On average about 40% of your shots on the course will be hit with this club.

Because putting is all about personal touch and feel, putters come in all shapes and sizes.

It may a battered old hickory-shafted favourite handed down through the generations...

Or one with a long broom-handle grip designed to cure players suffering from the putting 'yips'..

Or the current flavour of the month, like this beast which has two white discs on its head which are supposed to act as 'navigational aids'.

Most professionals own dozens of putters which are thrown in and out of the cupboard depending on recent results.

There are four general types;

• peripherally weighted, with its head offset from the shaft for better balance
• blade, very precise but with a smaller sweet spot
• mallet-headed, for a firmer connection
• centre-shafted, which helps alignment.