Rory "Sick of Courses Being Too Easy"

[Beastie]

The best courses in my opinion are the ones where there is risk and reward. Courses with hazards that penalize wayward shots. Courses with  tight fairways and graded rough. Course where if you miss the fairway by 3 yds you still have a shot at the green but if you are way off line you have to take some medicine or take some risks/ get creative. Bomb and gouge is boring AF. 

Courses I really like watching golf at are Augusta, Bay Hill, le Golf National, Wentworth, Pebble Beach( but set up with tough rough), Valderrama. 

I want to see birdies and eagles on a Sunday, but I also want to see drama and target golf courses don’t always deliver. I want to see shots from deep in the shit, from behind trees, blind approaches, bad bounces and balls in the water. I want players to have more than way to skin a course, not just Driver wedge, driver wedge.

I don’t care what the winning score is to par as such, but if the course is hard and fair I believe it gives the best golf to watch and the best drama too. 

 

 

[70sSanO]

I do feel that there is not enough penalty for missing the fairway, and not just by a few yards.

I’m always amazed at how pros can hit the green, stop the ball, in 2 on a par five after getting relief from, say, a cart path.  Length is all reward and very little risk.

Golf is one of the few sports, the only one I can think of, where you can completely miss the target and be better off than than if you hit the target but are shorter.

John

[Vinsk]

5 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

Length is all reward and very little risk.

Now you know that’s not true. A 300yd drive that’s off target can be much more damaging than a 250yd drive. It just depends on the hole. Again, distance is a skill and also is a form of accuracy. So many people just assume short hitters are more accurate which simply isn’t always the case. I agree with more punishment being there...but how about the Zach Johnsons or Zac Blairs who end up in penalizing rough? They’d be even more screwed than before.

[Piz]

I agree with Rory.  If golf were more difficult I wouldn't feel nearly as disappointed when I play poorly.

[Patch]

So the ZoZo course was too easy? 😄

[70sSanO]

2 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Now you know that’s not true. A 300yd drive that’s off target can be much more damaging than a 250yd drive. It just depends on the hole. Again, distance is a skill and also is a form of accuracy. So many people just assume short hitters are more accurate which simply isn’t always the case. I agree with more punishment being there...but how about the Zach Johnsons or Zac Blairs who end up in penalizing rough? They’d be even more screwed than before.

I dunno.  Even Koepka says fairways are overrated.  In 2018 there were over 50 players averaging 300 yards.  For pros, I don’t think 300 yards is such a big deal.

As for shorter hitters... if they can’t hit the fairways, maybe they need to re-evaluate if their game can compete.  Short and crooked isn’t a good recipe for success.

Not sure where the name Zac Blair came from, but Zach Johnson has both length and age going against him.  But I have to give him props as he has probably maximized his results.

John

[leftybutnotPM]

 

38 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

Not sure where the name Zac Blair came from, but Zach Johnson has both length and age going against him.  But I have to give him props as he has probably maximized his results.

John

Zac Blair is one of the shorter hitters on tour. Not only is Koepka 50 yards past him off the tee, he's obviously hitting 2 or 3 clubs less. Koepka would clearly rather be hitting an 8 iron from rough (not trees) than be in the fairway 50 yards back. And if Blair is in the rough he might be hitting an extra club or two, compounding the difference.

Edited October 29, 2019 by leftybutnotPM

[70sSanO]

The game has changed over the years.  I don’t follow Zac Blair, but the Zac Blair’s of the world need to hit the right place on nearly every fairway, have an impeccable iron game, and drain every putt.

That is the only way to mitigate the 50 yard gap.  It may sound harsh, but if he can’t do that, who really cares if he gets penalized more?

There are a lot of 90mph right handed pitchers in college that will never be signed.  Once upon a time 90mph was a pretty big deal, that is no longer the case.  No one is making a case for them.

John

[iacas]

On 10/28/2019 at 9:11 PM, 70sSanO said:

I do feel that there is not enough penalty for missing the fairway, and not just by a few yards.

I’m always amazed at how pros can hit the green, stop the ball, in 2 on a par five after getting relief from, say, a cart path.  Length is all reward and very little risk.

Golf is one of the few sports, the only one I can think of, where you can completely miss the target and be better off than than if you hit the target but are shorter.

Missing the fairway is a 0.25 stroke penalty across the board on the PGA Tour.

It's effectively the same as hitting the fairway… about 70 yards farther from the green. In other words, a ball 190 yards out from the fairway will be hit to about the same distance from the hole as a ball 120 yards out from the rough.

In other words, the facts don't seem to back your opinion.

P.S. The target is the hole.