Anyone got the balls to change?
Sunday, January 16, 2005 at 12:06 PM
“The bottom line is that golf at the highest level today is far less
interesting to watch than it was even ten years ago. An almost-
constant diet of 3-wood/wedge holes on the PGA Tour has inspired
viewers to switch off in droves.”
Huggan talks to R&A secretary Peter Dawson, who says the distance problem is merely a matter of opinion. Well, sort of.
"I don’t think anyone was clever enough [certainly not at the USGA or
R&A] to foresee the technological advances we have witnessed in the
last decade or more," Dawson said, winning the early 2005 award for
more ridiculous comment by a governing body head.
"And I don’t think we are clever enough today to see what they will be like 20 years from now.” But a few minutes later…
"Besides, we have reached a technology plateau. There is next to
nothing more that can be done with the ball.” Well, if that’s the case,
then how come you can’t predict the future?
Dawson later poses a rhetorical question and answers himself lamely.
"Should players gain 20 yards just from equipment? Well, it is a fact
that they have. Would I rather golf be played 20 yards shorter than it
is now? Probably. Do I think it has damaged the game? Not so sure about
that. Not in a big way, anyway.
"For me, fitness will be the
only factor from now on. If that proves to be wrong, then something
will be done. And I think something will be done anyway.”
Say what? Which is it?
“If I am right and distance continues to increase at around one yard
per year for players continuing to get bigger and stronger, in a decade
the best will be ten yards longer. Which is more than we would like to
see."
So it’s not a problem, but any small increase at this point is a problem?
"We would need acceptance from golf as a whole about what to do. But
some things are, for me, set in stone. We totally believe in one set of
rules. It would be a huge mistake to split them between elite golf and
the rest. It is a central pillar of the popularity of the game that you
think you can play the same game as Tiger.
"If you split the
rules, who would make them? I worry that the result would be the thin
end of a wedge where, 40 years from now, you’d have two golfs, one
played with a tour ball and one played by the rest of us. The tours
would want to make their own rules. Then, as an example, a television
company might think that 18 holes doesn’t quite fit its scheduling, and
wouldn’t 15 holes be better? Or someone might say that two-foot putts
are bit boring; let’s do away with them.
"I know I’m
exaggerating to make a point, but I worry about that sort of thing
creeping in. I don’t think we should be taking such risks with the game
of golf, and it doesn’t have to be now. I feel very strongly about
this: not on my watch."
Gee, that’s a shocker.