401 Feet! The Inside Story of the World's Longest Putt

You probably missed the longest putt of 2023.You’d definitely miss it if you tried it yourself. It was 401 feet, 2 inches, a Guinness World Record and it was holed by The World’s Greatest Putter. Not really. It was holed by Jay Stocki, a semi-retired advertising executive from Downers Grove, Ill. His world-record putt was nearly 134 yards long, the length of a par-3, or almost as long as the distance from home plate to the centerfield wall in the original Yankee Stadium, 408 feet.Stocki made history in September at The Baths, a 10-hole par-3 course and a two-acre putting course at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis., whose more famous courses include Whistling Straits and the Irish Course. The Baths hosted the inaugural World’s Longest Putt Competition, organized by Stocki and his golf friends. He finished a close second in that competition to his buddy, Mike Born. Then, Stocki and his cronies spent two days trying to break the Guinness record for longest non-tournament putt made—395 feet. T...