Flatstick Wisdom

A selection of yarns on golf's most fundamental mystery

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A putter, a ball, and a four-and-a-half inch ground-based cylinder. Add bright colors and windmills, and you’ve got an elementary school birthday party. Substitute acres of ryegrass and the rolling hills of a former Georgia flower nursery, and suddenly you’re dealing with the game’s highest drama. Part science, part art, all feel—no one can properly explain putting, so we’ve compiled our favorite tales from the green below.

Ep.122

Podcast

The Man Who Hacked Putting

Mark Sweeney, inventor of the AimPoint putting system, on why it works and how it’s changing the game

No. 14

Characters

The Grandes Dames of the Himalayas

Age be damned: The St. Andrews Ladies’ Putting Club is still thriving

No. 14

Exchanges

Just Send It Sniffing

Faxon and Bacon endeavor to make sense of the lip out

“Wind has a bigger effect on putts than people think. With 20 miles per hour of wind, you can start to see putts break uphill.”
Mark Sweeney, AimPoint Inventor
TGJ Podcast 122

No. 3

The Parlance

Tony Jacklin in a locker room during the Florida Citrus Open at Rio Pinar Country Club, Orlando, Florida

The Yips

Unscrambling golf’s most feared term

Ep.113

Podcast

The “Y” Word

Understanding golf’s most feared phrase with a proven fixer

No. 13

Driver Off Deck

Hope in the Darkest of Times

One man’s winning battle against the yips

Photo by Leonard Kamsler/Popperfoto via Getty Images

I’ve often said, in my reaction, nobody died. I had a chance to win a big golf tournament, and I didn’t…I missed a putt to win the Masters. If that’s the worst thing that happened to me, even in just golf, so be it.
Ed Sneed, on his six-footer on the 72nd hole at the 1979 Masters. Sneed went on to lose to Fuzzy Zoeller in a playoff.
Courtesy: New York Times

No. 17

Lipping Out

The Old Man and the C-Notes

Proof that a great hustle is ageless

No. 1

Lipping Out

Saddle Up

Outlawing Sam Snead’s croquet approach to putting birthed the sidesaddle putter

No. 4

Feature

Present at the Creation

Only in Vegas: An old idea and the possible birth of a new sport

Seve — Photo by Chris Smith/Popperfoto via Getty Images

I miss.
I miss.
I miss.
I make.
Seve Ballesteros, on his four-putt from 15 feet at No. 16 in the 1988 Masters

Ready to put your money where your Scotty is? Join the Broken Tee Society 3-Jack Fund, where every three-putt costs $1. At year’s end, we tally the pot for a 50/50 raffle. Last year, member Scott King took home the nearly $2,000 raffle prize, while the same amount went to two separate charities. Join here.