As expected, the USGA and R&A announced Wednesday that anchored strokes will no longer be allowed in golf effective Jan. 1, 2016.
The 20-word rule change means the end of anchoring belly putters and long putters to the body in the way PGA Tour players Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and others have done.
The rule does not outlaw the use of long putters, only prohibits how they are used.
“We believe a player should hold the club away from his body and swing it freely,” USGA executive director Mike Davis said.
The rules change came as a result of what Davis called a growing “advocacy” among players and instructors for the use of anchored putting strokes. Through 2010, Davis said approximately six percent of PGA Tour players used anchored putting strokes. That percentage jumped to 15 percent in 2012.
“For years, it was seen as a last resort,” Davis said. “We are seeing that golfers no longer see it as a stroke of last resort.”
Simpson, who won the U.S. Open using a belly putter last June, said this week that he plans to make the switch to a traditional putter in the future. He said expected the rules change and has been using a regular-length putter when he’s playing with his friends at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Ban on anchoring announced, begins 2016
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
End of belly and long putters coming Wednesday?
The hints and rumors have been out there for a while that the days of Webb Simpson sticking the grip end of a putter into his navel or Adam Scott resting one end of his broomstick putter against his sternum are coming to an end.
The teleconference is expected to make it quasi-official. It will become officially official next year when both of golf's ruling parties hold their official meetings and then the ban will go into effect in 2016.
It seems unlikely there would be a global teleconference to announce the rules aren't changing.
Rules changes in golf -- like presidential elections -- happen only every four years. Golf doesn't like to rush into things, though it has fast-tracked the expected anchoring ban since officials said a year ago they didn't see it as a big problem.
Then Keegan Bradley and Simpson and Ernie Els won majors using their particular versions of anchored putters. Els has longed believed anchored putting should be banned but made the switch himself, saying half-jokingly that he would continue to cheat as long as it was allowed.
When approximately 30 percent of the players in the Open Championship last summer were anchoring putters, the old guard went into action even before 14-year old Guan Tianlang won the Asia-Pacific Amateur and a spot in the Masters using a belly putter.
Too bad they didn't do something about the golf ball and/or modern drivers, which have done more damage to the game than anchored putting might ever do. Instead, they are "modernizing" the Old Course, a shiver-inducing thought that more aggressive action against technology could have prevented.
If a ban on anchoring is enacted, there will come threats of lawsuits. However, if reports are accurate, belly putters and long putters are not being outlawed in golf. They can be used but they may not be anchored against the body.
A ban would not put an asterisk beside the majors won by Simpson and others. They won playing by the rules just as Bobby Jones won some of his major championships using clubs that were later deemed illegal.
Putting is a dark science which explains the curious implements and methods used by golfers tortured by the act of rolling a ball into a hole. It has driven men mad and will continue to do so.
I've always believed if you could putt with a push broom then do it. But I also think putting should require a stroke similar to what a full shot does. Anchoring a putter is a way to eliminate unwanted movement -- the kind nerves cause, particularly under pressure.
Defenders of anchored putting point out that no player in the top 10 in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour uses an anchored putter, arguing that if it's so great, everyone would do it. It's a fair point. It's not for everyone.
But there has been a sense that young players are learning the game with anchored putters, Tianlang's milestone victory being a dramatic example. Within a generation, the fundamentals of putting could change.
With a ban on anchoring coming, that won't happen.
Now, if they could just do something to eliminate the 200-yard 7-iron.
Monday, November 26, 2012
McIlroy does it with style
Of all the many gifts Rory McIlroy possesses, style may be his most endearing.
The walk, the smile, the swing.
And the way he can finish a golf tournament.
McIlroy ended his 2012 season Sunday in Dubai with five straight birdies to win the Dubai World Championship, capping a season that included five victories including the PGA Championship and the money title on both the European and PGA Tours.
When he holed his final birdie putt Sunday, McIlroy stood in the sunshine with his arms spread, soaking in the moment. He earned it and he has a way of pulling us in to him.
McIlroy is the new face of golf. He's the best player in the world and there's no reason to think he won't remain there for a long time to come. The Masters is five months away and he'll be the player to beat when the azaleas bloom again.
In 2012, McIlroy made the leap that the great ones make and he did it with style.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Wells Fargo Championship donates $1.3 million to local charities
The Wells Fargo Championship has announced it donated $1.3 million to area charities this year, bringing its cumulative total to $14.8 million donated since the tournament's inception in 2003.
Charlotte's Teach For America chapter received $600,000 from Champions For Education, the non-profit organization that manages and operates the Wells Fargo Championship.
Other donations were made to Levine's Children's Hospital, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg YMCA, The First Tee of Charlotte and other organizations that provided support to the tournament.
"The positive impact we are able to make in Charlotte and around the region is a direct result of the efforts of people who are willing to share their time and energy," Kym Hougham, executive director of the Wells Fargo Championship, said in a statement.
"With the support of Wells Fargo, our corporate partners, volunteers and loyal fans, we are humbled by the positive impact we can have on Charlotte-area organizations and nonprofits."
TGA Premier Junior Golf aimed at young golfers
Monday, November 12, 2012
Carmel CC to honor college-bound golfers
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Masters field will include 14-year old champion
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Cheers to the Pine Crest Inn turning 100