ABSTRACT
The putter is the most used club in a golfer’s bag. Typically, 40–45% of shots in elite golf are taken using the putter (Karlsen, 2010), but it is only in contact with the ball for approximately half a millisecond on an 18-foot putt (Hurrion, 2009). If we were to take this event time across 45% of a par 72 round (32 putts), this would mean that a golfer influences the ball when putting for only 0.016 seconds in a round of golf that may last upwards of 4 hours. While Broadie (2012) has argued that long game contributes more to scoring difference on the PGA Tour than putting, based upon PGA Tour statistics, 99% of the time the ball is putted into the hole 1 . This clearly illustrates the fine degree of control at impact required to determine the output of the most decisive shot in golf. Numerous areas are important in putting, and Karlsen (2010) has suggested a deterministic hierarchical model of these factors, as illustrated in Figure 14.1.
