You've got to hand it to the Hammy Putter - just ask Natalie Gulbis

To date, Natalie Gulbis has won only once on the LPGA Tour - the 2007 Evian Masters. She was wielding a uniquely effective putter that week, a flat stick she used not only in that lone victory, but also in a runner-up performance, an additional third-place showing, and a total of five Top-10s that season.

The Hammy is the name of the putter that was instrumental in her success that banner season, the brainchild of a Chicagoan and scratch golfer named Jim Alvarez. The inventor/entrepreneur logically deduced that standing perpendicular to one’s putting line, which is how anyone using a conventional, belly, or even long putter stands, isn’t the best method to success. Alvarez figured that if you gave a three-year-old a golf ball, and asked him to roll it into a hole 10 feet away, he would naturally face the target, and roll the ball with his right hand. That, in essence, is how you wield The Hammy.

The concept is to open the stance dramatically by turning the left foot out, so you are more or less facing the target. Using a split grip, with the right hand lower on the putter grip, and the left hand basically just along for the ride, you use the right hand to propel the ball towards the target, in essence, “rolling” the ball towards the hole.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but ultimately it’s a very effective and extremely natural-feeling putting style. Alvarez gives hope to all the would-be golf-inventors out there, twiddling around in their workrooms - once in awhile, you can in fact build a better mousetrap. Visit www.hammyputter.com for more information.