Putt, Putt, Putt

      How many of you were impressed with Adam Scott and his putting? So much for the anchored putting stroke and the long putter. Great players will find a way to be great. To tell you the truth, I never was a fan of the long putter and in my opinion it never was "real golf". However, it did keep many average golfers playing the game who suffered from the "yips" or bad backs.  This was a good thing and I hope those who used the long putter find a way to keep playing. You have to put the ball on the green into the hole and still be within the rules of golf.  
     To me, putting is an art.  The stroke is based on "feel" not brute force. This part of the game can perhaps be the most complicated and frustrating part of the game as there is so much to it. You would think that all you do is take a flat faced club and kind of bump the ball on the short grass of the green and get it into the hole. How can such a seemingly simple part of the game be so difficult?  As golfers we know that there is more to it than just a ball, a stick, short green grass and a hole.
     I love to putt.  In my golfing career the golf gods have blessed me with a good putting stroke and I haven't had to change it over the years. My hands are small so I split them on the putter just a bit and get the feel of the putter and the stroke through my fingers as well as control the putter face. I try to keep the putter on line through the stroke.  My head stays still and I concentrate on keeping my eyes on a spot behind the ball, even after impact. Believe me, this is not a putting lesson but just an explanation of how I putt. If I have the rare three putt, it is because I have taken the putter off line.  My goal on a long putt is to put the ball in--of course--or at least within an eighteen inch circle around the hole. The distance to the hole is of course important to get the proper distance, but to me it is more important to hit the ball on line. Of course, slope and speed of the green enter into that equation but it is most  important to get the ball on line and to the hols at the right speed.
     I learned to putt by putting one of those putting discs in the hallway by our living room and practicing using the carpet as a green. The surface was very fast and did break due to the cut of the carpet. I learned how to read the speed of a green and the break on a flat putt by putting on that carpet. My focus was taking the putter face back on line and through the putt on line as well as judging the speed of the putt from the distance I was putting.
      I don't know how many of you go to the local miniature golf fun center and play a round of miniature golf.  In my younger years this was a place that I would stay for hours and play as much miniature golf as I could. If you want to learn the speed, break and line of putting, this is the place. On the carpet, most putts are very fast and you have to concentrate on keeping the putter blade square.  It is also the place to develop a great sense of hitting the line of the putt. You don't want to hit the clown in the teeth or the blade of the windmill.
      I remember playing golf in Missouri and having a putt that I was not sure of the break.  I though I had the read but  wanted to make sure so I asked the local guys I was playing with which way it would break. In true Missouri style the answer was from both of the guys I was playing with was, "It breaks toward the ocean."  That was a big help, which ocean?  Does it break toward the Atlantic or the Pacific, Missouri being in the middle of the US.  Ha, ha--that was very funny guys.  I made the putt, but it broke north to south.
      Thank you Brad Patterson for your help today on this blog post. I didn't have a subject this morning to write about until I saw you post on FaceBook  regarding Adam Scott's victory yesterday and his putting style. You know, we are a team. Hey, what can you say.  Drive for show and putt for dough.

Yep, putting is a lot of fun.  Try sinking a long one on the deck of a ship. Everything breaks to the ocean.