Yes, seriously. I've yet to see a target design that catches 100% of "good" putts. Seems as though every time there's an advancement or adjustment in design that "fixes" one flaw, it ends up creating another. The only way there will ever be consistency across the board is if the sport settles on one design and every target used on every course is exactly the same (never going to happen).
At least if that's the case, whatever flaws/holes it may have will be known and accepted. For example, if the official target spits any putt thrown at a 35 degree hyzer angle hitting a spot two inches above and one inch to the right of dead center at a velocity of greater than 35mph, then a putt that meets all those characteristics is by definition not a good putt.
The problem we currently have is that such a putt might stick in basket models A, B, C, D, E, H, and K but spit out of models F, G, I, and J. But because of how many different basket models exist and the preference of some over others depending on where you are, it's incredibly difficult to keep straight which ones are which.
So I look at it this way...there's nothing objectively wrong with any target that meets PDGA "Championship" standards (the nonsense about DGPT approved targets aside). So long as every target on the course is the same model, the playing field for the players is level. It's then up to the players to adjust their putting stroke (speed/angle/spin/etc) to fit the course and target they're playing on a given weekend. No different than PGA Tour players having to account for the speed, slope, firmness, etc of the greens of whatever course they're playing in a given weekend...one week might be firm and fast, the next soft and slow, etc.
Players would have two choices, really. Adjust their style week to week depending on targets or find a consistent putting stroke that is as universal as they can get so that it works effectively on any target. I've seen Ricky in particular struggle with spits on a couple different target models, so I'm going to go ahead and say he hasn't found that universal stroke yet, even as good as he is. McBeth, on the other hand, never seems to get have chronic spit-outs on any particular style of target. He might be closer to having that universal fit.
The notion of the perfect target is a worthy goal and should continue to be sought, but I also think it's a pipedream that will never be fully attained.
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opcorn:
