The hole truth: Lake Bluff resident invents The Gimme Stick for golf putts

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"I started to think about why the 'inside-the-leather' technique for gimmes hasn’t worked," explains Lake Bluff resident Chris Falls about what helped prompt the creation of The Gimme Stick.

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:36AM

Lake Bluff resident and veteran golfer Chris Falls has created The Gimme Stick. First unveiled at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., in January, The Gimme Stick -- manufactured in Montana -- tries to bring an equitable standard to one of golf’s oldest gestures: conceding a putt. For golf events, The Gimme Stick (www.thegimmetsick.com) is priced under $10 for 50 units, which includes one color, two-sided printing and a matching metal ring to attach to the bag.

Falls spoke with the Lake Forester about how the idea was hatched, where he hopes to sell The Gimme Stick and comments he’s gotten on the new creation.

How did you come up with the idea for The Gimme Stick?

I was on the golf course a couple years ago playing with an acquaintance I don’t see all that often but who regularly tells me how good his golf game has gotten. After playing the first few holes, I noticed he was certainly hitting the ball better than I’d ever seen him, but every time he missed the green he would pitch up to about four feet and make a casual attempt to knock the ball in the hole. If he missed, he would quickly redirect the ball in the hole and give himself a par, claiming that if he had actually taken care to set up correctly he would have made it. A lot of times the ball would go in the hole because he didn’t have a fear of missing the putt.

Because we don’t see each other frequently I didn’t want to confront him on it and ruin the mood between us for the rest of the round, but I also felt like a not-so-innocent bystander. The game is hard enough without having to be concerned about what someone else is doing. I started to think about why the “inside-the-leather” technique for gimmes hasn’t worked.

The “inside-the-leather” standard for gimmes is well-known – the ball is considered good when it is as close to the hole as the distance from the bottom of the putter grip to the putter’s clubhead - but I’ve been playing golf since I was a kid and I’ve never seen it widely used. In part, I think it’s because people aren’t all that comfortable sticking their putter heads into the hole and risking damage to the edge of the cup. More than that, I don’t think this method has ever captured the many nuances of the gesture, such as the score to be achieved on a hole (if it’s a high score people are typically more forgiving because the person has struggled on the hole to that point and they are more likely to be holding up play on the course), or shot origin (people tend to give slightly longer concessions when someone has made a more difficult shot from off the green to recognize a certain wow factor or reward for the good shot). Also, with the advent of long putters, the “inside-the-leather” technique has lost it’s equitable standard and so has been rendered obsolete.

How did you decide on the various measurements?

It was a combination of looking at Dave Pelz’s extensive research on short-putt conversion statistics and proper putting speed, working backwards from PGA Tour putting statistics for one year from short range, and then time with various groups on the course. Each Gimme Stick format – event-based, score-based, and shot-origin-based – has two lengths. The challenge was coming up with an acceptable margin for the lengthier gimme putts allowed in scrambles, for non-competitive scores, and for shots from off the green.

Aside from promoting them in Orlando, what methods are you using to try to sell them?

I’m going to do some other shows, reach out to clubs and companies that host a lot of events, and try to get the product into various trade magazines, but because my sales force is rather meager at two, I’ve focused on developing relationships with organizations that offer the sales support I need.

One is The Golf Tournament Association of America, which has granted me preferred vendor status and is now promoting The Gimme Stick on its site and through its sales consultants, and the other is the Ad Specialty Industry (ASI), which promotes to over 17,000 distributors through it’s site and sales consultants. The strength of the product, I think, is really for charities and sponsors to get their names on the golf course, not only during the event but every time the golfer pulls out The Gimme Stick in a casual round of play afterwards. Ideally, it initiates a conversation about the charity and the sponsor’s ongoing affiliation with that charity.

What are some interesting comments you’ve gotten from people who have seen The Gimme Stick?

Just about every third person that passed our booth in Orlando made a specific reference to someone who was guilty of excessive length gimme putts in their social foursome at home. They’d look at me, give a knowing smile to the person next to them and say, “We need to get one of these for George” or “This would be perfect for Arnie”.

Outside of that, it was interesting to me how many people it resonated with when I talked about the suggested benefit of deterring collusion in best-ball foursome events. There’s no greater repellent to good-spirited event participation than when the same foursome comes in every year with the 58 or 59 that beats the rest of the field by five shots.

Are you working on any other ideas?

Actually, in large part, this whole idea came about because I was looking for a debt-free way to fund the technology development needed for a palliative care life review website I’ve been working on for about seven years. This isn’t to say that’s where the idea came from but I think it was a condition for me to be more receptive to it. After I hopefully recoup the money I invested in the Gimme Stick, a percentage of future earnings will go to funding the development of this site – www.lifechoicelegacy.com.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

All the putting literature these days emphasizes that speed is more important than line to increase three-putt avoidance and to become a better putter, but if you go to most golf shops and retail stores, all the putting training aids are focused on stroke path. The Gimme Stick incorporates a practice green game that is a great way for players to develop their lag (speed) putting and it’s another great way to monetize a charity event and give participants another chance to have fun and win. The last benefit I should mention is that using The Gimme Stick for events increases pace of play significantly.