The Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the US Golf Association have said that, from 1 January 2016, they will no longer allow long putters to be used the way they have been so far. Golfers will no longer be able to use a long putter by anchoring the club against their bodies to create a hinge where they effectively have the club touching their belly or their chest. It is an issue that has divided many golfers, particularly in recent years, given that some major tournaments have been won by people using the long putters.

The long putter gives people a tremendous advantage on shorter distance putts, because it allows one to steady the stroke and help in a way to negate the effect of nerves. In other words, when you have a putt from 3 or 4 feet that has to go in for you to win $1 million, one is understandably nervous and you are more likely to make a mistake with a short putter, which you cannot attach to any part of your body, than you are with a long putter which you can use your body to steady. I personally think it is great for the game, because golf is really very much about what is in your head, and once you get more experienced you start realising that apart from practice, it is very much a mental game. If somebody’s nerves are going to take over and he or she is going to lose the game because of a shaky hand on the final putt, then so be it, that is exactly part of the game and while it will eliminate some people, who after struggling with the short putter for years, have now moved on to a longer putter, I think it is right for the game.

The most notable example is probably Ernie Els who, after announcing for years that he felt that long putters were the same as cheating, recently started using one to try and improve his putting. Ernie will have to stick to what he initially said and go back to the short putter, which in all probability will mean that he will not feature so highly in tournaments again. He won the British Open last year, which was his first major tournament that he had won in many years, by using a long putter and anchoring it against his body and from 2016 neither he nor any professional golfer will be allowed to do so anymore, and I would imagine that it will also become the case for amateur golfers. Players can continue to use the long putter, but simply cannot anchor it to their body anymore.