{"id":1217,"date":"2006-03-01T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-01T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/technology_tradition_and_the_facts\/"},"modified":"2006-03-01T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-03-01T15:00:00","slug":"technology_tradition_and_the_facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/technology_tradition_and_the_facts","title":{"rendered":"Technology, Tradition, and ‘The Facts’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Titleist\"Last week, Titleist posted an opinion piece<\/a> on the brand’s website on the ever-contentious subject of technology vs. tradition. Geoff Shackelford responded with point-by-point dissent<\/a>, which touched off a flame war of comments, and another story on sportsfanmagazine.com<\/a> has covered some of the same ground.<\/p>\n

Shackelford’s piece and the companion piece on sportsfanmagazine.com both claim to be rooted in “the facts.” There are plenty of opinions in both, but actual facts are hard to come by. Let’s take a closer look.
\n
\nThe main thrust of both response pieces is similar to what the USGA would like golfers to believe: that golf is headed to hell in a handbasket because of technological advances in golf equipment. One of the “facts” cited is that the number of rounds played is flat, TV golf ratings are down, and someone named Ryan Ballangee thinks “the game is fizzling.”<\/p>\n

The only real facts<\/em> here are that rounds are flat (uh, the economy hasn’t been so good in the second Bush dynasty) and TV golf ratings are down (like nearly every sport on TV in the age of TiVo, hundreds of cable channels, etc.). The game “fizzling” because professionals hit the ball a long way? That’s not “calling it as I see it.” That’s plain silly.<\/p>\n

Ballangee would have you believe that there are legions of golfers standing sadly in the parking lots of their favorite courses, sadly eyeing the courses they used to play before Bubba Watson or Tiger Woods or John Daly started hitting the ball a really long way. Oh, they want to play golf, but the game just isn’t the same now that someone, somewhere occasionally drives the ball 350 yards. Therefore, golf is damaged.<\/p>\n

\"OldThe only cure? Rolling back the ball and clubs “before it’s too late.” Well, rolling them back to what? 1996, before Tiger was on tour full time? 1990, before John Daly won a major? 1950, before Arnold Palmer was bashing his way to Masters victories? 1880, when Old Tom Morris was winning British Opens at 20 over par? Oh well, I’m sure Shackelford and Ballangee will apply the facts to determine the correct date.<\/p>\n

The Dynamic Duo (as I’ve taken to calling them in my head) contests that we can’t trust Titleist or other equipment companies because they’re out to make a profit. Gee, they must be the only ones sullied by money. When Ballangee holds up Jack Nicklaus as an example of someone wanting to curb technology. Nicklaus – who owns an equipment company, a huge course-development business, and several other ventures – surely can’t be motivated by money, right? At least Shackelford and Ballangee don’t have profit as a motive. Sure, their websites have advertising, and they’ll make more money if stirring up some controversy brings more traffic to their sites. But they only care about the good of the game, according to, well, them.<\/p>\n

Everybody in this has an agenda. Titleist wants to express its corporate opinion on a hot-button issue, Shackelford et al want to respond. The more opinions the merrier, I say. But let’s remember that these are opinions, not facts. There’s no need for Ballangee to assert that Titleist’s position is tainted because it is “anonymous.” It is on the company’s website in plain view, meaning it is a statement from the company. Just because it doesn’t carry a byline doesn’t mean you have to guess where it came from.<\/p>\n

So let’s all step away from the flamethrowers and try to look at the real issues. Does technology that influences how the game is played at the highest level have any impact on recreational players? Would Titleist or any other equipment company sell more or less equipment if there were strict caps on technology, or even if that technology were rolled back? Discuss amongst yourselves. Express your opinion. Just don’t confuse it with stating a fact when you’re dealing with an argument that is hardly black and white.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: © Old Course .com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to get people riled up, try using “technology” and “tradition” in the same golf conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot_topics","category-swing_thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nTechnology, Tradition, and 'The Facts' (Hot Topics, Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/swing_thoughts\/technology_tradition_and_the_facts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Technology, Tradition, and 'The Facts' (Hot Topics, Swing Thoughts) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"If you want to get people riled up, try using "technology" and "tradition" in the same golf conversation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/imgs\/balls\/titleist_logo.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@the_sand_trap\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik J. 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