I have made three prototype grips and use one on my putter. I read the definition of a conforming grip, contacted the USGA, and it conforms. Is it legal to play in competition? —Jim Thompson ...

Abe handed the First Golfer a Japanese-made Yamada putter. A right-handed version of it -- a center-shafted, milled carbon steel blade called the "Stick of Life" -- is pictured here.

You’re desperate, aching from the lingering pain of missed birdie opportunities and wrecked attempts to save par. You’ll try anything. You take the hand-me-down putter.