The Golf Ball "Problem": PGA Tour Players Hitting it Far is a Problem for All of Golf?

[Vinsk]

45 minutes ago, inthehole said:

Last week Gary Player came out for dialing back the ball.    So that makes Lee, Jack and now Gary.    I'd be inclined to believe these guys know something about it.   BUT they're old now, and might just not like the young guys today with modern equipment hitting it past what they could do in their prime ... who knows.

All those guys will do anything to protect their records and to seem less 'obsolete' in their achievements. They won't because they are legends, but don't believe for a minute that Jack is excited about seeing his 18 major wins record broken.

[TallSouthern]

They really need to just get rid of the drivers that look like oversized toys....say anything above 360 CC's....

[Vinsk]

8 hours ago, TallSouthern said:

They really need to just get rid of the drivers that look like oversized toys....say anything above 360 CC's....

Why?

[Typhoon92]

You can't stop technology because someone doesn't like it.  It's everything... Clubs, launch monitors we have now for custom fitting.  Hell, I picked up yards getting fit.  Conditioning...compare players now to players back then .  Would there have been a senior tour back in the 1960's or did they all snake and drink themselves to death.  Scott McCarron looks like he's in his his 40's!

Course conditions are huge...fairways are measured with a stimpmeter now.  Jeez!  We all see the bounce and forward roll they get.  There's guys with 170 mph ball speed hitting it 340 now because of the fairways.

Their fairways roll faster than the greens at the muni I play.

Edited October 15, 2017 by Typhoon92

[joro]

I realize the name of the game is distance, like the ads about cars are about speed and handling which creates a bunch of people who don't know how to handle it.    Distance in Golf is requiring more land, more sales of "distance" Clubs, and most cannot hit it out of their shadow anyway.     Where does it end:

[TallSouthern]

Good points.... maybe I'm wrong about the drivers...just trying to figure out how to deal with courses losing difficulty for pros.

[Jack Watson]

I'd like maybe 1-3 events on the tour per year changed into retro events where they play older clubheads and they all use the same ball,  maybe something made to play as close to wound balata as possible.  

 

[joro]

I agree and it is simple, make the courses shorter and more difficult.    In the 300 yd. range there could be water, rough, lots of traps, and things that would affect the 300 yd. plus Drives.   That way all players will have a chance.    Make the greens not as receptive and trouble over the Green, meaning the approach shots require more thought and skill.   That would bring everyone into the game cause there are players that can't compete.   Narrower fairways and more rough would also be a factor meaning bomb and gouge could be a negative.    When I was young and a player I was long for the day and I didn't care where it went cause I could always go high with wedge or punch under the trees with a shot which was usually in the 100 yd range.    The game is much easier for a Bomber who is hitting a 180 yd wedge than a shorter hitter going with a long Iron or Hybrid or even a wood.     Fact is the game is made for the long hitter and as Fred Funk said, Tigerizing a course does not affect the long, but penalizes the short.    There are many examples of that.    Nick Faldo who was not long told me he used to hit a 7 into #1 at Augusta but after they lengthened it it became a 4 for him and the Green slope meant the ball came back and worse yet getting above the slope with the low fight of the 4 vs. the higher 7 meant the Ball went over the Green.   My ex Daughter in law caddied for him.     And the average golfer would benefit from shorter courses, enjoy the game.   Personally I liked the old way, shorter courses and more skill.

[Jack Watson]

It absolutely was much more of a skill game before but now it's becoming a power sport.  Bash driver flip wedge. Yawn.  

[phillyk]

3 minutes ago, joro said:

And the average golfer would benefit from shorter courses, enjoy the game.   Personally I liked the old way, shorter courses and more skill.

There's no reason why they can't just Tee it Forward! That's the point of the movement, to enjoy the game more by playing a shorter tee.

30 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

It absolutely was much more of a skill game before but now it's becoming a power sport.  Bash driver flip wedge. Yawn.  

It takes a LOT of skill to hit it 300+ yds every time and keep it in play.

Sports and rules evolve with the times, because of technology, fitness, and the way we understand how to practice and improve.  It doesn't matter how you try to change golf balls or the distance people hit it, the longer hitters will stay longer than the shorter hitters.  If anything, the gap would actually widen.

[Pretzel]

15 hours ago, inthehole said:

Last week Gary Player came out for dialing back the ball.    So that makes Lee, Jack and now Gary.    I'd be inclined to believe these guys know something about it.   BUT they're old now, and might just not like the young guys today with modern equipment hitting it past what they could do in their prime ... who knows.

I'd be inclined to believe that all three players are jealous of the technological advancements that are allowing modern players to smash their records. They've got a bit of a conflict of interest in terms of what rules modern pros should abide by.

"If I didn't get these longer golf balls when I played, why should you?"

[joro]

I got it, and I played in those days but don"t look at it the same way.    The courses were much shorter so that is what we had and didn't know any better.   Wound Balls, wood heads and so on.   Take the percentages and we were just as long percentage wise.    Our big hitters were our there just like today only not a far ahead.     It is about Land, about enjoying the game, I used to love the long courses, maybe 7,000 yrs but I think the biggest thing is land.      Augusta is a prime example of having to acquire land on the 13th so they could make it longer, don't add something else to make it tougher like Traps in driving areas, or Heaven forbid add some real rough, just pay Millions for a quarter acre to move the tee back and not affect it one bit.     But it is an argument with no answer, the Golf Manufacturers will keep making  clubs and Balls longer and it is a given.     People all want distance and fast cars.      So there is the Forward tees.   Enjoy your Golf,, always.

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

I'd like maybe 1-3 events on the tour per year changed into retro events where they play older clubheads and they all use the same ball,  maybe something made to play as close to wound balata as possible.

Nobody in a position to decide that sort of thing (the sponsors, the players, the money people) would have any reason to want to do that.

4 hours ago, joro said:

I agree and it is simple, make the courses shorter and more difficult.    In the 300 yd. range there could be water, rough, lots of traps, and things that would affect the 300 yd. plus Drives.   That way all players will have a chance.

How is punishing the long hitters only a valid solution (to a problem almost nobody here thinks exists)? Hitting the ball far is a skill.

4 hours ago, joro said:

Make the greens not as receptive and trouble over the Green, meaning the approach shots require more thought and skill.   That would bring everyone into the game cause there are players that can't compete.

That punishes the shorter hitters that have to hit longer clubs into the green.

4 hours ago, joro said:

Narrower fairways and more rough would also be a factor meaning bomb and gouge could be a negative.

Some longer hitters have said that narrow fairways and longer rough favor the longer hitters. With narrow fairways and long rough, everyone is going to be in the rough a lot, and you'd rather be 320 in the rough than 280 in the rough.

4 hours ago, joro said:

Fact is the game is made for the long hitter and as Fred Funk said, Tigerizing a course does not affect the long, but penalizes the short.

See, you contradicted yourself @joro.

4 hours ago, joro said:

And the average golfer would benefit from shorter courses, enjoy the game. Personally I liked the old way, shorter courses and more skill.

They're welcome to play from shorter tees.

[Jack Watson]

11 minutes ago, iacas said:

Nobody in a position to decide that sort of thing (the sponsors, the players, the money people) would have any reason to want to do that.

A more varied product would be profitable.  The players would get into it IMO.  

Also,  @phillyk there have always been longer players,  and Nicklaus was much better with that club than anyone playing today.  It took much more skill ballstriking wise with vintage gear because the ball actually curved back then.  

I think that 1-3 retro events would add something different that is sorely needed in golf.  There's so many marketing angles possible on it. 

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

A more varied product would be profitable.  The players would get into it IMO.

Nope. They have no incentive to "get into it." They abhor "variability." That's why they go to Lift, Clean, and Place so readily.

4 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

I think that 1-3 retro events would add something different that is sorely needed in golf.  There's so many marketing angles possible on it. 

Just mentally copy/paste what I said before when you said almost exactly the same thing.

Nobody cares. The World Hickory Championship just concluded, IIIRC. What % of golfers know who won that?

[Jack Watson]

Iacas have you ever played vintage gear?

[iacas]

27 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

Iacas have you ever played vintage gear?

Yep. First set of woods were… wood.

Not the topic.

[Pretzel]

2 hours ago, Jack Watson said:

Iacas have you ever played vintage gear?

Think of it this way:

Have 90% of the young guys on tour nowadays played full rounds with vintage gear? The answer is, most likely, no. These guys don't want to have to swap all their equipment out and practice with a second set of clubs and a different golf ball for 3 tournaments a year. Those 3 tournaments would be crapfests, played in only by guys desperate to make enough money to keep their tour card, because nobody else would find it worth it to waste their time on something that can't be applied to a majority of golf tournaments.