Achenbach On The Ball

After writing about how the modern golf ball is all things wonderful--and no one can argue with its amazing design and construction--Jim Achenbach's gets to the heart of the matter:

Touring pros, aided primarily by technology and greater athletic ability, have become longer because they have learned how to outmaneuver golf ball testing standards. The U.S. Golf Association's Overall Distance Standard now reflects a maximum combined carry and roll distance (under normal test conditions) of 320 yards.

Some players have been known to carry the ball farther than that.

Now, you'd think this notion would outrage the USGA and R&A, right? 

So when is enough enough for the bombers of the PGA Tour? It may be sooner rather than later.

If the USGA rolls back the golf ball – in a drastic alteration to the rules – it should reimburse golf ball manufacturers for the expense of adapting to the new distance standard.

You laugh, but I can't think of a more appropriate headache for all sides in this caper!

The USGA handing out millions of dollars to ballmakers? Absolutely. It is the only fair thing to do.

With a shorter golf ball, golf courses will move the tees up. Golfers can play shorter courses. Older layouts can regain some of the muscle they lost in the era of golf ball expansion.

Well, no one is going to move tees up. But if they stop wanting to move them back, that would be a nice, nice start. 

Comments

[JohnV]

No, I don't think that the fact that some players carry it further than 320 yards should outrage the USGA and R&A. If someone swings faster than the machine is set for, they should carry it farther. The speed of 120 MPH is not supposed to be the "maximum" that anyone can swing, but is simply a speed that was chosen for testing. The fact that there are players out there who swing faster than that is irrelevant to the testing process. You can't keep changing the test just because someone swings faster and even if you did, the allowable yardage that the ball could go would have to increase proportionally (or slightly less than that as it did the one time they did change the test.)

[Geoff]

John,
I was being sarcastic. Of course they won't be outraged.

The USGA had developed a test where the player swing speed could be anything, and the ODS would be better protected. That was scrapped in favor of the set clubhead speed test that is now being circumvented hourly on the PGA Tour.

So no, outrage isn't the world. Embarrassed, is more like it.The outrage is the continued refusal to step up and take responsibility.

[Mark Smolens]

Why can't/won't the same scientists who are employed by the ball companies come up with a ball that won't go as far when struck at the club head speeds which now predominate at the highest levels of the game? $$$. As Nike used to say, chicks dig the long ball, and so do golfers.

Until the non-governing bodies of the game step up, the Bubba Watsons of the new age are going to continue to make golf courses look silly. I know that people like CB McDonald were making these very same protestations of doom many years ago, but it's now becoming reality.

[Pete the Luddite]

Let's make the insufferable tennis comparison.

When did tennis "jump the shark" or start to die in terms of viewership and popularity? When guys like Phillipousis (spp?) started winning with the cannon-speed serves and no other fundamental game elements. Tennis bacame a boring, for TV at least, sport where the server bombed it, the receiver lunged, and you moved to the next point. Who cares about golf when it's: blast it as far as possible (Hi, Vijay!), then pull out one of your 5 wedges to flip it onto the green. There's no need for players to focus on true shotmaking anymore. Where's Jack and his 1-iron approach that resonates for the ages...or Corey's 3-wood that dared to reach the green in 2? Gone... flog away today....

Cannon-length drives and no other fundamental skills, such as mid-irons, rule the day now in golf. What do we get to watch? The dreaded flogging approach to the game and the resultant disastrous efforts by the TOUR to rein it in with ridiculous course management requirements.

Bubba Watsoon is the future only if the TOUR lets him. Rein in the equipment, and let the courses return to the way they were meant to be (with the occasional waterfall, OF COURSE!).