It is perhaps the supreme irony in golf that the simplest shot in the book seems to cause the biggest problem to the largest number of golfers.
Let’s face it, the putt is the only golf shot that it is really possible to execute flawlessly without any tuition at all. We all start off doing this as kids. Some of us are even superb at it at this young age. It is this shot that is often the spur that leads to a lifelong addiction to this wonderful game of golf.
What then, goes wrong? How can this easiest of golf shots become the absolute bane of an adult golfer’s life? Sorry to say, there is no easy answer. Experts are just as baffled as inexperienced amateurs over this one. The saying ‘it’s all in the mind’ was probably never more true than in this golfing case.
Several years ago, an American company developed a golf putting machine. They carried out tests in optimum putting conditions and were gob-smacked to discover that their pride and joy couldn’t hole every putt. They took that machine apart and tweaked every element of it until they were certain that it was in perfect working order. And, guess what? It still failed...