USGA JOURNAL: NOVEMBER, 1950 5 How Long Do You Take to Putt? By RUNCIE B. MARTIN DULUTH HERALD AND NEWS-TRIBUNE, DULUTH, MINN.

One of the most controversial angles Player B averaged 21 seconds per putt, in today is the excessive amount of with a low of 12 and high of 26. time some tournament golfers spend on Player C's average was 28.5, with a the putting green. low of 6 and high of 62. The United States Golf Association has Player D had the highest average of tried to cure the malady with a rule. the four players, with 38; a low of 21 For many years delay which unfairly and high of 53. interfered with another player subjected The ultimate champion, Tom Hoak, the slow man to the possibility of dis- required the lowest average time per qualification. But the penalty was never putt, 21 seconds. This might be construed Dpplied - its sole use was a threat. as an example of what the late Alex At the start of 1949 the USGA reduced Smith said many years ago, "Miss 'em the penalty to a more nearly practical quick." This colorful Carnoustie Scot degree -loss of hole in match play and had the reputation of being a fine putter, two strokes in stroke play, except that especially in the clutches. repeated delay was to entail disqualifica- Traveling pros are probably the worst tion. In the last two seasons several effenders, but amateurs of all ages are players in USGA championships have likewise guilty. Ten-cent syndicates, received the minimum penalties under dollar Nassaus, regular weekly club this rule, most of them for being late events, invitation tournaments, state at the first tee. USGA officials say the championships and on down to the big- general situation about slow play is gest championship in the country, the improving. USGA Amateur, they are all guilty. But on the putting green play is still At the Amateur Championship painfully slow. In watching tournaments We made a time test of a number of tr,e last two years we have seen many contestants in this year's USGA Amateur flagrant violations of the rule which at the Minneapolis Golf. Club with the requires a player to "play without undue following results, from the time they delay," and never have we seen a penalty started studying their putts until the ball invoked on the green, although some was stroked: decidedly should have been called. In a first-round match between Wil- Thus far USGA officials haven't been liam C. Campbell, of Huntington, W. Va., able to solve the problem satisfactorily, and Allan Whaling, of Cincinnati, Camp- and it may take a lawyer bell averaged 55.3 seconds per putt on to come up with the perfect answer. 17 greens for a total of 17 minutes and 26 seconds, with a high of 85 and low The Stop-Watch Test of 25. Whaling, the winner, averaged An idea which might go far toward a 48.8 for a total of 19 minutes and 30 solution was tried during the semi-final seconds, high 85 and low 5. matches of the Northland invitation This 17-hole match, although slightly tournament in Duluth, Minn. delayed by the field, required 4 hours The four players were timed on the 11 minutes, of which 36 minutes 56 greens from the time they started studying seconds were spent studying and stroking their putts until the ball was stroked. putts. Player A had an average of 32.1 Defending Champion Charley Coe seconds per putt, with a low of 20 seconds averaged 43.12 seconds, with a high of and high of 48. 64. and low 22, in his first-round match 6 USGA JOURNAL: NOVEl\IBER, 1950

Brass without Hats

Alex Bremner photo USGA officials during the Amateur Championship at the Minneapolis Golf Club.. Left to right: Front row - Richard Tufts, Pinehurst, N. C.• Secretary: Totton Hef- felfinger, Minneapolis. Vice-President: James Standish, Detroit, President: Isaac Grainger, New York. Vice-President: John Ames, Chicago, Treasurer. Back row: Joseph Dey. Executive Secretary: Charles Grace, Philadelphia: Charles Peirson, Boston: James Walker, New York: Fred Dold, Wichita: Frede