Greens Reading Material/Booklets

[PlaidJacket]

I found this earlier today from Barry Rhodes...

Yes I know the issue isn't new and the following is slightly dated.

Limit to Green Reading Materials

The R&A and USGA have recently announced proposed regulations regarding the use of green-reading materials, which are designed to reaffirm the need for a player to read greens based on their own judgement, skill and ability. These regulations are unlikely to affect the vast majority of amateur golfers, but in my opinion are a welcome move to further encourage a quicker pace of play in elite player competitions. Unsurprisingly, an immediate criticism of this announcement has come from StrackaLine, a company that creates custom topography maps of putting greens, who in a telephone conversation with a journalist from Golfweek magazine were reported to have said;

“Putting stats haven’t changed in 25 years, PGA Tour pros are still making about 50 percent of their putts from inside of 8 feet. … There is no exactness in putting.”

I enjoyed this tweeted response from US golf blogger, Geoff Shackelford;

“Which begs the question: if they haven't impacted putting numbers, then what is being sold other than a tool that slows down play, appears to cut down on the importance of local knowledge and experience, while enriching a few?”

[EthanSterlingPrice]

They’ve been around for a while though so I don’t know that the books and such are the answer. It just comes down to certain players taking longer to weigh their shots and I’m not entirely sure that it’s a fatal issue in the grand scheme of things. It’s a side effect of course difficulty and how much money they’re playing for. Trickier faster putting surfaces with that much money on the line, I might take a second look too.


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