Broom Handle Putters

[Deleted Member 1156]

There is no good reason other than an accident of history and tradition for the hole being the size it is!

Just like playing 18 holes or having 14 clubs or there being bunkers on a course etc etc


How about 12 inch holes so you don't miss putts, 6 hole courses to get round quicker and 25 clubs so you have one for every conceivable distance?

Anything else you would like to change?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Blah blah blah blah

Edited for correction :thup:

 

[buggerlugs]

I once saw Adam Scott take a 2 club length drop from a Bush that his ball had landed in. And he used his putter to measure it, that was just wrong in my opinion. A "normal" length club wouldn't even have got him out of the bush !

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Just like playing 18 holes or having 14 clubs or there being bunkers on a course etc etc


How about 12 inch holes so you don't miss putts, 6 hole courses to get round quicker and 25 clubs so you have one for every conceivable distance?

Anything else you would like to change?

It's a pet gripe of the poster and there are loads (too many) posts about it. It is the size it is. Get over it and stop hankering for what you can't have.

 

[delc]

It's a pet gripe of the poster and there are loads (too many) posts about it. It is the size it is. Get over it and stop hankering for what you can't have.

If I don't push the case, I will have even less chance of getting it! I am not the only one to suggest it by the way. Prominent protagonists include Jack Nickaus and the chairman of Taylor Made.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

If I don't push the case, I will have even less chance of getting it! I am not the only one to suggest it by the way. Prominent protagonists include Jack Nickaus and the chairman of Taylor Made.

You're not going to get bigger holes by banging on about it on here all the time, write to the R&A and the USGA if you feel so strongly about it.

Good luck :thup:


BTW.....have you considered that if the hole size was increased and you holed more putts, your handicap would come down. You would then be under the same pressure again to hole even more putts to play to handicap.

Ever decreasing circles......................

 

[c1973]

The yips (which I've had) normally start with 3 1/2 to 5 feet putts, the sort of distance you might leave a long approach putt from the hole, and which you should really make. In reality a good putter will make only 95% of 3 feet putts and about 60% of 6 feet ones with the standard sized hole, so missing the odd one shouldn't be that unexpected. Problem is that putting gets into your head, and once you have yipped a putt, it tends to keep happening, especially on putts that you should make, and will spread up and down the distance range. I was most likely to yip (and miss) tiddlers, and long approach putts when there was some pressure on getting the distance right. The yips generally affect low handicap players who have played the game seriously for twenty years or more. That is why a fair percentage of Senior golfers use long putters and anchored putting styles. I'm suggesting that a modest increase in the size of the hole might largely prevent the yips. There is no good reason other than an accident of history and tradition for the hole being the size it is!

P.S. I suppose I ought to define the yips. Theyare a sort of involuntary twitch that will cause the putt to go off in the wrong direction and at the wrong pace. Feels like the club going off in your hands!

It would probably have an effect on round times as well I'd imagine. Bigger hole = more putts made = less time on green.
A win win situation by the looks of it.

 

[rosecott]

It would probably have an effect on round times as well I'd imagine. Bigger hole = more putts made = less time on green.
A win win situation by the looks of it.

And a diminishing of the skills necessary to play golf.

You could make it even quicker if you add only 2 shots onto your score if you get the ball within 10 metres of the green and move on.

 

[duncan mackie]

I will look forward to seeing that lol - GL

You dont need to look forward - Matt Kucher's been doing it for years.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Noticed a few of the seniors didn't have the putter anchored on their sturnum but their top hand/thumb was ? Is that a way around the ban ?

 

[c1973]

Noticed a few of the seniors didn't have the putter anchored on their sturnum but their top hand/thumb was ? Is that a way around the ban ?

Shouldn't be. It's still anchoring in my book.

 

[delc]

Putting is a sort of game within a game, and can be played in its own right on municipal putting greens, etc. There are some quite magnificent strikers of a golf ball who can't putt, and therefore wouldn't be able to earn a living on any pro tour. These unfortunate souls often become trick shot artists, long drive champions or club teaching pros. If you want to be successful as a tour pro you have to be a good putter.

Interestingly there was no standard size for golf holes until 1891, when the R&A adopted a size based on a hole cutter made by a green keeper at Musselburgh back in 1829. This was based on a piece of discarded iron drain pipe which just happened to be 4 1/4" in outside diameter. Other clubs dug holes out with trowels or some similar gardening implement. So there is no Act of God or Law of Physics that says that the hole has to be a certain size! It might be worth trialling a few different sized holes to find out what people like.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

More blah blah blah

Corrected for you :thup:

 

[BTatHome]

The ban is an absolute farce and virtually impossible to enforce. Read the R&A definition of anchoring and explain to me how it can be policed. The forearm or hand cannot be anchored but the upper arm can. When you take into account layers of clothing, how do you ensure there is a gap between forearm and chest? It comes down to personal interpretation, one person may argue the forearm is not anchored by a PP may argue it is. Who makes the decision?

Isn't golf an honourable gentlemanly game, surely the player themselves will know if they are anchoring the putter. Or are you saying that suddenly there will be many more dishonourable people playing?

 

[duncan mackie]

Isn't golf an honourable gentlemanly game, surely the player themselves will know if they are anchoring the putter. Or are you saying that suddenly there will be many more dishonourable people playing?

No idea - he's be saying it since the decision was posted.

I've been saying that there is no problem in ruling against the rule wording in practice, none at all. Therea alao little point in the particular discussion anyeay as there either will, or wont be, in due coirse.
However, as ever on here such debate is vital...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It might be worth trialling a few different sized holes to find out what people like.

Why? No-one will agree on what the right size should be. It's a given size. Accept it. You bring this up every few weeks and nothing is going to change. The R&A will not change it.

 

[duncan mackie]

Why? No-one will agree on what the right size should be. It's a given size. Accept it. You bring this up every few weeks and nothing is going to change. The R&A will not change it.

6 X 3 X 2 has previously been suggested as appropriate :thup:

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Isn't golf an honourable gentlemanly game, surely the player themselves will know if they are anchoring the putter. Or are you saying that suddenly there will be many more dishonourable people playing?

What I'm saying is the ruling is open to individual interpretation.

 

[delc]

Why? No-one will agree on what the right size should be. It's a given size. Accept it. You bring this up every few weeks and nothing is going to change. The R&A will not change it.

There would be a number of advantages to increasing the size of the hole:
1) Less chance of players developing the putting yips.
2) Would speed up play. Badly needed!
3) Would make golf more enjoyable/less frustrating for the vast majority of players who are not fantastic putters.
4) No need for long putters.

 

[delc]

What I'm saying is the ruling is open to individual interpretation.

Basically you cannot anchor the butt end of the putter, or any part of your top hand or arm against your body. I am sure that any long putter uses will use a method that shows they are not anchoring. Even easier, go back to a short putter!