"I believe technology from a distance perspective is now absolutely stable."

If you are looking for a little perspective on the USGA's stance on technology, there's no better place to look than Pat Jones' interview of architect Steve Smyers, chair of the USGA's Green Section committee.

What about the great courses that become obsolete as championship venues?

Well first, there are a lot of (classic) courses that people are convinced can’t be lengthened. They can. Merion is a perfect example.

Second, it amazes me that people blame everything that’s wrong with the game today on the golf ball and club technology. I don’t’ reject that’s been part of the problem, but there are other things that have changed us more. Number one, simply put, is the lawnmower. Maintenance technology and science has had a vastly bigger impact on the game and on courses than equipment. (PGA Tour player) Brandon Chambliss

Did he play first base for the Yankees? And a Bruin too! Go onnnnnn...

said not too long ago that old architecture and modern maintenance go together like oil and water. I agree. Finally, consider that driving distance on all tours worldwide has been stable since 2002. I believe technology from a distance perspective is now absolutely stable. The bigger unknown is a modern-day athlete. I have a 17-year old who’s really good. I see his talent level and think about elite players in the future and I marvel at where they might be 30 years ago. Tiger was the first who really trained…now they all do it.

When a lot of these great old courses were built in the ‘20s, the players had different statures. Even guys like Hogan were only 5’ 7” or so.

And he was such a short hitter!

The equipment then kind of dictated that smaller guys excelled. Our knowledge of the swing, the biomechanics and, of course, maintenance practices were totally different. Blaming all the golf world’s ills on clubs and balls is just silly.

Well, we can't blame improved maintenance!

Alright, give us the deal on grooves.

The new rule mainly says they can’t be used in most competitions beginning in 2014 but almost everyone can continue to use the old grooves until 2024. Here’s the thing: at a lower height of cut in the rough, everyone can find their ball better and most everyone will have an ability to hit it out. For an elite player, it offers the possibility for a flyer. It’s good for the average player, but they don’t put the club speed on it to have a flyer. The elite player does. The rule change is good for the whole spectrum of golfers.

Well perhaps a rule change on the ball would be good for the whole spectrum of golfers too? Open minds, people!

Comments

[mel]

The lawn mower has changed things more than club and ball technology? Seriously?

[Jim S]

I can tell that right now, Geoff is attempting to choke him using the Force like Darth Vader.

[Peter Norrie]

So the average player doesn't have the clubhead speed to hit a flyer... dream on, buddy!

[Frank Hannigan]

When the new groove rule was pending Smyers announced with joy that it would "take us back to the good old days of the 1980s."

The new groove rule has done precisely nothing and the prospects for its ever doing so are zero.

As things stand, sooner or later, to the delight of clubmakers, amateurs will have to buy new clubs with the Smyers' grooves that will be of no meaning to them.

What the hell is an architect doing on the USGA executive committee anyway? The phrase "conflict of interest" comes to mind.

[jb]

Only because Geoff posted it do I think this guy is serious. But since maintenance is his culprit why don't we roll the ball back? No problem with that. Is this guy really being paid?

jb

[Joey]

Distance that elite golfers hit the ball is definitely a product of their physical conditioning, improved training and most certainly, high-COR drivers and multi-core golf balls. Maintenance practices are a secondary effect at best. It is true that driver distances have leveled out in the last few years and it looks like the era of ever improving distance is over.

I still don't understand why we let the 0.1% of players with 120 mph clubhead speed dictate equipment. Let the pro tours adjust their balls and equipment. Leave the rest of us alone and let us keep what we have.

[chico]

Maybe Bubba Watson is just the best ball striker thats ever lived?!But two 400 yds drives in one tournament and Ryan Palmers drive and a 5 iron through the back at a 612 par 5 makes me think maybe the ball is going more than a teensie bit further than it did 10 years ago.
Or am I missing something?
On the European tour only drives that hit the fairway are measured.Maybe the longer drives to narrower fairways are distorting the figures?
Just a thought.

[digsouth]

Frank,

Since I have called you out previously, I must also praise you for your honesty regarding the costly groove move. I am nothing if not one who seeks justice, and will be the first to admit it when I am wrong. I appreciate your candor on the silly groove thing.

Now about those rules........ I always liked hit it and hit it again, then add it up. All those pros playing from all that sissy GUR, that looks better than most muni fairways, is a bit much.

If LCP can be instituted, then why not a wind provision for the ball moving. Fair is fair. enough. I got a million of 'em.

sincerely,

digsouth. semi-instigator

[Chuck]

Since the big changes in golf relate to, uh, lawnmowers, and since distance has been "flat since 2002," I have to ask how the cap on lawnmower performance in 2003 escaped our attention?

[Garland]

Ben Hogan did not excel because he was 5' 7" and the equipment fit his needs! Ben Hogan had a lot of trouble with the equipment, and was a late bloomer because he didn't figure it out as quickly a Byron did. Byron Nelson at 6' 1" dominated even with Ben in the field. Perhaps the equipment was better suited to someone 6' 1" if your flimsy excuse for reasoning is used.

[jg]

The ball flies too far and far too straight. I was amazed by the first steel head taylor-made driver and how straight the college players could hit their drives. Take curves out of golf and it becomes mechanical and boring.

[jg]

Regarding the lawnmower if it weren't for the sprinkler there would be less to cut.

[dbh]

Lol, Chuck. The poor guy is so inconsistent in his arguments, but you honed in on the really salient one.
Mr. Smyers, if you're ever called to testify to this, I suggest you take the 5th.

[Duncan Pearson]

I just published a book featuring "hole by hole" aerial photos of the Philadelphia Cricket Club's three golf courses, St. Martin's, built in the late 19th Century, Wissahickon, built 1922 and Militia Hill, built 2002. When you consider the equipment used in the periods when these three courses were designed you realize that lengthening golf courses is not new. You can view aerials of all three of these courses in the book preview at this link. http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1443563?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

As long as we are rolling back the Stimpmeter, maybe we should consider rolling back the lawnmower, too.

[Garland]

The really scary thing is the USGA website has this to say about him.

"He has served as a consulting member of the USGA's Equipment Standards Committee since 1999. "

And yet, he says equipment is not a concern of his.

[Stephen Goodwin]

Forty-two years ago, writing about the de Vicenzo flap, Herbert Warren Wind said: "Any rule that creates a situation that hurts the winner as well as the loser and makes nonsense of a significant championship must be a bad rule."

He also wrote that he trusted that the USGA would get on the case to make sure that such a thing never happened again. Dustin Johnson didn't sign a wrong scorecard, but the rule -- and the way it was enforced -- made a mockery of the tournament. Legality was served, but not justice. Wind, a staunch traditionalist, recognized that something had to be done to bring tradition into line with the realities of present-day, high-stakes, high-pressure golf . . . 42 years ago.

[digsouth]

Stephen,

Gosh, we have put a man on the moon, can instantly communicate anywhere in the world, and have any number of incredible events that have transpired, and yet the ROG is a quagmire , and the DH exists.

What have we learned as a people?
We have such a long way to go..


digsouth

[vwgolfer]

He makes a decent point, cutting fairways to run 12 on the stimpmeter is going to bump up driving distances on tour. And yes the ball does fly farther and straighter. So....One could also blame shaft technology. But then again no one ever curses out their shaft when it does not go in the hole!

[Frank Hannigan]

Herb Wind was a dear friend. I had the honor to proof some of his galleys. Alas, he did not understand the governance of golf nor its rules. After deVicenzo the USGA issued a public call for an improvement of the scoring rules. Nothing sensible came in. Simply, the problem is who has the final authority to sign for scores. deVicenzo had that authority. The players do not want to yield that right to a waddling waking scorer nor to an electronic instrument. If you are looking for blame, try Augusta National which collected scores under an umbrella table out in the open. The next year scores were collected in an closed off USArmy tent borrowed from Fort Gordon.

Within the tent were Joe Black, the PGA of America's foremost rules expert and a CPA....

[digsouth]

Frank,

A very interesting and informative post. Nice of you to mention your friendship with Mr Wind.

Are you aware that , in baseball, an error can be changed to a hit, even after the game?

If a math mistake is made, they correct it. GOLF: A person spends 4 days playing their butt off, and makes a math error?

I am reminded of a line from " Oh Brther Where Art Thou"..... "Oh God, You sold your soul for guitar lessons?" Oh God, You were DQed for an addition error? That is what erasers are for.

While a debate could be made, this is not the time or place for it concerning electronic scorekeeping.

The REAL question becomes, does the punishment fit the crime. I mean really.

DQ.s. Lost income. Look at the failed card switch at The Open.

Now I KNOW it is 'the rules', but honestly, they were written for a time when perhaps you and your opponent were the only 2 who knew, and the need to protect the field was at the hands of the individual.


The rulebook needs an enema.

Play well.

digsouth

[digsouth]

Oh, and if one were looking for blame, it would be a rule that did not allow for a correction of a simple math/recording mistake. BFD.

Even the IRS allows mistakes to be corrected. Gee, and AFTER yu have signed your return.


What purpose did that serve? Who really was 'a stupid'?

digsouth

[Frank Hannigan]

Dig South: OK. Please send to USGA,Far Hills, NJ your language for a better scoring rule. If you
pull it off they will enshrine you.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

digsouth, what math error are you talking about? Counting to 4? Or 5? You act as if writing down 67 when you actually shoot 68 can result in a DQ. Are you unaware that the MATH (the adding - counting isn't what I'd call "math") is not the responsibility of the player, and they can write down 18 in the "total" box if they want and it's irrelevant?

I think the distance the ball travels is fine. And what math has to do with the original topic is beyond me. Or is it just open season on the Rules of Golf?

[digsouth]

erik:

yes , I get into it all the time in tournaments, when my playing partners want to add up thecore, and I refuse to do so.


I am refering to the math error of adding up strokes * on a hole *.


play well


digsouth

[digsouth]

Frank,

I'm on it.

Play well.

digsouth