Emerging From Their Own Asses
The chowderheads at the USGA and R&A emerged from their own assess this morning just long enough to confirm that the proposed anchoring ban (now known as rule 14-1b) is becoming the law of the land, and in doing so they’ve basically guaranteed us somewhere between 6 weeks and 6 more years of additional stupidity on the subject.
What’s done is apparently done (well…not completely), and I’m not going to get into every last detail of why the anchor ban constitutes something between a giant waste of time and an act of absolute stupidity.
We’ve made those arguments (here, here, and here too). Let’s leave that dead horse to decay in peace.
The time for arguing the merits is done (and by the USGA’s own admission they really don’t have any – at least not the statistical kind), which means we’ve moved on to an even more compelling stage of debate which could ultimately challenge the USGA’s authority as the sole keeper of golf’s rules (in this country anyway).
How Will the PGA (TOUR) Respond
The PGA of America President, Ted Bishop, has already issued a statement…(actually more of a non-statement) giving the USGA the old ‘attaboy, for listening to its concerns, while kinda, sorta, saying they don’t really agree with the decision. But hey, the good news is they’re going to meet with the USGA on the reg now, and well, they’re going to sit down, “digest” things, and figure out what to do next when the board meets in late June.
Here’s a prediction for you: The PGA of America abides.
The bigger question is how the PGA Tour will respond. While far from absolute, PGA Tour Commissioner, Tim Finchem has left the door open to the possibility that the tour could adopt a 2nd set of rules that would allow anchoring on the PGA Tour. The last thing the USGA wants at any level is bifurcation (why that’s so scary is beyond me, “traditions of blah blah“), so the Tour does have some power here…even if rejecting the ban would be mostly for show.
The reality is that only a minority of guys on the PGA Tour use belly or long putters. While I could be wrong, I’d be that as much as any of those guys might love anchoring, they’d love winning Majors more, and those Majors; not a single one of the 4 is a PGA Tour Event.
The US Open is a USGA event. The British Open belongs to the R&A. The PGA Championship is run by the PGA (which does make their decision potentially compelling), and the Masters is run by the guys in the green coats. Most everything else is the PGA, but let’s face it…Majors are what matters.
My guess is you won’t see a single tour pro doing the anchoring thing only to switch back to the conventional (legal) stroke for USGA/PGA events. It won’t happen, which is exactly why the PGA Tour should continue to allow anchoring. It’s civil disobedience with limited consequence that could serve as the much-needed ego check for the USGA (and the USGA needs the Tour more than the Tour needs the USGA).
My guess is the PGA Tour side of it ends with a statement reiterating their disagreement with the rule, but in the interest of the game, just like the PGA of America, the PGA Tour will abide.
How Will Manufacturers Respond
This isn’t the new groove rule all over again. This time around the USGA didn’t mandate the equipment, they mandated the stroke, which means equipment manufacturers are free to continue producing putters in whatever lengths they want.
It sounds great, but the reality is that equipment manufacturers have to abide by the laws of supply and demand. The average golfer isn’t going to draw the distinction between the club and the stroke. Most will believe the clubs themselves to be illegal. Nobody is going to buy them anymore, which means there’s absolutely no reason to produce them.
The pink elephant in the room is TaylorMade. You may recall that during this year’s PGA Show he told Score Golf’s Rick Young that his company would continue to produce belly putters even if the anchoring ban was approved. It was a bold statement at the time, but even TaylorMade isn’t immune to the laws of supply and demand.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see TaylorMade aggressively advocate for the recreational golfer, anchoring, and even bifurcation. They could lead the charge against the ban, but the bottom line is…well…TaylorMade has a bottom line too, and with counterbalanced putters (like TaylorMade’s Spider Blade and Daddy Long Legs) quickly emerging as viable alternatives to anchoring, January’s bravado aside, it’s probably bad business to fight the ban.
For what it’s worth, TaylorMade issued a brief statement in response to the confirmation of the ban:
There’s nothing there that conveys any strong desire or willingness to fight the power.
Most of the golf companies that matter have to answer to shareholders, so here’s another wild prediction: The industry abides.
What it Means for You
Given that only a small percentage of golfers actually use an anchored stoke, the ruling means next to nothing for the masses. Short of Tiger and Sergio’s verbal she said, she said, slapfight, the anchoring ban is as much ado about nothing as you’re likely to see in golf (make no mistake, this was the USGA reacting to what’s happening on Tour, not within the majority of its constituency). For those of us who don’t anchor, the rule’s impact is simply to add more bloat to what’s already the most bloated rule book in sports.
And for those of you who do anchor, the ban may actually have served to increase your options, which include:
Ignore the Rule: 14-1b doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2016 anyway. If you anchor, you’re free to do so until then. And you know what…if you don’t play competitively, and anchoring helps you enjoy the game more, ignore the damn ban. Screw the USGA. They’re not the boss of you. Enjoy golf.
Abide as you always have.
Learn to Putt the Right Way: I say that with all due sarcasm. Clearly the USGA has an idea of what the proper way to putt is. Unfortunately, their attempt to regulate the stroke is probably going to fail miserably as the golf companies always seem to be two steps ahead on the equipment front. While the USGA continues pushing paper, the engineers that power the golf industry always find a way.
But yes…you can always use a conventional putter, and chances are you’ll be just fine.
Get an Arm Lock Putter: It’s working pretty well for Matt Kuchar. Odyssey and Bettinardi already have arm lock models (anchor to the forearm, not the belly or chest) on the market, and you can bet others will follow suit quickly. Why you can anchor at one point and not another is beyond me. Behold the wisdom of the USGA.
The point is, you’ve already got a few non-conventional options, and you’ll probably have a dozen more by the end of the week.
Get a Counterbalanced Putter: Counterbalancing isn’t new. A small segment of the industry (Tour Lock, Boccieri) has been pushing it for a while, but now that the biggest names in golf (TaylorMade and Callaway) have developed counterbalanced putters, you can bet an abundance of options are right around the corner.
With more weight in the butt-end of the club a counterbalanced putter is almost self-anchoring. The higher balance point provides a greater level of stability (not unlike anchoring), and does so with out all that rule-breaking…at least for now.
What the Ban Actually Means
Nothing.
The USGA can say they accomplished something, but at the end of the day, they’ve done nothing of consequence.
The game hasn’t grown. The ball still flies too far for some’s liking. And slow play hasn’t been eradicated. It still costs too damn much, and for some it takes too damn long. If the game’s difficulty is problem, the USGA has done nothing to make it easier.
Unable, or unwilling to solve any of golf’s real problems, the USGA picked the low hanging fruit. Nice job, boys. Take 5. You earned it.
Golf will abide, but it’s certainly no better for the effort. And when the dust settles and the belly and long putter guys continue to win with armlock, counterbalanced, and even conventional putters, as I’m certain they will, it’s going to be brilliantly obvious what a giant waste of time the path to rule 14-1b was.
Mike Sullivan
11 years ago
So I took my 48″ putter to the course and practiced without anchoring. I held my left elbow high and tensed the muscles in my arm some but not my grip, faced the target just slightly and used a claw grip low on the putter. Results are very comfortable method and I might be at least as efficient with that method if not more than with anchoring.
It is entirely possible this ban will turn out to be a good thing, at least for me. I am in agreement with the author, this ban will not change much.