Anybody who has been around me for any period of time knows I’m a creature of habit. Eating chicken at least once, and sometimes two and three times a day and at the same fast-food restaurant would certainly classify me as a habitual creature of some magnitude.

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’ve had the same putter a Slotline for more than a decade. In fact, I’ve had the darn thing so long I can’t even remember if I bought it or won it in one of the marathon captain choice tournaments I’ve played in through the years. It has more nicks than a cleanly shaven member of the Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes after parting with a two-month playoff beard.

Deciding to sideline the Slotline this past month was a major golfing decision for me. But one that finally had to be made after more and more three-putts began filling my scorecard.

I blamed several things for my stagnant 9-handicap from my driver to my glasses but never the Slotline. In fact, one of the reasons I underwent laser eye surgery this past October was to improve my putting. It had to be the glasses, not my putter, right?

Some of us fall hard for our putters, like your first high school flame. We’ll swap out a $400 driver like there’s no tomorrow, but not the flat stick. We seem to have much more of an attachment to our putters and with good reason.

We have it our hands a lot. Close to half the strokes we take on the golf course are with our putters. We can throw our putters across the green after a disgusting three putt, but we always seem to pick it back up and softly place it back where it belongs. Now a bad drive, we slam that club into our bags with force, don’t we?

I was home one night after a good round of 83 at the Old North State Club, but a round that could have been in the 70s had it not been for my poor putting, when an e-mail popped up from a company called Golf Research In Play. The firm, based in Massachusetts, was unveiling a new putter called 'Sweetness'.

I’m not sure what came over me that night, but I sent back an e-mail asking to review the new product. It felt like I was cheating on my girlfriend.

I went off on a 10-day vacation and didn’t think much about golf. But as I approached the Triangle on my way home I wondered if the Sweetness would be on my doorstep when I arrived. Sure enough, there was the box. Before even sifting through my pile of junk mail and bills, I ripped open the package like a kid in a candy store. Was this the cure to my putting woes, I thought? I didn’t wait long to try out Sweetness, a putter with a much bigger and heavier head than my old Slotline.

If I was serious about this change I couldn’t baby the Sweetness. So the first test came at Pinehurst No. 4, a course known for its treacherous greens. In my opinion, the greens at Pinehurst No. 2 have nothing over some at the Tom Fazio designed No. 4 layout.

Was I nervous? Sure. I was trying out a new putter and playing against a 10-year old who was going to participate in the U.S. Kids World Championships. Were my hands clammy because of the new putter or because this kids was going to kick my butt all over the golf course?

Unexpectedly, the Sweetness passed the first test. A two-putt from about 35 feet netted me a birdie and I was on my way.

What I noticed immediately was the heavier head gave me better feel on distance. It also made me follow through on shorter putts as opposed to 'stabbing' at the ball on occasion.

Three straight 5-foot saves for par in the opening nine holes gave me just 16 putts as I made the turn. I did three-putt once on the back, but finished with 34 putts. Now, that’s more like it.

I’ve taken the Sweetness, with its dual tension rod design, out for a few more rounds since and it remains a favorite club of mine. And with the prices of some putters now soaring $100-$200, a price tag of $69.95 for the Sweetness seems like a bargain.

Do I suggest the putter plunge for every golfer that’s three-putting themselves crazy or that the Sweetness is the answer? No. It could be operator error more than the putter.

But take a moment or two now to think about what you might want for your birthday or Christmas. A new putter might not be a bad choice. If I can change, anybody can.

by David Droschak, Triangle Golf Today August 2006