In a couple of earlier posts, I had posted that 2007 Masters Champ and 2007 AT & T Classic Champ Zach Johnson uses the plumb bob method for putting, so I was wondering who may have been the first Tour player to use the plumb bob method ever and you, Geoff, would probably be the only one that could possibly answer that question? I first heard about plumb bobbing used in putting back around 1965, a few years after taking up golf, so I'm wondering who may have been the first Tour player to use it?

Of course, the plumb bob is an old procedure used by engineers, bricklayers and such dating back to the 40's or earlier, but I'm wondering who first applied the principle to using a putter on the putting green to determine one's line of putt in golf?

Thanks, Larry

www.theputtingedge.com

He probably isnt responding because this technique for golf has long been proven to not work effectively enough to merit its use.

There isn't much available for the historical origins of plumb bobbing, but this is a pretty interesting footnote from the Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, first played in 1954:

"In the third year of the tournament [i.e., 1957] there was a 26-year-old by the name of Jack Nicklaus from Columbus, Ohio who shot 72-72-72-70 for 286 to finish fifth. With a golfing maturity well beyond his youth and with his introduction to Sunnehanna of plumb-bobbing for putting, he created an unusual amount of interest and developed a good following."

Incidentally, this recent research might be of interest:

Evaluation of the plumb-bob method for reading greens in putting
Authors: Sasho Mackenzie; Eric Sprigings
Source: Journal of Sports Sciences, Volume 23, Number 1, January 2005, pp. 81-87(7)
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd

Abstract:
This study evaluated the validity of the plumb-bob method as used to determine the break of a putt. Two separate experiments were conducted to examine the consequence of violating inherent assumptions in the method. In the first experiment, a controlled putting environment was constructed to assess the plumb-bob method in determining the break of a putt, if the slope of the green was not constant from the position of the golfer behind the ball through to the hole. It was determined that if the slope of the green beneath the golfer was different from the slope between the ball and the hole, then the plumb-bob method would provide an incorrect indication of break. The second experiment examined the ability of a golfer to stand perpendicular to a slope. Half of the participants in the study deviated by ± 1.5° or greater from standing perpendicular to a slope. A + 1.5° error on a 1.4 m ( 4.5 ft) putt translates into reading an extra 0.08 m of break and a missed putt. The plumb-bob method was found to be an invalid system for determining the break of a putt.

Keywords: balance; golf; physical model; putting
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1080/02640410410001730232

This from 1956 Masters Champ Jackie Burke Jr. in Golf Digest (April 1992):

"You can tell putting is in the mind just by watching people. I watch them making practice strokes and I wonder what they're practicing. If I did that I wouldn't know which practice stroke to choose, which one I would actually try to use on the ball. Same thing with plumb-bobbing. It's a pitiful waste of time. I wouldn't do it, no way. The guy who does that is just trying to do anything in order to avoid getting over the ball and stroking it."

So far as I can get a sense of the history, plumb bobbing seems to have arrived in pro golf somewhere around 1950-1955. Anyone have better info?

Cheers!

Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone.com
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.

Visit the new PuttingZone Blog for podcasts of putting tips:
Site PuttingZone Blog
RSS XML Subscription

Anonymous...Not that Geoff supports the concept of plumb bobbing, but I think his post about one of the greatest players in the history of the game, Jack Nicklaus, speaks for itself. Jack may have started with plumb bobbing early on in his career, but became so good a plumb bobbing "visually" without using his putter...although over the years he could be seen on TV plumbing on occasion. Many of your top putters use the method, Zach Johnson for one.

"In the third year of the tournament there was a 26-year-old by the name of Jack Nicklaus from Columbus, Ohio who shot 72-72-72-70 for 286 to finish fifth. With a golfing maturity well beyond his youth and with his introduction to Sunnehanna of plumb-bobbing for putting, he created an unusual amount of interest and developed a good following. Jack was strongly recommended to Sunnehanna by the great amateur, Bill Campbell of Huntingdon, West Virginia. Nicklaus was invited as a Committee Selection. Very few of Sunnehanna’s present membership can remember the performance of this youngster who was destined to become the greatest player In the history of the game."