Anyone who published an article on Pound's Cantos is a hero to me....
I read in the Dallas Morning News about a championship putting course at a resort in
Montana. Called the resort manager who told me the developer didn't have the land for a full-size course, so he and a San Fran golf architect came up with the idea for putting course, where resort guests could sip single-malt scotch gamble as they putted.
My research found a handfull of other similar courses around the country: California, Florida, Las Vegas, Kansas City.
My idea was to build a two-acre course in Dallas for about $500,000. My golfing partners seemed to like the idea on the surface, but beneath the surface it was a different story. My conclusion was that DISTANCE is an elemental part of golf. Putting and chipping may be a "game within the game" but the golfers play for the combination of distance and finesse.
Also, while my buddies and I will travel miles and miles to play different courses, I'm not sure how far anyone would go to play a putting course.
I've got a box full of the research, with interviews and dollar amounts, in my attic. If you want to know specifics on anything, say the word.
While doing that research, I got another bright idea--to develop a putter specifically for the left-hand low method. Have asked around, but haven't found anyone to "invent" a putter which would work better with the cross-handed style--probably because the make of putter doesn't affect the results. (And, after the Phoenix Open results, the left-hand low style will probably lose much ground to the "claw" grip.)
Glad to find you site, Geoff. It's always good to know of others who have a putter fetish.
Mark Spencer
(runner up in the Pen Texas 2000 poetry competition)