By Mark Broadie
Gotham Books
256 pages
“Our simulation of thousands of pros and amateur putts to a hypothetical larger hole shows that Luke Donald and Gene Sarazen were right: Poor putters would benefit from a larger hole more than good putters. Simulation results with an eight-inch-diameter hole [compared with the regulation 4.25-inch hole] show that a typical pro putter would gain five strokes from a larger hole; a 90-golfer would gain 6.5 strokes. The gap between good and poor putters narrows with a larger hole. Here’s the intuition: Poor putters have more room for improvement, so the larger hole will benefit them more. Pro putters rarely three-putt and they average about seven one-putts and 11 two-putts in 18 holes. The only room for improvement is turning some two-putts into one-putts. With a larger hole, a 90-golfer will eliminate most three-putts and will have a bigger increase in one-putts.”