Limited flight ball, would you play it?

[Lihu]

6 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

Jack Nicklaus has been a proponent of changing the golf ball to limit the distance so the course don't have to change to accommodate. If the PGA implements a restricted flight ball for the tour pros, would you want hang with the pros and play the ball or stick to your current ball and play the game the same way you do now? I don't think I would want to give up the distance but I don't hit it as far as the pros do either. I think I would stick with my current ball but I think I might have a bit of a cheating the system feeling.

You mentioned that you have a 118mph swing speed in another thread some time ago. That seems as fast as most pros.

[boogielicious]

I voted no for a couple of reasons. First, I do not want to stifle innovation. Second, the distance those guys hit amazes me and is actually something I think is positive for the sport.

I'm playing the same ball as they do and they routinely hit it 60 yards further than me on average with the best 80 to 90. This should humble the amateur the same way seeing NFL Players up close should humble the wannabe armchair quarterback. These guys are good!

[Valleygolfer]

5 hours ago, Lihu said:

You mentioned that you have a 118mph swing speed in another thread some time ago. That seems as fast as most pros.

I believe I did but it was wild and required a lot of effort. I'm more consistently in the 105-108 range. I am not interested in changing the ball either...

plus I'm getting old....

Edited April 6, 2016 by Valleygolfer

[Wally Fairway]

We already play limited flight balls, think where we would be if there were no USGA rules?

So really the question should be would you play nonconforming balls that exceed the performance specs allowed? I think most would not.

[Bill926]

12 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Limited ball flight is nothing new to me.

Same here!  It would be interesting to know if the new ball would make a noticeable difference to most amateurs. 

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, Valleygolfer said:

I believe I did but it was wild and required a lot of effort. I'm more consistently in the 105-108 range. I am not interested in changing the ball either...

plus I'm getting old....

We need to find a cure for this.

 

[bkuehn1952]

13 hours ago, saevel25 said:

If the USGA changed the equipment rules on the golf ball then I would play the legal golf ball. 

Same here.

[bennettl61086]

in tournament play, absolutely, on a Sunday morning round with the lads? Not likely.. If the R&A introduce it as a standard for all golf I'd obviously comply but why would anyone give up longer drives if they don't have to ?!

[paininthenuts]

14 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

Jack Nicklaus has been a proponent of changing the golf ball to limit the distance so the course don't have to change to accommodate. If the PGA implements a restricted flight ball for the tour pros, would you want hang with the pros and play the ball or stick to your current ball and play the game the same way you do now? I don't think I would want to give up the distance but I don't hit it as far as the pros do either. I think I would stick with my current ball but I think I might have a bit of a cheating the system feeling.

If it were golfing law, you would have no choice

[Dave2512]

Never happen and not sure the ball is the only difference from yesterday's pro to now. 

[jkelley9]

It wouldn't be great for TV, with the obvious shift change. So I don't think they'll do it.

It would damage years of stats, instantaneously. It would also most likely affect putting and feel. 

However, I'm 100% on board with Jack. It makes complete sense. Less acreage, less cost for an "expensive" sport, which would hopefully translate to more "nicer" courses (better maintained). More time playing holes, with seemingly the same skills transplanting to the new ball. And bringing the original challenges of older courses/designs back into the light. 

An apparently difficulty would definitely be the motivations of the committee in determining the "factor" of the limiting flight. I could see some weird things happening there.

For me? I would play that ball. I'm all about comparing myself to the pros. Not because I'm trying to achieve what they achieve, or be "that guy:" "oh yea I can hit 320 yards bruh!," but it's just kind of cool seeing where you are in relation to them. That's part of the game for me. Gives me a sense of respect towards the pros knowing what they've been able to accomplish in terms of distances, proving that there is certainly an athletic advantage to the game.

[Valleygolfer]

2 hours ago, bennettl61086 said:

in tournament play, absolutely, on a Sunday morning round with the lads? Not likely.. If the R&A introduce it as a standard for all golf I'd obviously comply but why would anyone give up longer drives if they don't have to ?!

The issue here would be having to know two sets of yardages per ball. You would have to play the limited flight enough to figure out proper ball behavior.

[70sSanO]

I'm in the depends category.  If the was a choice between playing and not playing, or tearing out an existing course for condos or scaling it back for limited flight, I'd play them.  I could see them being course dependent.

I have hit decent limited flight plastic balls while they are not a close substitute for a real golf ball, I can wile away an hour or so with an 8-PW at the back of a school yard hitting them a hundred yards or less without worrying about hurting anything or anyone.

It would be interesting to see manufacturers being forced to sell limited flight golf clubs.  Will we start to see advertisements like... "Our clubs hit 10 yards shorter than..,"  or "Lofts Booby Jones would play."  ...not a chance!

John

[colin007]

2 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

If it were golfing law, you would have no choice

theres always a choice - ive seen guys playing with drivers well over the 460cc limit, for instance.

[NJpatbee]

As long as it was USGA conforming I would play the current golf balls.  I also believe that it is much more than the ball that gives the pros and some amateurs the 300+ yard drives.   The clubs and personal strength and flexibility of the many premiere golfers has improved dramatically over the last 25 years.  Also, let's not forget that in 1963 Jack drove a ball at the PGA Championship long drive contest 341 yards using a persimmon driver and wound ball.  Unless the distance was cut dramatically on the balls the pros use, they would still be hitting 300+ yard drives on a regular basis. 

I also agree that it is not going to happen.

[Yukari]

I too would only play USGA conforming balls.  I can't see USGA going with a bifurcated balls: one for the pros and one for the amateurs.

[70sSanO]

As mentioned, Jack Nicklaus has been a proponent of limited the flight of golf balls since the mid 80's (the Cayman ball and golf course).  After doing a little research, it seems that the flight is limited by reducing the weight of the ball.  If this is his recommendati0on, it won't work because the elements we play in (wind) will wreak havoc on any semblance the flight of a lighter ball.  It would be impossible to hit into the wind and without enough weight you couldn't even hit a bump and run.  I think that is what submarined it the first time around.

John

[newtogolf]

2 hours ago, 70sSanO said:

As mentioned, Jack Nicklaus has been a proponent of limited the flight of golf balls since the mid 80's (the Cayman ball and golf course).  After doing a little research, it seems that the flight is limited by reducing the weight of the ball.  If this is his recommendati0on, it won't work because the elements we play in (wind) will wreak havoc on any semblance the flight of a lighter ball.  It would be impossible to hit into the wind and without enough weight you couldn't even hit a bump and run.  I think that is what submarined it the first time around.

John

I believe Jack is trying to protect some of the older golf courses (some he designed) that cannot lengthen their courses to remain attractive to the PGA Tour.  I like Jack, but that's not a good enough reason for bifurcation.  

Jack acknowledged in his Masters interview that driving distances haven't gone up significantly since 2005, so this isn't a new problem that is getting exponentially worse over time.  Tiger in 2005 had an average driving distance longer than the current 2016 leader Tony Finau.