Local Golfers Adjust To Ban On Anchored Putting

The rule that bans anchored putting finally went in effect as of Jan. 1, three full years after it was first proposed.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club and the U.S. Golf Association have stated the rule would not outlaw belly putter or broom-handle putters, only the way they were used. The rule has made it illegal for golfers to anchor the club while making a stroke.

Players who use a long putter but swing it without establishing an anchor point are not affected by the rule.

VIEW INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC BELOW

Top New Jersey amateurs Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake and Jay Blumenfeld of Mountain Ridge have been very successful using the anchored style of putting, but are now forced to go in a different direction.

“I went to it because I found it easier on real fast greens to putt okay without practice. The heavy handle makes a big difference and keeps the hands moving I think I have used it for 20 years,” said Stamberger , the State Player of the Year in 2014 and 2011.

“I actually started using the short putter a little last summer and switched starting at the Boff Invitational (in August). I am putting better than I did with the long putter, surprisingly. I am using a Scotty Cameron back weighted in the grip putter with the long, fatter, red grip. It is working well,” Stamberger noted.

Blumenfeld has yet to test out a new variety of putting, but will shortly.

“I have "anchored" and used the long putter for over 10 years now,” said Blumenfeld, NJSGA Senior Amateur champion in 2014 when he became the inaugural NJSGA Senior Player of the Year.

“I have not played golf since mid-October so I have not had the opportunity to start fiddling around with other methods. My guess for me is that the whole process is more mental than anything else. So when I get the chance I will try some other putters and also methods (maybe the claw) to see what could work best.

“There is a VERY BIG difference with what works okay on the practice putting green and social golf rounds compared to tournament rounds. I am really not much bothered about it all and will look at it as an opportunity to try some different things to hopefully IMPROVE my putting!,” Blumenfeld stated.

In November, 2012, USGA executive director Mike Davis addressed the issue: "More players are using it, and instructors are saying this is a more efficient way to putt because you don't have to control the whole stroke. The game has been around for 600 years. Fundamentally, we don't think this is the right way to go."

Two New Jersey professionals excelled using the anchored style. Tyler Hall of Upper Montclair, who spent a decade on the mini-tour circuit, won the 2015 State Open at Rockaway River as his putting helped him go 11 strokes under par for the event, enabling him to win by seven shots.

Chris Dachisen, winner of the 2001 State Open and multiple New Jersey PGA events, has long anchored his putter.

“Right now, I am in a toss-up between styles, both of which, I have no doubt will make me a better and more consistent putter than I have been in past, it's just a matter of getting into some friendly competition to see what feels best,” said Hall from a winter trip in Arizona.

“I am very impressed with the Bettinardi/Kuchar (arm-lock stroke)method, although it is very important to have the correct loft in order to get the most out of this putting style. I love how it locks the hands and wrists into place and still gives me the feel and comfort of an anchor.

“I am also very intrigued by the counter balanced, face balanced putters with either the saw grip or conventional grip. A lot has changed in the way of grips that make it easier to tone down the wrists (super stroke grip) since I went to a long putter 11 years ago. Either way I am definitely looking forward to a new feel!,” Hall said.

Orville Moody won the 1989 U.S. Senior Open using a long putter that he held against his chest, allowing for a pendulum motion. Paul Azinger won the 2000 Sony Open with a putter that he pressed into his belly. In 2011, Keegan Bradley became the first player to win a major with a belly putter at the U.S. PGA Championship. In 2012, Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open and Ernie Els the British Open using belly putters.

Davis and R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said the catalyst for the new rule was not who was winning tournaments, but the number of players switching to long putters.

Their research showed no more than 4 percent of golfers used the clubs for several years. It went to 6 percent in 2006, and then to 11 percent in 2011, with some U.S. PGA Tour events having as much as 20 percent of the players using the long clubs. There was no empirical data to suggest a long putter made golf easier. Carl Pettersson (No. 21) and Bradley (No. 27) were the only players among the top 30 in putting on the PGA Tour in 2012 who used long putters.

"We don't think putting in an anchored way is easy. You have to learn how to do it," Dawson said. "But it takes one of the potential frailties out of the stroke. ... We have to retain the skill and challenge inherent in golf."

Rule 14-1b prohibits "strokes made with the club or a hand gripping the club held directly against the player's body, or with a forearm held against the body to establish an anchor point that indirectly anchors the club."

Although the anchoring ban went into effect on Jan. 1 -- Adam Scott didn’t wait that long and switched to a short putter last year. So far this season, Scott has earned more than $800,000 and was runner-up in the Australian Open.

PGATOUR.com contributed to this report