I started playing golf when I was 7 years old, so I've been playing more than 50 years now. You would think that after doing anything for a half-century you could get pretty good at it. But you would be wrong.
There has really been only one thing that has held me back from being a competent golfer -- my putting.You have to have some amount of coordination and timing to be able to hit a tee shot 250 yards into the middle of fairway that's 20 yards wide, or hit a wedge two feet from the pin from 100 yards away. But putting should be easy. I've seen non-golfers go to miniature golf courses and make 20-foot putts all day.For me, it's always been misery. I just can't get the ball in the hole, especially from inside four or five feet, when it really hurts your score if you miss. A one-foot putt counts the same as a 300-yard drive.I bought dozens of putters through the years, searching for the one that would make me decent. I just can't seem to figure out how to hit the ball and make it go where I want. And now the United States Golf Association, which makes the rules of golf for the U.S. and Mexico, and the Royal & Ancient, which oversees rules for the rest of the world, have agreed that a method of putting that has given hope to many of us is illegal.Last week, those organizations decreed that anchoring the club to your body while committing a putting stroke is against the rules. If you're not a golfer, what they are talking about in effect is a ban on long putters.For hundreds of years after the Scots invented golf, the only method of putting was the conventional style with a short putter. But in the past decade, more and more professional golfers discovered that, by anchoring the putter against your body, it was easier to keep your hands steady and hit the ball with more of a pendulum stroke, improving consistency.And amateur golfers, who figure if the pros are doing it then it must be right, began to do the same. Some golfers went to very long putters and anchored the handle on their chest. Others used a shorter model and braced it against their belly. I recently bought a putter built to be anchored against the tricep muscle on the outside of your arm closest to the hole.When only "bad" putters were using the oversized clubs, the USGA wasn't very concerned. But now three of the last five winners of "the majors" -- the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA championship -- have used long putters."Throughout the 600-year history of golf, the essence of playing the game has been to grip the club with the hands and swing it freely at the ball," said USGA Executive Director Mike Davis. "The player's challenge is to control the movement of the entire club in striking the ball, and anchoring the club alters the nature of that challenge. Our conclusion is that the Rules of Golf should be amended to preserve the traditional character of the golf swing by eliminating the growing practice of anchoring the club."For now it's legal to use long putters in competition, but the rule goes into effect in 2016, and then the club can't be anchored to any part of your body. Golfers younger than 15 will have to learn a new way to putt, because many grew up using the long putter. Amateurs who play for fun can still "cheat," but I expect most of them won't. They'll continue to emulate the golfers they see on TV, and if the pros aren't using the long putter, I expect sales of those clubs will dwindle.Good thing I just took up bowling.Jim Witt is executive editor of the Star-Telegram817-390-7704Twitter @jimelvisHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
