THE quest for the perfect putter has been going on for as long as golf has been played. However, strict criteria must be followed by manufacturers and inventors seeking the ultimate blade, one which will cut handicaps for amateurs and earn cash for professionals.

Indeed, the R & A's Implements and Ball Committee (who are obliged to investigate and rule on the admissibility of new clubs) must, firstly, pass any newly-designed putter before it can be used in play.

One of the earliest clubs to fall foul of the rules was the centre- shafted Schenectady putter used by American Walter Travis to win the British Amateur championship at Sandwich in 1904. He had claimed the American Amateur title three times before his visit to Britain and, although his victory was safely achieved long before the ban was imposed, he always felt the decision was aimed more at him than the club.

Since then, the R & A have ruled against a number of weird and wonderful designs mainly on the principle that artificial devices "have no part in the true game of golf". Many of these strange putters have ended up in the "black museum", a collection of unsuitable clubs given the thumbs-down by the guardians of golf.

The R & A adopt the policy that "it is much to be deplored that players, instead of trying to master the use of golf clubs, should endeavour to overcome difficulties of the game by using implements which have never been associated with it."

The broomhandle putter, albeit currently legal, is one which is very much under the sharp eye of the R & A, although it can be argued that it adheres rigidly to the pendulum motion which has been an integral part of the putting action since the start of the game.

Under the rules governing golf, appendices II and III and Rules 4 and 5 cover the design of clubs. There are a number of criteria - including adjustability, shaft straightness and length, alignment and attachment to clubhead, as well as grip - that must be taken into account.

Most designs are actually quite similar, although one of the most revolutionary - the Nick 2000, designed by German Jochen Nickel - was in great demand by players at the Murphy's Irish Open last week. In demand, that is, on the practice putting green. Nobody actually ventured so far as to play in the competition with it. Why? Because thee shaft is connected to the wrong end" of the clubhead, a bit like a right handed golfer taking a left-handed putter and using it in the opposite direction. The suspicion exists that until someone actually takes the bull by the horns and plays in a tournament with it, others will be reticent to use it.

The driver may be the club which has the most visual impact, but the putter is the one which gets the ball into the hole. So, golfers' will continue to search for the one which has particular appeal for them.