National Golf Course Owners Want Anchoring Ban Withdrawn

I'm not really sure if this matters much, but it should be noted.

Alex Miceli reports on the NGCOA's letter to the USGA.

Comments

[Ryan]

This is getting ridiculous. They, more than anyone else, should petition for a shorter ball and shorter courses, not anchoring

[No longer Used to be Former Stack & Tilt Convert]

The organization claims membership of 3,258 golf courses and 1,900 owners.

[D. maculata]

For them it would mean at least 3,258 pieces of junk won't be gathering dust in the pro shop.

[Marker81]

I dont get it. If someone cannot enjoy the game without the long putter, why wouldnt they just use the damn thing? No one is getting kicked off of courses because of nonconforming clubs. I would say its mainly a competition thing. If your freinds were to not play with you on sunday because of it, dont they kind of suck to begin with?

[StephenP]

That's a large group. They represent 1 in 5 golf courses in the United States. It is amazing how many groups are lining up against the ban. Anchoring the putter is just not that big an issue and trying to fix a currently approved method after the fact is ridiculous.

I think many golf are seeing the lunacy of addressing a nonissue while ignoring all the elephants in the room (the ball, the ball, the ball).

[Hammer]

People keep asking for data from the USGA, but why is no one asking for data to see if golfers will really leave the game. I recently attended a rules seminar put on by a state/regional golf association and the questions was posed "How many people care about the potential ban on anchoring.?" 95% of the room did not care at all. I really think this is just a small minority who cares about this topic at all when pace of play, and cost of equipment is a much bigger issue in regards to growth in golf.

[Del the Funk]

PGA of America -- against
PGA Tour -- looks to be against
Course Owners of America -- against

LPGA Tour -- unknown
Regional Golf Associations -- unknown

So, the purpose of the USGA's "comment period" was......?

Was it just for show?

[Alex H]

@ Del...you forgot:

Alex H. - For.

Though I don't think they'll ask me...

If I'm truly honest, I'm really only for the ban for very practical, personal reasons. I definitely putt better with the belly...especially when it comes to competitive golf. As for tournament golf, I really should put it into the bag every round. The problem: I like to carry - but the darn thing is so friggin heavy...so I put it back into the closet last summer. I'd rather have the thing banned for everybody and not have to worry about giving up a shot or two to the field...that way, I wouldn't be tempted to schlepp it around. My enjoyment of golf will remain the same...even if I miss the occasional 3-footer.

[fatgoalie]

This is the same organization that named Hidden Valley Golf Course its' course of the year in 2011,

I'm against the ban, but this isn't helping!

[Digger Dave]

Ok, I'm gonna try again...this is digsouth- I have have ''Digger Dave'' as a nickname since I was a teenager... hopefully the spam philter will start letting me thru again.

Gather 'round all those old laminated woods you are burning and listen to this true story.

Some time ago there was a schism in Indy car racing, with Tony George, owner of the Indianapolis Speedway as a ringleader- 2 driver groups evolved and neither ever came close to the success of the original organization.

The largest single day sporting event was the Indy 500 with over 500,000 attending, that is A HALF A MILLION PEOPLE AT ONE PLACE ON ONE DAY!

The SECOND LARGEST single day crowd was the last day of qualifying for the Indy 500, with OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION ATTENDING! This is like Friday, cut day, at a golf Tournament!

Now you can walk up on race day and by tickets, and you can sit wherever you want on ''cut day'' as only a few thousand are there. The PGA and the course owners would do well to heed the millions of dollars lost annually lesson from theIndy car owners and drivers breakup. You can research the details- hey I used to know them, but when the breakup occured,, and the 2 sets of races started up, I lost interest- and I was a manufacturer's rep for race car parts.

Golf could be televised one day on the ''Golf, Croquet, and Horseshoe Channel'', with a Purse of 325 thousand bucks for the Players, and the like.