The romance has gone out of this relationship

I’m getting a divorce.

It has been a long time coming.

We’ve never really been on the same page in our 20 years together.

Sure, there have been some good times. That’s why we’ve lasted as long as we have, I guess.

But now she’s looking old to me. I admit it – I want a younger model.

Yes, it’s time to get a new putter.

What did you think I was talking about?

I’ve resisted making the switch for much of the last five years.

Didn’t want to spend the money.

Didn’t have time for a fitting.

Didn’t want to blame the equipment when I know it’s usually operator error.

But there’s no getting around the fact that the new, heavier putters are much better, at least technologically speaking.

Once upon a time, my Ping was top of the line in our great game, and it still is for a lot of people. Just last night, as I was watching the Olympic golf competition, I noted that a lot of the pros still use a Ping or something just like it.

But a lot of them also have switched to the new technology, which feels better to me every time I try one.

There’s just something about it. I feel more confident, centered, in control. I don’t know why I’ve put this off for so long, but then I realize that I’ve had two putters in the last 40 years. That’s right – two since the early 1980s.

Talk about loyalty. Or maybe being way too stubborn.

It’s like continuing to use woods – real woods – rather than metal. When the new drivers came out years ago, we all looked at them and said, “Really?” Now we look at anyone still hitting woods made of wood and say, “Really?”

I have a feeling that, once I make the switch, I’ll never go back to my old putter. It will sit in a closet collecting dust with its predecessor.

Every time I play in the same group with someone using one of the new high-tech putters, they say the same thing: Love it. Feels so good. You’ll love it, too.

It happened again yesterday, so on the 18th hole I tried it. It was a difficult downhill putt that would be easy to knock off the green, and it would have been perfect if I hadn’t misread it. This came on a day in which I consistently left every lag putt short – even though it felt good leaving the blade.

We rely so much on feel out there when we’re putting. I can’t explain why one putter is better for me than another except that it just feels good.

So it’s time to stop being so loyal (and stubborn), do a putter fitting – got to have it fitted, for sure – and do something I should have done long ago.

It’s time for a younger model. It’s time for a new putter.

Let’s hope this romance works out a little better.