Getty Image / Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union/iStockimages/JulieAlexK
Spend enough time on the Internet within the golf community and you will see a lot of posts about ‘if I saw this guy, I’d walk off the course right there.’ More often than not, it is someone doing 25 ‘waggles’ before taking a swing, or lining up a putt in some asinine way, or setting up for Happy Gilmore swing.
Then there is something like this… PGA of Canada golfer Philippe Gariepy was using a mini putter in the PGA Championship of Canada at Pinegrove Country Club.
While it might look like a gimmick, and feel like a gimmick, it appeared to be working for him. Philippe Gariepy managed to shoot at 71 at Pinegrove for a -1 first round, that also included a hole-in-one on his second hole of the PGA Championship of Canada.
Philippe Gariepy And His Mini Putter Go Viral
When I see Philippe’s mini putter I’m struck with a quote from Kenny Fisher (Seth Green) in 1998’s Can’t Hardly Wait. It is from the moment when he is locked in the bathroom with Denise Fleming (Lauren Ambrose) and sees her shoes, asking “do they serve an orthopedic function?”
Because the ONLY reason I can ever imagine to use a mini putter is if it would offer some medical benefit. Obviously not orthopedic, or maybe in some way I’m not able to conceptualize, but maybe Philippe Gariepy’s mini putter provides some sort of necessary stretch in his back that tightens up on the course?
I just don’t know. Nobody does. But the video has gone viral.
Unique but effective 💪
Philippe Gariepy is rolling in putts with an 18-inch putter — the shortest legal length allowed in golf.
He’s -3 on the day with an ace (!) on the card. pic.twitter.com/lAOGGTF4dm
— PGA of Canada (@pgaofcanada) July 29, 2025
His putter measures only 18-inches! The shortest allowable putter on tour.
Did it work?
Philippe Gariepy went out in 34 and came home in 37 for a one-under round in the first round of the PGA Championship of Canada, which is great, right? But he also had the ace on the second hole to put him -2 through two holes…
ACE ALERT 🚨 Philippe Gariepy holes out on the 2nd hole at Pinegrove Country Club in round one of the PGA Championship of Canada. pic.twitter.com/SRL9Kra5w6
— PGA of Canada (@pgaofcanada) July 29, 2025
It is sad that as a golfer who loves to travel my first thought was ‘where’d he get that toucan logo from? What course is that?’ Naturally, I went to Google’s Reverse Image Search to try and figure that out but Google offered no leads.
So if anyone knows what course has that toucan as its logo I would love to know.
This is what Philippe’s scorecard looked like with the mini putter:
GolfGenius
What were people saying about the mini putter?
If you hope into the comments, people have THOUGHTS.
The first comment on X from ‘Austin’ was “My back hurts just watching this.” That was followed by PParGolfer saying “He better be making aces if that’s how he putts.”
Some within the golf community believe there are benefits to putting with a mini putter. The Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird has been heavily reviewed online.
Possible reasons for using a mini putter include “improved feel and alignment” according to people who have used them. Which may or may not be true, there is not enough evidence out there.
What we do know is golfers have been using full-sized putters for centuries with success.