One of the best swingers of the golf club ever, Sam Snead, was a great of the game. A seven-time major champion, he enjoyed a long and successful career, and he continued to perform at an extremely high level into his old age. In fact, at the age of 67 he matched and then beat his age by a stroke in the 1979 Quad Cities Open on the PGA Tour.
But “Slammin’ Sam” had problems on the greens. In the 1966 PGA Championship, when struggling with the yips he decided to take extreme action. He went to a croquet putting style, standing across the line of his putt and swinging the putter between his legs.
It proved a successful method, and he actually finished in a tie for sixth in the event. His yips were cured. But there was a problem. The powers that be didn’t like Snead’s new technique and in an amendment to the Rules in 1968, the method was banned.
It remains illegal to putt croquet-style. Rule 10.1c says that a player must not make a stroke from a stance with a foot deliberately placed on each side of the ball, nor with a foot touching the line of play or an extension of that line behind the ball.
If you play a ball in that manner (from anywhere on the course) you receive the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play and loss of hole in match play. In stroke play, the stroke counts but you must add two strokes to your score.
Snead had to adapt again after the 1968 Rule change. He moved to a method where he putted “side saddle.” He pointed his feet towards the hole and putted with the ball to his side. That technique was legal and it has remained so.
The answer then to the question, “my opponent putted side saddle, is that allowed?” Is – yes. You can putt side saddle. You can play any shot side saddle, but you cannot play any shot with the ball between your feet in a croquet style.
You also must be careful when playing side saddle that your foot does not touch the line of play, or you would be breaking Rule 10.1c. There is an exception to that part of the Rule though.
There is no penalty if the stance is taken accidentally or to avoid another player’s line. So, if you’re tapping in from close range and you put a foot onto your line of play while making a wide stance to avoid a partner’s or opponent’s line, you will not be penalised.
Putting side saddle is permitted under the Rules, but putting croquet-style is not.
