Picking up the ball with your putter - putter selection

[MrEffort]

There was a thread on this a few years ago and the original poster was mocked, mocked! For requiring that his putter have the ability to pick up the ball. I'd like to revisit this topic because it's Friday and I have a few minutes to kill.

 

I require that my putter be able to pick up the ball. It's not that I take a lot of putts, but it's just so satisfying to flick the wrist and have the ball pop into the air perfectly, sometimes landing gently right in my hand without even having to reach for the ball. 

 

Am I the only one who cares about this? Do any of you enjoy flipping the ball into the air with your putter? I think this is a great reason to include or disquality certain putters. If anyone would like to join in this meaningful debate, I'd love to hear it.

 

- M. Effort

 

 

Edited June 9 by MrEffort

[aramirez24]

A while back I bought a spider x to try out and test against my #7 style fang putter. I'm not really a great putter in general so I really could have made either one work, but ultimately I decided to stay with the fang putter because I can scoop the ball with it.. 

[CROUSE99]

I recently switched to a Mini Spider and miss the ability to pick up the ball with my putter. Of course, I’m old and lazy. 

[BigUrsus]

if im between two putters that both fit and i have truly zero preference i will take the one i can scoop with. Got a ping prime tyne right now and i feel like i could sling the ball like a lacrosse stick with it. 

[MrEffort]

Yeah, the Tyne is a legit scooper! Has anyone noticed that you CAN scoop the ball with the little fangs on the Spider GT?

 

[Golfcrzy]

Tough to do with the LAB DF2.1 even with the zone for it. Very frustrating!

[Kmagnuss]

My putter HAS to be able to scoop.  If it can't, I will literally try to do it on every green, usually just pushing it off the green a few times. 

[ae1985]

Get one of those ball grabber gimmicks to put on the end of your grip

[SnowbirdTom]

My gamer is a Ping Fetch.  Even retrieves the ball

from the cup. I win.  🤣

[A.Princey]

9 minutes ago, SnowbirdTom said:

My gamer is a Ping Fetch.  Even retrieves the ball

from the cup. I win.  🤣

Hope I don’t follow your group….

[Tyler724]

It’s a nice bonus if you find a putter that works and can save you from bending over to pick up. I too play an Odyssey 7 model and these work well.

[SnowbirdTom]

42 minutes ago, A.Princey said:

Hope I don’t follow your group….

Heh, haven’t even scratched the paint on it or touched a cup a year after purchase and I play 3-5 times a week.

Edited June 9 by SnowbirdTom

[D0ch0l1d4y]

I have this guy as a backup putter, ball wedges nicely in the gap.

 

[chollier986]

Deal breaker for me if I’m not able to scoop it up.  Currently gaming the anser 2d.

[AlohaPineapple]

 

[Phebus]

Fetch user here, as I have a fused back making bending fully near impossible. I’ve yet to damage any cups with it. What I see damage cups are guys with Anser style putters that gouge the ball out of the hole. 

[St Jimmy]

I can pick up a ball pretty easily with my Golo 3 on the green surface, but I have to use my hand to get it out of the hole.  I've never even tried to dig it out of the cup with it.  

[blades_are_life]

Mandatory for practice putting green as far as I am concerned.

[MrEffort]

Great points. I am glad putter scooping has a good amount of support (not that I care because I am my own man). A few thoughts:

- The thing on the end of the grip is a bridge too far unless of course you can't bend over

- I just don't know about the Ping Fetch. I don't think I'd like to use the club to get the ball out of the hole. It just seems wrong. The point of this thread was NOT about using the club to get the ball out of the hole. Let's FOCUS.

- The Tiger trickery is exactly the stuff a good scooper appreciates.

That being said, I hope we can avoid having this thread devolve into creating nonsensical battle lines... so, to each their own. 

 

Okay, on a related note, it does seem that sight lines on the top line are becoming more and more rare, with the exception of non-scoopable mallets. What's up with that? 

 

 

 

[MrEffort]

So, we need scoop able putters with sight lines on the top line...

 

Odyssey 7 (with full line and not the silly dots) works well. I love an anser putter with sightline on top. Anyone else gaming a scoopable putter with a sightline that connects all the way to the face? That's the stuff.

 

[Cmiles]

Betti BB8… rolls it and picks it up great

[MountainKing]

As an individual who has back issues, and has had surgery, I'm all for anybody doing what they can to save the back some stress.  Unfortunately I got nothing that is capable of doing that unless I want to drag a wedge around with me everywhere.

[JAM01]

Two choices - Envroll 11 and Ping Fetch. That said I golf occasionally with a golf course Superintendent and when he first saw this the veins on his head bulged, pondering golfers sticking the putter down in the cup. 

[BigUrsus]

2 hours ago, AlohaPineapple said:

 

Easy way to damage the cup and edges of the grass. Although i doubt he'd do this on an actual green. I've still seen it done on a real hole and not putting green. 

 

Yes i know he's tiger. It's not like he ever won a trophy for scopping balls with his putter.

[bladehunter]

The only time I pick the ball up , it’s out of the hole.  And I’m not using my putter for that . So.  

[jomatty]

5 hours ago, Golfcrzy said:

Tough to do with the LAB DF2.1 even with the zone for it. Very frustrating!

I went to the Link.1 and get no torque when I scoop the ball up

[jomatty]

17 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

The only time I pick the ball up , it’s out of the hole.  And I’m not using my putter for that . So.  

When you are putting on the practice green you tap in all the 3 inchers?  Very pure

[bladehunter]

Just now, jomatty said:

When you are putting on the practice green you tap in all the 3 inchers?  Very pure

Actually.  Yes.  Practice how you play.  I do finish out on the practice green. 
 

Just fyi.  My initial post was sarcasm 🤣.  But I really have never been a person to a scoop the ball with my putter. Usually playing something too nice to use that way . 

[jomatty]

Just now, bladehunter said:

Actually.  Yes.  Practice how you play.  I do finish out on the practice green. 
 

Just fyi.  My initial post was sarcasm 🤣.  But I really have never been a person to a scoop the ball with my putter. Usually playing something too nice to use that way . 

I’m good at missing sarcasm on the internet.  Always makes me feel clever afterwards.  

[joostin]

6 hours ago, MrEffort said:

I require that my putter be able to pick up the ball. It's not that I take a lot of putts, but it's just so satisfying to flick the wrist and have the ball pop into the air perfectly, sometimes landing gently right in my hand without even having to reach for the ball. 

Yup, scoop (not from hole) and flip are part of my putter criteria 🙂  The little things in life..