Don’t Blame Your Putter

If the head on your putter is bigger than the head on your driver, I can’t help but wonder about the head on your shoulders.

If you bought your putter and promptly received a call from your credit card company concerning suspicious activity on your account, I pray the golf gods show mercy on your 3-putting soul.

And, while we’re at it, if you think those “Repair Your Ball Mark” signs don’t apply to you, they don’t; kindly exit the course.  You’re golf’s equivalent of my neighbor who doesn’t pick up after his dog, and nobody likes my neighbor.

Let me tell you something about that flat stick in your bag: It’s not your sex life; enhancements won’t help you find the hole, and they certainly won’t help you score.  But, then again, maybe you haven’t seen the likes of Odyssey’s new Works Cruiser Mallet Putter.  If that’s the case, you just blew my mind, cause I’m pretty sure you can see this bad boy from space.  Now, if you’re simply having trouble making contact with the ball, man do I have the putter for you!

“But the pros are using expensive, futuristic putters.  If it’s good enough for the pros, it’s good enough for me!”

I’m sorry, did you just put a professional’s game and your game in the same sentence?

Look, I’m all for a craftsman updating his toolshed every once in a while, but a futuristic-looking hammer won’t bang nails any better than that $5.00 model you used in High School shop class.  Yes, even if you’re trying to breach your thick skull.

Do me a favor, head over to your local golf equipment store.  Grab two clubs:  The cheapest putter you can find and the most expensive and/or futuristic-looking putter you can find (chances are, they’re one in the same).  Now head on over to the putting green.  Take a couple practice putts with both putters.  Now, drop 10 balls, roughly 10 feet from the hole.

• Step 1:  Take 5 putts with the cheap putter, and count your makes.
• Step 2:  Take 5 putts with the expensive/futuristic putter, and count your makes.
• Step 3:  Repeat Steps 1 and 2.
• Step 4:  Compare scores for Putter 1 (cheap) and Putter 2 (expensive/futuristic).

I would venture to guess the putter you chose had little effect on the number of putts you sank.  Am I right?

To further prove my point, next time you hit the links, keep track of your putts.  Specifically, how many putts you miss.  Now, of all your missed putts, how many were missed due to a bad read?  How many were missed due to a mishit (i.e. push/pull)?  Here’s my point, the reason you’re missing putts has a lot less to do with your putter than the person holding it.  If you’re misreading the greens, a new putter isn’t going to help much, unless you get your hands on Rodney Dangerfield’s short stick from Caddyshack.  If you’re mishitting your putts, sure, go ahead and yell at your putter; let me know when it starts listening.

Make no mistake, I’m in no way discounting the importance of a solid short game.  After all, most of us expend the same amount of strokes on the green as anywhere else on the course.  That being said, what does your warmup routine look like?  Perhaps 30 minutes on the range followed by 5 minutes on the putting green?  That means, for every 5 rounds you play, you’re spending 2.5 hours on the range for every 25 minutes spent on the putting green.  This may be an exaggeration, but can you honestly tell me you’ve spent as much time practicing those crucial 5 foot putts, as those, significantly less crucial, Happy Gilmoreesque drives?

Photo via Flickr

Like any true golfer, I’m constantly tweaking my game, hoping that, some day, everything will fall into place.  And like any true golfer, I’m constantly straddling the fine line between logic and insanity.  Because, deep down, I know that a small change to my grip, for example, isn’t going to turn me into Jordan Spieth overnight, but, hey, at least I’m willing to admit my mental shortcomings.  On the other hand, if the solution to your putting woes entails buying a new, cutting-edge putter, you’re no longer straddling, you just took a sharp dog leg into psychosis.

Cover Photo via Flickr