An On-Course Epiphany Led To Me Using Two Completely Different Putters... Why Don't More Amateur Golfers Do This?

It's tough being an amateur golfer, isn't it? We have to source our own clubs, pay for our own green fees and - most of the time - we don't have a caddie to help us out over awkward shots.

Additionally - and arguably most importantly - the quality and condition of course we play on can dramatically change from one week to the next, exacerbated if you're a nomadic player who journeys around from place to place.

Unlike touring pros, we're not often afforded the luxury of courses so perfectly manicured that you'd eat your dinner off of them. The courses, not the pros. Moving on.

Regardless, due to the variety of layout we often deal with, I think there is a cheat code of sorts which might help to lower our scores.

You may have read recently that I struggled initially when gaming a brand-new putter in an important round, and that's not something I'm keen to repeat any time soon for the reasons I highlighted.

My original flat stick featured an insert face which is really soft on contact and encourages me to be a touch more positive with my stroke. On the other hand, the newer putter is a milled face which was far hotter than I was used to and scared the living daylights out of me on slicker surfaces.

Despite very strong initial reservations, I stuck with said putter and have gamed it a few times since, slightly lessening the unadulterated hatred I felt towards it at first. A bit like a dad who says he doesn't want that new puppy, only to end up viewing it as his best friend a matter of months later.

While I might not be there quite yet, it was during a recent round on an inland-links-style layout with a green speed that barely registered on the stimpmeter that I realized the milled-face option was proving fairly successful.

Due to the particularly sluggish nature of the greens, I could maintain the correct putting technique and the club would do a great deal of the heavy lifting.

If I'd been gaming my old insert-face putter, I might have ended up bending it out of shape after thumping golf balls with it for hours on end. Not to mention, the quality of contact would have been pretty low and I would almost certainly have holed fewer putts overall.

It was during that round that I enjoyed something of an epiphany. What if I used the milled-face putter when greens are on the slower side, allowing me to remain positive with a good technique, and I swapped it out for the insert-face option when greens are quicker? Moving forward, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do.

In hindsight, my old putter would have worked much better in the big round I mentioned, not least because I was more familiar with it but also because it would have allowed me to remain positive while combining a degree of delicacy alongside.

I know golf clubs - and particularly putters - are not cheap, so I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a brand new option (unless you can afford to). But I do think it would be worth baring this suggestion in mind before you move on from an older club and donate it to pastures new.

A wise old owl named Joe 'The Pro' Ferguson once talked about putting two different drivers in his bag to suit whatever the course or hole presents him, and I think the same could well be true for putters as well in terms of green speeds.

Instead of trying to make wholesale changes to your technique which could lead to varied results, lean into the mass array of technology in modern putters and see if a different tool helps you out.

As amateur golfers, we all know that it's the club's fault and never ours. If we were using professional equipment, we would undoubtedly play better golf.

So, until you make it to the professional circuits, consider finding yourself a very different putter to the one you're used to. While it will certainly take some time to get used to at first, it could prove to be an extremely worthwhile investment in the long-run.