Can't The USGA And R&A Just Get Along?

I guess not. But with one simple utterance to a reporter, Peter Dawson pretty much cast a pall over any hope that the USGA and R&A would agree, in our lifetimes, to do something meaningful for the good of the game.

Just in case you missed it, here's Nick Rodger's chat with R&A Executive Secretary Peter Dawson where he was asked about the USGA recently touting the "fresh look" they were taking at anchoring putters against the torso.

Over to you, Mr Dawson. "I wasn't quite sure where that came from, to be honest," confessed the chief executive of the game's ruling body.

Hey, at least he's being honest!

I chuckled after re-reading Jim Achenbach's story quoting a USGA source saying it was the R&A that was at the heart of this desire to take a "fresh look." 

“The R&A do not like the fact that golfers can steady themselves by using a putter as a crutch in windy, rainy or cold weather,” the source said. “In essence, they are steadying themselves with the putter. This was never intended under the Rules of Golf. They are using the putter for something other than a traditional stroke.”

And to be honest, it now seems the R&A is fine with that!

“Nobody (within the ruling bodies) wants children to know nothing else but sticking putters in their bellys,” the source said. “It now seems possible that an entire new generation of golfers could learn to putt this way and never use the traditional method that has been the bedrock of putting for hundreds of years.”

And to be honest, it now seems the R&A is fine with that too!