Inventors hope new putter turns heads

 By ED DUPREE

         GREENSBORO – Partners Bob Gammon and Tony Piparo want golfers to keep their putts on line, and they are confident their unorthodox putter and stance will soon eliminate putting mistakes that plague golfers.

        They have formed Down The Line Concepts and are ready to market their Down The Line Putters in the Triad and North Carolina.

        Their invention is a long (42-inch) and heavy (650-gram head) center-shafted putter that is used with the body facing the target, rather than at a 90-degree angle to the target line.

        Piparo, a sports psychologist and golf instructor who lives in Greensboro, explains that conventional putting methods are difficult because of visual distortion and mechanical inefficiency.

        “When you stand sideways, or 90 degrees to the target line, as you normally do in a conventional putting system, you don’t see the line accurately,” he said. “That’s why you see golfers line up from behind the hole, and they may pick out a spot in front of the ball from that position, or line the label up, or the line that they put on the ball in the direction that they want the ball to start rolling.

        “The other problem with putting is mechanical inefficiency. Whenever you have to putt around your body holding the club with two hands, you’re forced either to make a curved putting stroke or a complex multi-axis stroke similar to what Colin Montgomerie used to use, where his elbows would bow out in either direction as he made his putting stroke. Unfortunately, something that is complex is very difficult to master and breaks down very quickly under pressure.”

        Gammon, of Clemmons, was an industrial engineer with more than 25 years of experience when he was taking lessons from Piparo. He told Piparo about a putting system he had come up with.

        “I was heavily into process improvement. I would look at a process and try to break it down and find a better way, a quicker way, a more efficient way,” said Gammon. “I was always a good putter until I passed my 40s and started having the yips. One day I decided to look at putting as though it were a process.”

        He went to a practice green and thought about the simplest method to get a golf ball into the hole. He faced the hole and rolled the ball underhanded into the cup. He considered other methods, too.

        “Nothing made as much sense as that. Nothing was as natural, nothing was as easy, or was as accurate,” he said.

        Next, he studied the rules of golf.

        “Both feet were on one side of the intended line, which is a requirement of USGA. The only other obstacle was the 10-degree minimum lie angle, which we’ve built into the putter. A short putter wouldn’t work. I came up with a long shaft and decided on a putter length that was somewhere mid-bicep. You just anchor it above the elbow (with the non-dominant hand), and then you’ve just got a one-arm, single-hinge point. You can have a perfect pendulum,” said Gammon.

        However, Gammon, who didn’t have any knowledge of making clubs, couldn’t find anyone that understood his concept – until he told Piparo, who was enthusiastic. They quickly formed the partnership and are in the process of forming a corporation.

“It allows the arm to move in a straight line the same way as it does when you walk. It’s a pure pendulum stroke. Therefore, the putter stays square to the target line perfectly and naturally throughout the entire length of the stroke, making it much easier to putt,” said Piparo.

Piparo and Gammon cite an independent study conducted by Indiana University professor, Dr. Gideon Ariel, which confirms that facing the target line improves putting accuracy 68 percent. It reduces the number of moving body parts necessary to produce a consistent pendulum stroke by 50 percent.

        The partners say Down The Line Putters will simplify a putting stroke, promote solid contact, reduce back strain, eliminate wristiness, improve aiming accuracy, improve distance control and lower your score.

        Piparo and Gammon will assemble the putters, using putter heads made by Gibbs Manufacturing, grips from Golf Pride and shafts from True Temper.

        “The putter’s in production right now,” said Piparo, pointing out that their putters should be ready to market in June at a price of about $250. “It will include a training video on CD or videotape and a complete training manual which goes into much greater depth into improving putting – focus control on how to make short putts, distance control, how to ready greens and great detail about how to improve all areas of putting.”

        They hope to get Down The Line Putters on the PGA Tour.

        “We’ve got several tour players who are very interested. We don’t have commitments,” said Piparo. “We have shared this with a number of teaching professionals in this area and around North Carolina who also are very interested in promoting the putter.”

        “We’ve been just overwhelmed with the acceptance that we’ve gotten so far from the people we’ve shown this to. We will be taking orders and will be able to fill those orders very soon,” pointed out Gammon.

        The partners plan to advertise in local and regional golf publications, giving golfers information about their web site.

        Down The Line Concepts (phone 336-235-0700) is located at 2007 Yanceyville St., Suite 32, Greensboro. Check out the Down the Line Putter online at www.downthelinegolf.com