When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Golf365 quotes a Sunday Times story (not available online) in which UK Sports minister Hugh Robertson thinks clubs like 2013 Open Championship host Muirfield The Honourable Company Of Edinburgh Golfers should not be part of the rota because "it is increasingly anachronistic not to allow women to be members."
"The defence of the Royal and Ancient is that it is a private club and so has the right to do what it wants.
"That is legally correct and I have no quarrel when it is acting as a private club. However, I believe that when a private club fulfils a public function, such as staging a major event, then there is a different slant."
And there was an interesting delineation from Muirfield secretary Alastair Brown, which I puts the ball back in the R&A's court:
"It's not our decision where the Open is. It's the decision of the R&A - it's their competition and they ask us.
"Augusta is a totally different situation. They own their event."
Translation: back at you R&A!
Credit weight loss Tweeter Alex Miceli with the scoop that Mike Davis confidentially told the PGA Tour Policy Board how the governing body intends to act on anchoring putters this fall, only to have the player members blab away about the specifics of what sounds like an upcoming ban on the act of bracing a long putter against the torso.
Davis' appearance before the Policy Board indicates the USGA expects opposition when it makes an announcement, which the association has said would be by the end of the year.
According to Goydos, Davis’ presentation indicated that the USGA has received overwhelming support in letters and e-mails from the general public to ban anchoring. Davis Love III, a Sea Island resident and the recent Ryder Cup captain, expects a different sentiment from the Tour's rank and file.
“I don’t know what (the Tour) would do,” Love said. “I told Mike Davis, ‘We are going to have 10 guys who are vehemently against, and then 10 guys who are vehemently for you, and then the rest of them are just going to go play.’ That’s the way it is on any issue.”
Love’s only concern was whatever the USGA and Royal & Ancient do, they should move quickly and avoid dragging a potential rule change out.
“If they said today, ‘We met with the Tour we’re going to change putters,’” Love said. “Keegan Bradley is going to get himself a different (conforming) putter and he’s still going to be a really good putter. He’s just going to have to make a change, but you’d rather not talk about it for three years and have it be a distraction.”
It's amazing Tim Finchem doesn't have any grey hair when you know he gets reactions all the time like this one from Paul Goydos. Back to Miceli's story:
If the verdict is to ban anchoring in 2016, then Goydos thinks other issues – foremost, integrity – will emerge.
“If a player who has played with a belly putter decides to switch to a regular putter in 2014 and plays poorly, they will be looked at as a player that has cheated before,” Goydos said.
Davis counters by noting that Bobby Jones and Sam Snead used equipment and strokes eventually banned, but Goydos dismisses that point.
“That was a different world, 1930 to 2013,” Goydos said. “The USGA has a responsibility to make sure they are not labeled cheaters.”
And what exactly would you propose they do? A special non-cheaters wing to the Anchoring Hall Of Fame?
Rex Hoggard gets another confirmation from the USGA's Mike Davis that a decision on anchoring putters is coming soon: "We do plan to make some kind of announcement, as promised, later this year.”
Most feel a decision has already been made and language has been developed by the governing bodies banning anchoring a putter against your torso, with a likely implementation date in January 2016.
So the initial poll question is not very deep, but there are so many elements to the notion of an anchoring ban that it'd be informative to start off with a simple, completely unscientific poll: Yes or No on anchoring. (I'd like to save the question of bifurcation or long putters or length of club for later on.)
So for now...
Hey, I wasn't there. I just copy and paste the stuff. For Immediate Release from the R&A, which is to be confused with the Royal And Ancient Golf Club which has a new Captain.
NEW CAPTAIN DRIVES IN
The traditional driving-in ceremony for the new Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews took place on the first tee of the Old Course today.
Pierre Bechmann began his year in office with a drive at precisely 8am as a cannon fired alongside the tee. A large crowd gathered to witness the ceremony and saw Mr Bechmann hit a long drive down the middle of the fairway running to around 30 yards short of the Swilcan Burn.
And I know from the summer they've had, these are not drought-stricken fairways.
Mr Bechmann becomes the first Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club from Continental Europe. His role will see him representing The R&A and supporting its work in developing golf around the world. He will attend R&A Championships in the professional and amateur games and assume an ambassadorial role for the Club.
But of course, the R&A is totally separate from the Royal And Ancient Golf Club.
After hitting his tee shot, a relieved Mr Bechmann said: “It is a daunting prospect teeing off in front of such a large gallery but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am greatly looking forward to my year in office and hope I can contribute to the important work The R&A does for golf around the world. I have been heavily involved in supporting the development of talented young players and I look forward to continuing that work in my new role.”
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris in 1957, Mr Bechmann is particularly active in amateur golf, sitting on the Executive Committee of the French Golf Federation and the Championship Committee of the European Golf Association.
A lawyer and member of the Paris Bar, Mr Bechmann has been President of his home club, Golf de Chantilly, since 2010. He is a former member of the R&A’s General Committee, and has served on the Championship and Rules of Golf Committees as well as The R&A Coaching Panel. In 2008/09 he was Captain of Royal St George’s Golf Club. Mr Bechmann lives in Chantilly and plays to a handicap of nine.
In the past, the Club Captaincy was bestowed on the winner of the annual Challenge for the Silver Club but by the early 19th Century the Captaincy had become an elected office.
Part of the tradition is that a gold sovereign is paid by the new Captain to buy his golf ball back from the caddie who successfully retrieves and returns it.
Why do I keep picturing the Judge tipping Danny a quarter after Caddyshack's thrown putter scene?
This year’s recipient of the sovereign was Scott Bechelli. The 44 year old from St Andrews said: “I have been caddying here since I was 13 years old and this is a real honour for me. My brother received the sovereign in 2008 so it’s nice to follow him.”
Jaime Diaz pens a Golf World column wondering aloud about the origins of the USGA/R&A's move toward a ban on anchoring putters, with the announcement likely this fall.
But the point here is the USGA is using its de facto authority, vested or not, to clean up a mess. It knows it will be reneging on a 23-year old decision, which alone doesn't seem fair. It admits that sympathy for players desperate for a "last resort" method is the main reason anchoring has continued to be allowed. But with more players without overt putting problems choosing to switch to the broomstick or belly, there's a threat that in 50 years everyone will be using them. Very simply, widespread use of long putters is not the way the USGA and the R&A want the game to look.
And as much as I support doing away with anchoring, I still have to go back to Webb Simpson's remarks about the modern, 460cc driver's impact on the game versus anchoring. It's not even close which development has changed the game for the worse.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
