New R&A Captain: A Case Could Be Made For Bifurcation

John Huggan introduces us to Alistair Low, new R&A captain. Among the many topics covered, he was asked about belly putters:

“If they allow people to continue playing golf, then that has to be a good thing,” says Low. “Which raises the question of whether we should have different rules for amateurs and professionals. In principle, it must be a good thing to have the same rules for everybody. But there is a case for having special rules for the two levels of play. I’m not convinced by that argument yet, but there is a case to be made.

“When I was on the R&A’s Championship Committee, we debated whether there should be one type of ball for the Open. My thought was that wouldn’t be fair. Whatever ball we chose, it was going to benefit one particular type of player over another. That can’t be right.”