LONDON, March 1, 2013 (AFP) - The three-month period was agreed after golf's two governing bodies, the R&A and the US Golf Association, proposed a ban on such strokes which involve fixing the top of the putter to a point on the body -- usually the stomach or chest.
That move followed continuing debate over anchored putting, fired up by the victories of Keegan Bradley in the 2011 USPGA, swiftly followed by Webb Simpson at the US Open and Ernie Els at the British Open.
All three used an anchored putting stroke.
An R&A spokesman said: "Anchoring has been a polarising issue in our sport and despite having weighed the matter thoroughly before making the proposal, we believed it was important to give stakeholders in the game the opportunity to air their views.
"Our consultation period has generated a number of considered responses which have continued to arrive right up to the deadline. We appreciate those responses and will take time to review and evaluate them.
"We note that this matter has proved particularly sensitive in the United States, while the proposed rule change has been received more favourably across the international golfing community.
"As we have throughout this process, we will work closely with the USGA in moving towards a final resolution."
Last week America's PGA Tour, the largest and richest in the world, publicly voiced opposition to the proposed ban on anchoring, which would come into effect in 2016.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said on Sunday: "Our player advisory council looked at it twice. We had the USGA come in and make a presentation to a player meeting in San Diego and the USGA made a presentation to our board.
"We researched and looked at it and articulated our position to the USGA and shared that thinking also with the R&A.
"Essentially where the PGA Tour came down was that they did not think that banning anchoring was in the best interest of golf or the PGA Tour.
"In the absence of data or any basis to conclude that there is a competitive advantage to be gained by using anchoring and given the amount of time anchoring has been in the game, that there was no overriding reason to go down that road."