Having a meeting with the SeeMore Putter Company staff today during the heavy rain in Franklin, TN. We are talking match play … giving putts or making your opponent putt. What would you do?
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Depends if they have a seemore!
Generically, if I think I can make it, I’ll give it… but I also believe in reciprocity… if they aren’t giving me anything, I won’t give them anything.
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If it’s a gimme, I give it, unless they don’t look comfortable then I’ll let them putt. However, I never expect a gimme so always putt to finish. A bonus if they let me have it!
Certain greens on my course I never give.
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Situational, but I’m not playing “serious” tournaments, so I’m generous more often than not. Inside the grip is always given.
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Playing our club championship 2 years ago. I chipped on the first hole to less than 6". I looked at my opponent, a young kid, and asked if that was good. He said yeah. THAT WAS THE ONLY PUTT HE GAVE ALL DAY. It was a joke, I putted everything. Everyone else in the group was bitching about it, and it was annoying but it is what it is. I didn’t reciprocate and gave the putts I thought were good. We get done and his dad comes up to me afterwards and said don’t get mad at him, I told him to never give a putt. I just looked at him shaking my head and walked away. His dad is setting his kid up for failure.
I digress. I am 100% situational with giving putts. I tend to give a few more early but not overtly so and almost all putts depend on not just distance from hole but side hill, downhill etc.
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DEPENDS! You can give, give, give and when they look comfy, with no short putts having had to be dropped, tell them to throw a stamp on one just to mess with their rhythm.
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This was posted on Golf Digest yesterday and #7 of Seve’s tips on Matchplay. I happen to play alot of matchplay and I couldn’t agree more: 7. “Try to get your opponent thinking on the greens.” Just like in poker, this is the time when you should really be watching your opponents’ demeanor. Obviously, you want them to putt out when they look nervous. But you also want them second-guessing green reads and their ability to hole putts. Plus, if you hit a putt close to the hole, always offer to putt out before they have a chance to concede it. They’ll start to think you’re ready to putt, no matter what. They might end up giving you some putts you could easily miss.
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Pretty much the same here… a situational giver. I’d like some reciprocity, but don’t necessarily expect it. Towards end of tight match and depending on its status, I’ll be less likely to give putts for halves.
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I always go into match play assuming I will have to putt everything. It helps with my mindset if someone wants to play games.
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Yep, always expect human nature to let you down.
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Yeah, I think this is also an interesting question as I think the context of the situation matters… I’d rather not be known as an a-hole at my club, so I’m more likely to give putts, even if I’m not confident the other guy will make it… but I’m not super competitive in club events (I usually don’t play in them for many reasons, including that)…
From a “strategic” standpoint, you really shouldn’t give any putt… there is always a chance they will miss it. The only reasons to give a putt would be reciprocity or pace of play… unless you want to get into head games and give them everything on the front to make those 3 footers more nerve racking on the back…
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I give the putts that I know for sure my opponent will make. And on my end, if I know I’ll make it, I don’t mind putting it, if there’s a chance I’ll miss, my opponent shouldn’t concede it. Early on I watch my opponent’s demeanor, if he rolls in 3 or 4 putts without hesitation, I’ll probably give a few more. And if the match is hanging in the balance, I’ll make him make more putts. I might semi-apologize immediately after, but he’ll still have to putt 3-footers.
I play a lot of match play in normal rounds, I play inter-club matches in both handicapped (5 to 15 range) and scratch matches, and I’ve never had a problem. And if someone visibly resents being made to putt, he’s showing his own weakness, he can putt everything longer than 18 inches the rest of the way.
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I play every Saturday with a gentleman, he is a good player, 3.7 index. There is not a putt in the world outside on 2" I would give him. It’s not that he misses a lot but watching his pre shot and then stand over it you can tell he is hoping every putt in.
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Obviously I would give the gimmes and I’m usually a little more friendly early in a match but if I’m playing someone I don’t know well, I do try to watch for body language when they lag it up to 30” or 3ft. If they look like they want me to give it to them, I usually make them putt it so I can one go down and it is also one of the rare times I will pay attention to an opponents stroke - I look for little hitches that might cause problems under pressure like a jerky back stroke, wrist break, etc… The friendly zone is a little smaller for those guys as I think they may miss one or two.
If I think they’ll make the putt then I give it. I’m not that guy that doesn’t give any. I look at how difficult I think the putt is and not just the length. If it’s 3 foot straight uphill, I’m giving that before I give a 2 foot slider. I sort of like it if my opponent isn’t giving anything. I mean I don’t like it, but it makes me want to beat him that much more.
I was at the match play yesterday. One interesting thing I saw was Bryson getting in the middle of Kim taking a drop on 17 after hitting it in the hazard
I think it was definite gamesmanship. The point of which was to create friction, make the Kim think about the drop and not let him move on to think about making the chip
Similar to a defender in basketball grabbing jersey / hand fighting before an inbounds play
I generally use the first 4-6 holes as a chance for them to prove they can make the 2-3 footers. After that I may start giving them putts unless I’m down. If I’m down plan on putting everything. Also, if you are giving me nothing, then you can expect nothing.
I once played a match against a guy who had the most awkward looking putting stroke. He wrapped his index finger around the grip and that was the only part of his hand that touched the club. He did this with both hands. He had his forearms virtually level with the ground and then sort of stabbed it. It was bizarre. I thought to myself “well I’m not giving him anything”. He proceeded to not miss anything inside 10 feet all day. I think perhaps he was the second best putter I’ve ever seen outside of those I was paying to watch. The best is a kid who played walker cup. He is farcically good. He’s probably the best putter I’ve seen including the ones I was paying to watch. He went to Stanford and his coach there said he had the best short game he’d ever seen. Coach has been at Stanford since before 1996.
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I agree with CoryO. In general the only putts NOT given are birdie putts, the rest are at my discretion. All rules are off if the guy is a jerk!!
IIRC, Harvey Penick had some advice in his wee scarlet tome along the lines of, and I paraphrase; if your opponent has a funky looking setup/swing, watch out, because at a high level of play he has made it work for him.