3 years.  He played to about a 6 hcp if I remember correctly.

[No Mulligans]

I've played without my putter a couple of times.  Same scenario both times:

I'm on the 1st green, another group is right on schedule behind me, I reach for my putter and it's not there.  I suck at putting with a wedge but that's what I did for the whole round.

I had left my putter in my practice bag of clubs.

[TourSpoon]

I have seen pros snap their putters and finish out with 2 irons, wedges, and hybrids. Their putters just were behaving badly so they had to be put to pasture early. 

[Patch]

I play in 3 club tournaments with out a putter. I also golf with a guy who uses a very old 2i as his putter. 

Me, I use a putter when ever possible. Sometimes it's better to putt the ball than chip it. 

[dchoye]

I used a belly wedge to roll the ball on the green. I think that is the closest motion  to my push stroke.

I think its good practice to use this method to develop touch

If the ball is just off the green and in heavier grass, I have used the toe of the club to "putt" the ball which is a different motion.

I haven't tried a round with no putter but I have played a few holes with belly wedge or toe of the club to sink the ball into the hole

Edited September 22, 2016 by dchoye

[mdl]

I used to play occasionally with a guy who only used his lob wedge on the green.  Didn't "putt" with the leading edge either.  He hit little brush the grass pitch shots off the green.  Was quite good at not damaging the green, but I'm not sure I ever saw him take less than 2.5 - 3 "putts" per green though.  So not so good for his scoring.

[Pretzel]

4 hours ago, CeciliaJupe said:

Is there any requirement to have a putter in your bag? If you got good at "putting" with a wedge or iron, could you then play without a putter and free up the slot for a different 14th club? Maybe even shorten the shaft on the club you use to putt an inch or two to help?

You're more than welcome to do that, but I'm not sure how well it would work out for your scoring. 

You use a putter between 25 and 45 times in a round, generally speaking, which is more than any other club in the bag. It seems to me that it would make more sense to replace a lesser used club (especially one that isn't as highly specialized as the putter) if you were looking to free up space for a different 14th club option.

For example, I would much rather play without a 7 iron all the time than I would without a putter. I can hit shots that are near functionally identical to my 7 iron by choking down on a six iron with a 3/4 swing, only difference being a lower ballflight unless I'm trying to hoist it into the air. I can't putt with another club anywhere near as well as I putt with my putter, but it's also admittedly something I haven't practiced as much as choked down 3/4 shots. Only time I putt with something else is when I'm too lazy to go get my putter practicing my short game and I putt left handed using the flat back of the sole of my wedge (look at pictures of a wedge and you'll understand what I mean).

[natureboy]

From my own experience, I found practicing putting with a wedge to be helpful to my stroke when using the putter. Maybe that's the place to put it to use. Plus if you ever damage your putter, you have a backup, and are prepared to use a 'belly wedge' when your ball is up against the collar of the fringe on the green. 

[GolfLug]

20 hours ago, David in FL said:

No requirement for a putter at all, and yes, you can play a "putt" with any conforming club in your bag.

I played in a member/guest tournament last year against a guy who carried no putter and used his wedge to "putt".  He was very good at it.  Said that he'd been doing so for about 3 years.  He played to about a 6 hcp if I remember correctly.

Interesting. Did he belly it all day or was it a legit chip stroke? 

[David in FL]

Just now, GolfLug said:

Interesting. Did he belly it all day or was it a legit chip stroke? 

Just bladed it with the leading edge.

[GolfLug]

12 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Just bladed it with the leading edge.

Wow, gotta hit a consistent spot at about the equator of the ball all day to get the same roll.   

[iacas]

11 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Wow, gotta hit a consistent spot at about the equator of the ball all day to get the same roll.   

Not a difficult thing to do.

I beat people in putting contests putting with a wedge while they use a putter.

One mistake I made in my first year of coaching was to do just that against one of my golfers just before a tournament round… 

[GolfLug]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

Not a difficult thing to do.

I beat people in putting contests putting with a wedge while they use a putter.

One mistake I made in my first year of coaching was to do just that against one of my golfers just before a tournament round… 

Did it get in his head?

[natureboy]

On 9/23/2016 at 11:33 AM, GolfLug said:

Wow, gotta hit a consistent spot at about the equator of the ball all day to get the same roll.   

Granted I'm not great at the technique, but isn't the ideal with a wedge to come up to just below the equator of the ball with a rising leading edge as if you were going to 'tip over' the ball?

[GolfLug]

43 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Granted I'm not great at the technique, but isn't the ideal with a wedge to come up to just below the equator of the ball with a rising leading edge as if you were going to 'tip over' the ball?

I guess. Honestly not sure. Haven't tried it. I guess you could also generate backspin if you hit it too far below the eq. or skip and roll it. I am assuming you just try to float the clubhead and try to move it level. I am curious but only time I would dare is if it was on the fringe half against 2nd cut or something. The shot seems just too cute for my taste.