Golf: Proposed rule would ban anchored long putters
BY DOUG FERGUSON Associated Press
Thursday, November 29, 2012
11/29/12 at 5:05 AM
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Brace yourself - just not your putter.
In a proposal that would affect every golfer from major champions to amateurs at their local clubs, the guardians of the 600-year-old sport want to write a new rule that would outlaw a putting stroke they fear is taking too much skill out of the game.
The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club said Wednesday they are not banning the belly putter or the longer "broom-handle" putters - only the way they are used. The proposed rule would prohibit golfers at all levels from anchoring a club against their bodies while making a stroke.
The rule would not take effect until 2016.
"We believe a player should hold the club away from his body and swing it freely," USGA executive director Mike Davis said. "Golf is a game of skill and challenge, and we think that's an important part of it."
Three of the last five major champions, starting with Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA Championship, used a belly putter.
What concerned the governing bodies, however, was an increasing number of players who were turning to the long putters because they saw it as an advantage, not as a last resort to cure their putting woes.
"Anchored strokes have very rapidly become the preferred option for a growing number of players, and this has caused us to review these strokes and their impact on the game," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said. "Our conclusion is that anchored strokes threaten to supplant traditional strokes, which with all their frailties are integral to the longstanding character of our sport."
Players could still use a broom-handle or belly putter - as long as it not pressed against their body to create the effect of a hinge.
The R&A and USGA now offer a three-month period for open comment on the proposal before they approve it. But this already is shaping up to be a divisive issue, from industry leaders worried about the growth of golf to players who have been using these putters for years.
"Any competitive player likes to have an extra advantage," Matt Kuchar said. "I think you're going find anyone using the short putter is glad, and anyone using the belly putter or long putter is not happy."
Even some of those who support a ban on the anchored stroke - a group that includes Tiger Woods - wonder what took the governing bodies so long. Such putting strokes date as far back as the 1930s.
Even so, Dawson and Davis said the catalyst for a new rule was not who was winning tournaments, but the number of players switching to that style of putting.
Davis said it was one thing for a few players who use a long putter because they struggled on the greens or had health issues. What changed was the spike in number of players using the putters, as well as instructors believing it was a better way to putt.
Original Print Headline: Rule would ban anchored long putters
