Certainly worth testing out; I switched to a mallet 4-ish years ago and love it. Still a terrible putter but feel my consistency of strike got better

An additional alternative would be to have a heavy and light putter, i.e. add some lead tape.

No advice though as I'm a bottom quartile putter at best.

I'd say try it out, Personally I wouldn't be using 2 putters. I can see myself chopping and changing when things go south then you'll have to many variables to know what's actually going on. If you're a good putter then test out the mallet. I use a mallet it's the only putter I have used and I think I'm a half decent putter, My distance control for longer putts I'd say is 1 of my best traits within my putting.

Could be that I use a mallet and decide to change to that full time.

Eh there's definitely a sweet spot for green speeds for making putts. Crazy fast and burnt out and they start to really wobble/plinko, and too slow and they're usually too moundy/grainy (or just like the grass pulls harder on the ball if it's bent/poa, hard to describe) to be super consistent. I'm sure the fast greens you describe are just better putting surfaces. I'm a better fast speed green guy too but usually because the greens are cut/rolled and smoother as a result.

I don't think a mallet/blade make huge differences in terms of speed control if you hold the length and swing weight/total weight consistent. I oddly find that a lighter putter is a little easier for me on slow greens since I'm able to kind of correct mid stroke with more hit if I instinctively know I haven't taken it back far enough). I don't mind a heavier putter when greens are flying since it slows my tempo down a little.

I do think almost everyone should be using a higher MOI putter.. even on tour. The past few years if Tiger would have just used a taylormade spider with the same toe flow as his newport he'd have putted better, but people are stubborn. Blades are great until they're not, then they're really not good (broadly would have the same take with irons even amongst elite players too).

They're the same greens, just slowed down, usually due to rain. Excellent condition and roll true, just vary in speed.

I "permanently" switched over to a mallet a few months back. One thing that also felt like it was killing me lately is the big SuperStroke grips. I have gone back to a pistol grip. Also strange to most but I always used to putt with my glove on. I have recently stopped doing that (also on my chips) and I can "feel" distances better.

I had been following the Louie Oosthuizen method of switching putters after every bad putting round. I had a rotation of 4 (blade, 2 mallets, and a long arm-lock style). For the last year I've committed to staying with the blade and I feel like I've putted better overall.

A random question for those who play regularly at the same course -- Do you have a hole that you always score well on? If so, what does it look like?

At the course I've played most this year it feels like I've birdied the second hole nearly half the time. It's a par 5, dogleg right, not super long, water on the right. Keep the drive left away from the pond, hit a hybrid over the end of the water and something between a 7 iron and wedge to an elevated green that slopes front to back. Yesterday I flushed my hybrid and hit a 52 to six feet.

An 18hc I play with pretty often owns the first hole at that course. He's birdied it like three of the last four or five times I've played with him. It's fun to watch.

(btw if you're Bo, I understand that the answer is ALL OF THEM)

Fun exercise. My year to date at the course I consider my home course (I don't have a membership or anything anywhere; spread my rounds around and play tournaments etc.), looks to be 18 rounds so far mostly all from the one up tees (70.7/123). 14 regular rounds and 4 tournament rounds:

1 - Long par-4: 4.7
2 - Long dog-leg left par-4 (but you can cut the corner with driver): 4.2 (tied-best)
3 - Medium par-3 with big green: 3.5
4 - shorter par-4 (less than driver then wedge): 4.3
5 - shorter par-5 up and to the left at green with creek left of green: 5.7
6 - long par-4: 4.4
7 - long long par-5: 5.9
8 - short downhill par-3 water short and right, bunkers left: 3.4
9 - medium-long par-4 (driver 7-9i): 4.2 (tied-best)

10- short par-4 (less than driver, wedge or 9i with big dip/ditch in front (non hazard): 4.2 (tied-best)
11 - shorter par-5: 5.4
12 - medium par-4 (uphill second shot tough green): 4.7
13 - medium-long par-3 (4-7i depending on pin and wind): 3.7
14 - short par-4 (less than driver, wedge but can't hit Driver due to hazards near green): 4.7
15 - long par-4: 5.1 (worst!!)
16 - uphill par-3: 3.3
17 - medium par-5: 5.5
18 - long hard dog-leg left par-4 almost always into wind with water right starting at dog-leg and OB left. I play as a par 5: 5.3 (technically worst)

So my scoring average this season is
Par-3s - 3.5
Par-4s - 4.6
Par-5s - 5.6

Which averages to 82.4

It seems odd that you are the most over par on the par 5's, should be the opposite. What's going on with those?

I drive it like a 20 handicap.
I hit irons like an 8 handicap.
I hit wedges and chip like a 2 handicap (maybe even lower).
I putt like a 12 handicap.

Slightly more detail is the par-5s all have some hazards/OB potential and don't fit my shot shape/eye that great. Combined that the longer the club the worse my game is makes par-5s anxiety inducing.

I find the fixation with curtailing distance amongst the stuffed shirts in Far Hills and amongst journalist types really odd. The game is probably healthier now than it has ever been and they want to constantly do things to reduce distance.

Seems like a solution in search of a problem.

Memoirs from a coincidental universe.

I was about to mark my ball on the front left of the first green at my local course this past summer, when a terribly audible cry of FORE came directly at me from what sounded like a distance of 200 or so yards. I bent over and crouched with my right arm over the back of my head for protection. My left arm was holding my putter by my side. I simultaneously felt the ballistic barely glance off of my left thumb and heard a click. I expected to see the errant shot rolling on the green somewhere close to me, but instead I look at my ball in front of me. Then I look closer and realize that its not my ball resting peacefully in front of me exactly where my ball once was. I look around and apparently my ball went through my legs and came to rest several paces off the front of the green.

Completely agree. If you roll the ball back 15% and keep the spin characteristics the same, you are making it even more important to be a long hitter by functionally making courses 15% longer. I find a lot of the people pushing for "rollbacks" are older guys who hit it super straight who yearn for the days where a 120+ SS player couldn't swing at a driver because the ball/shaft/club combo wouldn't let them spin it less than 4000, so everyone had to throttle back to like 155 ball speed max in order to not snap hook it into someone's yard half the time. Strikes me as jealousy. Even if you made everyone play the tour balata in 2021 I'm sure equipment manufacturers and players with trackmans/GC quads would manage to figure out how to take piles of spin off it.

For like 99% of golfers, courses are too long and hard still. And golf at the pro level has never been more compelling to me outside of when Tiger was dominating, but that had nothing to do with the equipment or course set ups.

Play/cultivate more courses with firm greens, doglegs, and trees. Places like harbor town routinely have guys winning who aren't long hitters. That and just recognize that Bryson hitting it 190 ball speed on average as straight as he does is unbelievably hard. People look at him gaining speed like it's a problem, but he gained speed WITH tons of accuracy and it's actually pretty incredible. It attracts real athletes to the sport and is part of why so many amazing players are popping up at every level.

I'm not saying that I necessarily agree with it, but an obvious "problem" that you would think they're thinking about in the war on distance is land and water use. If you're designing a course today, you're not going to have the back tees be 6,500 yards. Hell 7,500 wouldn't be enough for a lot of places, especially if they have designs on hosting tournaments. Longer courses require more land and more water. Merion (East) is on 126 acres - now you'd be lucky to fit 9 holes in that space.

Can't say that I'm concerned about limiting drivers to 46", not too many players use longer ones (Brooke Henderson immediately comes to mind, I know Phil and Bryson experimented with 48" options). A thoroughly inconsequential shot in the war.

lol

So I was using a rain check at TPC Tampa Bay yesterday and we are in the 16th fairway, which runs parallel to the 12th. I make the comment that we are right around where my drive landed on 12. And in 3...2...1. BAM. Someone hit the front of our cart on the fly, bounced up and hit the windshield, then bounded away. Absolutely shared the **** out of me.

The landing area on the opposite hole is blind so no fore. All good, at least none of us died.

Golf is different than most sports in that the area in play is not fixed. Basketball, football, soccer, ice hockey, tennis, etc. all have fixed dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged for a century. Even baseball dimensions have remained about the same for a 100 years (actually MLB field dimensions have gotten smaller over time. Ever a see a stadium move their fences out?)

I guess if you are ok with existing courses getting plowed over and converted to townhomes (odds are this will be happening in CA starting as soon as next year) and reducing opportunities to play, then golf will likely become the elitist sport that its detractors like to point out.

Agree with this. There are almost 2 different games... there's the pro game, and the game everyone else plays for recreation. And for the vast majority of those in the latter group, the problem is courses that are too long, not too short.

Most people I play with on local munis cannot drive the ball 250 yds. Many can't drive it 200. A large number of players should be moving up to a shorter tee box, they cannot reach most of the Par 4s in regulation.

As for the pros, they play on a handful of elite courses and they can be made tougher or even a bit longer here and there, but no fans would enjoy pro golf more if Rory's drives only went 290 instead of 330. As was already stated, it's a solution in search of a problem.

Finally checked, I have 58 rounds of 18 holes. Plus 30 or so of 9 holes.

Would be great to hit a total of 100 rounds.

i'm an alcoholic. just throwing it out there.

hit me up nate, we're in the same boat and i'm willing to help you row in the right direction.
i got you man

I got 51 18's and 35 on 9's

First round recorded on the 25th of April, Expecting it to slow down soon due to the shitty weather.

I'm with ya. I play through the winter and expect to play in a bit of rain, but we've hit that season where it's bad enough that I just flat won't play. Woke up Sunday morning (with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt) with the thought of playing, but it was dumping, so back to bed I went.

Have never really paid much attention to No Laying Up, but saw that S7E1 of Tourist Sauce premiered last night - Michigan this season. Just finished watching it and was enjoyable. Really nice video quality too.