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Golf is one of the most frustrating pursuits a human being can willingly subject themselves to, and most people will never really feel an intense urge to figure out a way to up the difficulty level of an inherently infuriating pastime.
Of course, there are still plenty of golfers out there who’ve been able to master the sport to the point where they do have a bit of incentive to figure out a way to make it a bit more exciting, and social media is filled to the brim with people who spent hours practicing trick shots and partaking in various challenges designed to push your skills to the limit.
I’ve previously covered the monumental collapse Jean Van de Velde fell victim to at The British Open after recording a triple-bogey on the final hole of the tournament to choke away what appeared to be a surefire major victory.
The man whose career is defined by that moment eventually returned to Carnoustie to replay the hole using nothing but a putter and managed to finish it in six strokes, which is a pretty impressive achievement.
It’s one thing to play a single hole with just a putter, but it’s another thing entirely to play an entire round with a putter—nevermind coming out on top in an 18-hole tournament where the rest of your competitors have the luxury of using every single club in their bag.
However, one man once managed to do exactly that.
That amateur golfer who won a tournament using nothing but a putter
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In 2022, former PGA Tour golfer Todd Demsey fared impressively well in a tournament that gave competitors a chance to qualify for the Champions Tour; while he ultimately finished in a tie for 17th in the 78-player field, he did so with a set of wooden clubs he’d made himself.
Anthony Griggs, on the other hand, is an Army veteran who moved down to Arizona in the early 2000s before ultimately settling in Mesa, where he’s spent plenty of time playing on the many golf courses located throughout the state.
However, there’s one thing that sets Griggs apart from virtually every other person you’ll encounter on the links: after getting bored with the sport, he decided to switch things up by removing every single driver, wood, iron, and wedge from his bag and opting to rely exclusively on his putter.
In 2020, Griggs—who can consistently drive 200 yards off of the tee (again, with a putter)—headed to the city of Chandler for an amateur tournament that was held at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass.
While he’d previously relied on a Scotty Cameron, it broke shortly before the one-round tourney was set to get underway, so he naturally headed to Goodwill to scoop up a replacement that set him back a whopping $2.99.
When everything was said and done, Griggs managed to shoot an 84, and while that number didn’t exactly turn heads, it was still enough to beat the second-place finisher by six strokes (it’s worth noting he was in the “D Flight” bracket reserved for players with a handicap of 21 or higher, but—and I can’t stress this enough—he only used a putter).
What a world.