![\"Trap](\"\/b\/imgs\/trap_five\/tf_title.gif\")
March is the cruelest month above the Mason-Dixon Line. It teases us with the breath of Spring from time to time, and then blasts us with more snow and cold winds. It’s a time of year that can drive a golfer to fits of lunacy… like imagining what it would be like to be King of Golf.<\/p>\n
I don’t mean imagining what it would be like to “the King,” Arnie (in the day, that had to be a blast), or golf’s current king, Tiger (I suspect that wouldn’t suck, either). No, I mean, what would I change about golf, if I could change anything I wanted to.<\/p>\n
Naturally, I want to reverse my handicap. Go from my -9 to a +9, and see what the PGA Tour is really all about. But that’s too easy. Everyone would want to do the same thing. I’m more concerned with the bigger questions of golf. Here are five things that, with tongue more or less in cheek, I’d like to see changed about golf. As it is, most players who are sponsored by an equipment manufacturer have to fill the bag with their sponsor’s clubs, or at least mostly. Some players will go with a putter of their choice or maybe an odd hybrid or wedge, but the core of their equipment will come from the company that signs their regular checks, not the ones that they may or may not win each week on tour.<\/p>\n If players bought their own equipment and scores of them showed up at the Masters with the same brand, that would certainly tell average golfers a little bit about that brand of clubs. Not to mention that there’d be a serious run on them in every pro shop around the country.<\/p>\n I’m not sure even the King of Golf could make this one happen. Sponsorships have been part of the game for nearly 100 years, possibly longer. But wouldn’t it be cool to know what pros really<\/em> think about their clubs?<\/p>\n Hole Four: Let Joe Play for Dough<\/strong> With the stress of playing in front of galleries and TV cameras, a win by the local Joe would be few and far between. Imagine the pressure coming down the stretch for somebody who usually plays munis. I have a feeling there wouldn’t be a whole lot of cash going to Joe Schmoes, but every once in a while there’d be some real excitement for a local guy.<\/p>\n It wouldn’t fly at the wannabe-fifth-major events, but for some of the smaller struggling events, it might actually work to add a little more interest. The pros would hate it, but it would provide an angle for the networks to cover when there was a runaway leader on the weekend.<\/p>\n Hole Three: Going to the Mat<\/strong> And while we’re at it, why do mat manufacturers insist on those rubber tees that are like nothing you actually use in golf. How hard would it be to make a rubber holder for a regular tee, so you could use your preferred tee? That’s a freebie idea for a manufacturer out there.<\/p>\n I’ve actually taken to sticking a tee into the gap between the rubber tee and the rubber matting. This works about half the time. When it doesn’t I wad paper into the rubber tee or the hole for the tee and stick a real tee into that.<\/p>\n Hole Two: I’m Tiger Woods<\/strong> Just think how it would help the economy… The more holes you play, the more likely you are to earn credits. I know guys who’d be single-handedly bailing out the golf course industry.<\/p>\n OK, I’d have to be a god<\/em> of golf to make that one happen, but it would sure be fun.<\/p>\n Hole One: Stroke, But Not Distance<\/strong> Hit a ball into a lake and you have several options for where to play it, including dropping within two club lengths of the spot where it last crossed the hazard line and dropping anywhere behind that spot on a line that extends to the hole.<\/p>\n Lose a drive in some long rough and, if you didn’t hit a provisional, you have to hike yourself back to the tee to hit your third shot. Same thing if you hit it out of bounds. Why should these instances be penalized so much more than when a ball finds water or other marked hazard?<\/p>\n
\n
\nHole Five: No More Freebies for Millionaires<\/strong>
\nNever going to happen… But how much more interesting would bag counts be if pros had to buy their own equipment? I suspect there would be some strange things show up in pro bags if they could play any club they thought would help them with no impact on their sponsorship dollars.<\/p>\n![\"No](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/2k7_memorial_charley_hoffman_jeff_quinney.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nBuilding on the success of the U.S. Open contests that let an amateur play the course with celebrities, why not take it a step farther. If I were in charge of golf, one local average Joe golfer would get an exemption into each PGA Tour event. Choose them via lottery or through a series of qualifying tourneys… Just don’t let the sponsors choose one of their execs to play. Not only that, why not let them play with full handicap and keep any money won?<\/p>\n
\n![\"Premium](\"\/b\/imgs\/accessories\/true_strike_golf_mat_single.jpg\")
Why can’t someone make a realistic mat that ranges could afford to install? It would be nice for those of us in cold climates to have something decent to hit off of in the winter. They would also be useful for high traffic areas or as alternate range tees for bad weather in warmer climes.<\/p>\n
\nFrom now on, every time you shoot a personal best or make another landmark accomplishment, you’ll earn credits that you can spend later on new equipment or swing enhancements that will help improve your game further, just like in the Tiger Woods PGA Tour game. Break 80, get a new putter! Make an eagle, upgrade your driving distance!<\/p>\n![\"Shoot](\"\/b\/imgs\/pga\/2k7_memorial_tiger_woods_friday_driving_first.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nThe stroke and distance penalty slows down play and is overly harsh when compared to other penalties.<\/p>\n