Putter Ban No Big Deal, According to Study

Most amateur golfers care about the putter anchoring ban just about as much as they did about the change in wedge groove rules--not so much--according to a study by Golf Datatech LLC, an independent research firm for consumer, trade and retail golf trends.  The company has released a study to evaluate the reaction of “serious golfers” to the U.S. Golf Association’s proposed new ruling that would prohibit anchoring the putter to the body while making a stroke. They report that a majority of golfers surveyed feel that their game will not be impacted by the rule, while the small percentage who use a long putter will continue to play with it as they please regardless of the ruling.

The study was based on responses from 1,766 randomly selected golfers drawn from Golf Datatech’s exclusive Serious Golfer Database, who play an average of 68 rounds per year with an average handicap of 14.3.

“This is such an explosive topic in golf that we felt the industry needed a benchmark for evaluating the opinion of the game’s most avid players,” said John Krzynowek, Partner, Golf Datatech. “On a practical level, the proposed ruling on anchoring putters has minimal impact on most amateur golfers, as only 5% use a long putter, and the majority of serious golfers don’t believe long putters aid in the putting process. Overall, however, the debate over long putters has far more to do with a few elite professional players and less to do with the game as played by the average golfer.”

Key findings in the Golf Datatech study on the Anchor Ruling for Putters include the following:
•         Among the respondents who had an opinion about whether or not anchoring the putter makes it easier to putt, 45% feel that anchoring the putter makes it easier to putt, while 55% believe anchoring the putter does not make it easier.
•         60% of respondents believe that the governing bodies of golf should ban the anchoring of clubs to the body, while 40% believe they should not.
•         62% of respondents do not believe the anchoring ban will cause some amateur golfers to enjoy the game less.
•         If the proposed rule is enforced in 2016, 31% of current long putter users will continue to anchor their putter, while 31% will not anchor against their body, and 38% will switch to a conventional putter.

For more information or to get a copy of the Club Anchor Ruling study, call 888-944-4116 or visit www.golfdatatech.com.


Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf