One of my members at Wheeling Country Club asked me the other day why putts are missed. Obviously, they are missed because they do not go in, but that is not what Mr. Forse was asking me.

He truly wanted to know what caused putts to go offline, to start right of target, to start left of target. What is the cause?

As I said last week, the golf swing, while made up of many parts, is pretty simple. Path creates curve, face creates direction.

There are several moving parts which impact both of those elements, but at the end of the day, that is what causes direction and curve.

With putting, there are far fewer moving parts.

In fact, while path is a factor in putting, face is so important. It’s the most important.

If you miss putts left or right, it is because the face of the putter told the ball to go there. If your putter — at impact — is pointed right of target line, or left of target line, that is exactly where the ball will start.

While grip, grip pressure, and alignment are all elements of where the putter face is pointing, it boils down to this: Where the putter is pointed, the ball will go there.

If you are missing putts consistently left or right, your blade is pointed that direction at impact. Now I know we want it to be complicated, we want it to be confusing, we want it to be harder. I am sorry, it is not. The direction of your putts is physics in the simplest form; An object (ball) being moved by a force (putter). Where that putter is pointed is where that ball will go.

TRIVIA

Wheeling, West Virginia has held one PGA Tour Event in history. What was it called, where was it held, and who was the winner?

First two people to email me at Rconwell@wheelingcountryclub.com win a free golf lesson.

Rich Conwell is the General Manager & PGA Head Golf Professional at Wheeling Country Club and can be reached with questions or comments at rconwell@wheelingcountryclub.com or 304-232-2000.