The long putter has had a lot of negative feedback on social network sites like Twitter and Facebook bashing it as if it their life depended on it. Fans and players alike have been saying they don’t like the way it looks which is a very poor excuse and that it ruins the tradition of golf or they say that they take pressure off of the players’ hands. Well guess what, yes, the game is evolving, who cares what it looks like, and no it doesn’t take pressure off of the players’ hands therefore, it doesn’t matter what kind of putter a player uses.
If he or she is not a great putter then he or she isn’t a great putter, it’s quite simple. If it’s such an advantage like everyone says then players wouldn’t be missing four-footers and would be winning more tournaments and that hasn’t been happening. Yes, four of the last five major winners used long putters but it took Adam Scott awhile before he won his first major and yes he did come very close to winning the Open Championship last year but he still didn’t win.
He still would have won a major eventually anyway, normal putter or long putter, he still would have won a major because he has always fared well at majors, it has absolutely nothing to do with the change to a long putter. Ernie Els beat Scott in the Open Championship last year with a long putter but he didn’t do much recently before that victory which is just more proof that the long putter does not affect the way a golfer putts.
If anything, it’s more of a challenge because the player’s hands are already put in an awkward position making it tough get an accurate swing. The putter needs to have the right length and grip for good use and the same applies to a long putter so it’s same type of club fitting process. The comments that were said in regards to the look of the long putter have to be the silliest thing I have ever heard because looks don’t matter and that’s an extremely poor excuse as why someone shouldn’t like it, it’s cute actually. Way back when, clubs went by the names of spoons and jiggers and when the name got changed to drivers and irons, none of the game’s legends complained about that yet fans and players complain because of a simple preference of club.
The hatred towards the long putter has been unbelievable on Twitter and Facebook and honestly it’s very sad. Putting is a state of mind; it has nothing to do with what type of putter you use, if the player is confident in his putting stroke then he has a better chance of doing well that day, if he’s not then he may have a down day and sometimes, a player may feel confident about their stroke and still have a down day and that’s how it goes in this wonderful game sometimes and that’s one of the reasons why we love because we never know how a player will perform and who will rise to the occasion.
People are acting like as if it’s cheating when clearly it isn’t because if that’s the case, long putter users would be winning every tournament now, and Keegan Bradley who just had a solid outing at the HP Byron Nelson Classic was overall having a down year so that alone says a lot especially when Bradley is supposed to be the future of American golf. Sometimes he has great putting days and sometimes he doesn’t, it has nothing to do with him using a long putter. I think it’s fun seeing guys out there using long putters because it brings variety out on tour and it’s exciting to see how players fare with them. There is no excuse why fans and players should hate on the long putter because it does absolutely nothing but it’s job which can’t be done unless the player is holding it. The hands will always feel pressure with the tournament on the line regardless of what kind of putter it is, it’s natural human emotions.
Besides when players change brands, they change putters but really they look almost exactly the same maybe besides the different look of the club head but they say that’s a challenge, so you know changing to a long putter is a major challenge. The long putters are getting banned in 2016 and people still complain and it’s a true shame that people would act so childish over this.
It’s simply a preference and that’s all it will ever be. Hopefully they don’t get rid of them in golf stores because there are people who enjoy using them although the ban is only on the PGA Tour but since stores want to have that PGA Tour feel then it’s possible they could get rid of them in stores but that can mean a drop in sales because there are people who like using them and they should at least stick around at stores. Go ahead, go out to the course with your long putter and enjoy the beautiful game like it’s supposed to be enjoyed.