The Curse of the Smiffy One

[CrapHacker]

Just in case you missed it, Smiffy donated to me his old putter. It's got a fantastic feel and balance to it. It's devastating on short putts, so I've been working mainly on the lag putts.

I really appreciate the gift, because my old putter just didn't have 'it',and after a fair amount of work on as many practise greens as I can sneak onto, I'm really getting somewhere with it.

BUT.......

Not quite sure what to think about today's round.

Played at JoUKs place, managed to get there first, and spent a jolly 15 minutes on the practise green, lagging everything over 10' to less than a foot, and drilling all the 4 footers straight in the middle of the hole.

Then we actually got on the golf course.

Now I have to say that my chipping was poor, but.....

1st : 2 putts from 10 paces for a nice steady par.
2nd : 2 putts from off the green.
3rd : 2 putts. Overcooked the first and sunk a 5' back
4th : 2 putts from 15'.

All going well so far isn't it.

Then.....

5th : The trickiest green on the course. Overhit the first. It ran over the lip and stopped 3' past. Knocked that one 3' past again. Missed the one back and just about holed the return. That's 4 putts. Yup, FOUR putts.

Then it all went downhill rapidly .

I ended up with 41 putts. A couple were from off the green, so 'officially' it's a mere 39 putts.

Just the one 4 putt then, with four 3 putts, and two 2 putts from gimmie/virtual gimmie range.

Now I still say the putter feels good, and it's down to me.

But does the putter have the Curse of the Smiffy ? Is it doomed, DOOMED, I say, to forever be cursed to have at least one 4 putt a round, no matter who wields it ?

Is there any hope for me, or am I destined to one day throw it in the cupboard under the stairs until I, too, can con some other poor sap to take it off my hands ?

 

[Smiffy]

It's you, you knob.
There's nothing wrong with that putter.
I use a Yes Tracy and I've had a four putt with that, so stop your whinging and get on with it.

 

[Redwood]

Had the same problem recently after an experiment.

I wanted to try a more traditional shape putter, so went out and bought a Rife Bimini. Left it in the locker for a while whilst playing medals and stuck with the trusty Redwood and just used it every now and again in bounce games and on the practice green.

I eventually got comfortable enough to take it out and was holing most things, so for a few rounds it was great. Played Saturday and had 6 three putts.

Just one of those days I guess. I'm waiting to get the Redwod regripped, so once done will switch back for a while.

I guess like every other club in the bag - good days and bad days.

 

[madandra]

During a round at CP I played with a guy who got on the par 3 1st after 2 shots and walked off with a SEVEN .... yip, he stabbed at it 5 times.

In all my years playing this game I aint ever witnessed one of them

 

[pokerjoke]

CrapHacker i painting the picture in my head and i can imagine your having quite a laugh about it now,thats whats so fascinating about this frustrating game you think youve cracked it,or found a cure for a problem and then all of a sudden its gone or something else appears and you have another problem.Good luck with your next putter[i presume it going back to smithy].

 

[CrapHacker]

[i presume it going back to smithy].

Nope.

I is keeping it, bigtime.

I love the feel of it, and I've been working with it for a few weeks now, and I'm expecting to have that round of 29 putts any day now.

It's perfect on the practise greens, but get it on the wide open spaces of the course, and it loses all judgement of distance.

Can't be me, of course - it must be Smiffy's voodoo.

 

[bobmac]

When you're on the practice green, how many balls do you use?

 

[CrapHacker]

It's you, you knob.
There's nothing wrong with that putter.
I use a Yes Tracy and I've had a four putt with that, so stop your whinging and get on with it.

Ahhh

But it's like a lion that's tasted human blood. Once they get the taste they can't resist devouring the villagers one by one.

A new putter is an innocent stick with hopes and dreams of birdying every hole.

But once you let it taste the power of a 4 poke it becomes an evil manipulative beast, just waiting for an opportune moment to unleash it's power of betrayal upon you.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

( sorry, got carried away, there, )

 

[CrapHacker]

When you're on the practice green, how many balls do you use?

Depends.

Normally 4 or 6 if I'm doing clockface type practice, then when I'm just putting holes 1 through 9, I'll just use the one.

And then go back to the 4 or 6 balls to practise the very long cross green putts to see how the lag putting is coming on.

Then another 9 holes with just the one.

I do it in ten to 15 minutes slots of each type, so I can do half an hour, or an hour on the green, depending on how I feel on the day, without getting bored.

 

[bobmac]

Or....
It's sad and totally despondant at having to jab at the ball 4 times without a rest.
Show it some TLC, maybe dinner, flowers, soft music, wine. She'll soon come round.

 

[bobmac]

When you're on the practice green, how many balls do you use?

Depends.

Normally 4 or 6 if I'm doing clockface type practice, then when I'm just putting holes 1 through 9, I'll just use the one.

And then go back to the 4 or 6 balls to practise the very long cross green putts to see how the lag putting is coming on.

Then another 9 holes with just the one.

I do it in ten to 15 minutes slots of each type, so I can do half an hour, or an hour on the green, depending on how I feel on the day, without getting bored.

I never use more than one ball on a practice green.
Whatever works for you

 

[CrapHacker]

I never use more than one ball on a practice green.
Whatever works for you

Or doesn't.



One of the routine's the local pro suggested was getting a straight putt, uphill to the hole, and downhill the other side.

Then put 3 balls either side, at 3 foot, 4.5 foot, and 6 foot, and practise until you can sink 4 out of 6. Then 5 out of 6, and eventually all 6.

I don't get to manage all 6.

The other clockface one, suggested by someone was to put 4 balls 3 foot from the hole at 12o/c, 3o/c, 6o/c and 9o/c. Walk round and sink all four. Then move them all an extra foot away and do it again, etc etc, and see how many you can sink in a row.

 

[CrapHacker]

Or....
It's sad and totally despondant at having to jab at the ball 4 times without a rest.
Show it some TLC, maybe dinner, flowers, soft music, wine. She'll soon come round.

I'm sure Smiffy will have tried all that.

How could I compete with a smooth talking, charming, lurve machine like the Smiffster ?

 

[EastPreston]

I never use more than one ball on a practice green.
Whatever works for you

That's interesting - any reason why?

(please excuse the newbie butting in)(or "putting" in )

 

[CrapHacker]

I never use more than one ball on a practice green.
Whatever works for you

That's interesting - any reason why?

(please excuse the newbie butting in)(or "putting" in )

Normally so you get to think about each and every putt you take.

You don't get to adjust your feel on the actual course, so just hitting several balls at the same target on a practise green is false practise.

I use several balls for my lag putting, but I'm coming to the conclusion that, for traing muscle memory, one ball at a time is maybe the way to go.

 

[vig]

When you're on the practice green, how many balls do you use?

Depends.

Normally 4 or 6 if I'm doing clockface type practice, then when I'm just putting holes 1 through 9, I'll just use the one.

And then go back to the 4 or 6 balls to practise the very long cross green putts to see how the lag putting is coming on.

Then another 9 holes with just the one.

I do it in ten to 15 minutes slots of each type, so I can do half an hour, or an hour on the green, depending on how I feel on the day, without getting bored.

I never use more than one ball on a practice green.
Whatever works for you

Bob, you only carry one ball and that's 20 yrs old.

I normally take half doz on to the practice green. i'm a lazy git and don't wanna go chasing one.