"Now, if the USGA would just stop slowing down play and increasing the cost of maintenance, and stop not having any control on the equipment, that would help."
I just love reading how we've transitioned from gently suggesting that chasing distance might be causing the scale of the game to go in the wrong direction, to flat out hostility toward the governing bodies. And it's well deserved!
Tom Mackin, interviewing Pete Dye in this month's Golf Magazine.
They have let the clubs get completely out of control. These guys today aren't stronger than Palmer or Nicklaus were -- it's the equipment. If they could help the high-handicappers and not the pros, that would be all right.
So you favor rolling back the ball?Hell, yes. I have a letter written in 1923 by Donald Ross, who said the ball was getting out of control. That's 89 years ago. When it finally causes real financial trouble, something will happen. You just can't keep escalating the costs all the time.
And John Huggan caught up with Tom Kite in Scotland On Sunday. The former U.S. Open Champion and all-around USGA supporter has little in the way of nice things to say about the governing body.
“The belly putters and long putters are legal and both are wonderful ways to putt,” he says. “But I don’t think they are good for golf. When it comes to equipment, the USGA and the R&A have been very neglectful. It all goes back to the Ping case in the early 1980s. When the authorities tried to make a rule about the shape and width of grooves on irons they found themselves being sued. And, because they didn’t have the money to risk losing, they ended up having to settle. Which was a disaster. They backed down and haven’t stood up to anything else since.
“It can’t be good for the manufacturers to run the game. The equipment is a huge part of why golf is struggling to grow. Yet the manufacturers say that people are having more fun. Well, if that is so, why aren’t they playing? The answer is simple. Ask anyone who doesn’t play golf why they don’t and they typically give one of two answers. Either the game is too expensive or it takes too long to play.”
Monday, July 30, 2012 at 09:30 PM
Reader Comments (21)
USGA....Equipment is not a problem
5min later
USGA....We should lengthen, narrow and make bunkers to the courses to keep the pro's scores in check
Have to say, I'm getting sick and tired of all the whingeing on this subject but not a single practical word on how to fix it without getting sued! Anyone remember Wally Uilhein's, don't screw with our balls or we'll screw you, little speech?
"I fear me that the modern ball has all but killed the skillful shots that were demanded when I played it with the proper ball. Indeed, true golf can no longer be played. And I can say that, statically, play is worse than the days of the Triumvirate to, Vardon, Taylor, and Braid."
Not sure that happens in other sports.
Surely that is the wrong way round?
With all due respect what planet do you live on? The fact is that the ball does go farther, pair that up with modern drivers and the ball goes too far.
Just because balata balls under-performed (because pros felt they needed the spin) doesn't mean "the ball" has suddenly started going farther.
I live in the world which has facts and prefers to use them. :)
you bring up a good point about it being a pinnacle with short-game spin. that being said, im pretty sure most guys weren't flying 5-irons 215 in 1991 and the iron technology hasn't really changed that significantly. and i feel like the reason pros needed spin back then was because courses weren't saturated with water like they are today. why would you make a course play so soft and let these guys hit prov1's into them with the spin they can impart? doesn't make sense and it's not fun to watch. why do you think the scores jump at the us open? the course is actually firm, players actually have to hit shots and can't just rely on stopping the ball on a dartboard. i've meandered a bit in my comment but i hope you get my point.
Still clinging to the "course conditions" argument? Do you have facts backing up this notion that maintenance has somehow sped the roll up?
I'm just curious, so everything but the ball is responsible for the explosion, then shouldn't you be writing some golf ball reviews pointing out how performance hasn't changed since the 80s and 90s and what a sad statement this is about the ball manufacturers?
Isn't the point that they under-performed...and by under-performing they did not go as far as the modern ball?. Seems like you just made the argument for me.
Manufactures have figured out how to make the balls perform at the extreme limits and that is what people want rolled back, we are saying to the USGA/R&A that your measurements need to be adjusted and to account for the new technology. Roll the ball back and roll the driver back.
Geoff, back to your old tricks again? I realize it's convenient for you to slag everyone who disagrees with you about the ball as being bought and paid for, but the simple truth of the matter is that I've always had a similar opinion. It may have evolved, but it's essentially the same as it was in 2004, 2007, and 2010 (in only one of those years did Titleist advertise on my site).
Consider the average swing speed of a PGA Tour pro. Since the 90s it has increased over 11 MPH. How many yards is that alone? About 30. Course conditions are but one piece of the puzzle, as is the ball, as is longer, lighter, bigger drivers, as is player conditioning resulting in higher swing speeds. To assign all of the blame - or even the majority - to one piece of the puzzle is stupefyingly simple logic.
I've never said "everything but the ball." It's one piece. They figured out how to keep the distance while adding short-game spin. Every ball since about 2006 goes the same damn distance. They have varying levels of performance in the wind, varying levels of short-game spin, durability, etc. That's the premium tier, anyway.
Matt, if you think I made your point for you then I'm not sure you understand the point. The modern ball travels just as far as balls from the 1990s traveled. The premium ones just aren't sacrificing some yards for some spin. The Pro V1 or Penta or whatever travel as far as balls from the 1990s.
Once you have balls that won't travel further, except under PERFECT conditions and a PERFECT hit, than 260 yards, then the field will be even for all pro's.
The great golfers did not have these manufactured 'cheats' as I call them.
Great golfers could use any set of clubs and hit a great round of golf.
I'd challenge any of the top 50 to pick up a set from Kmart and shoot par. They have learned to play not golf, historically, but golf technically. And yes golf swings are technical. You should realize that I mean the club and ball are doing the work these days, not the golfer.
Lastly every PGA course can install traps and hazards in the exact places the long hitters reach or roll up to on the courses and stop the use of these illegal tools (in my opinion). Narrow the courses, set up out of bounds markers where fairways are only 35 yards wide AT MAX from tee to green. Out of bounds markers alone on a narrowed course will take the long hitters out of the game and force them to become accurate hitters.
Make greens a max 20 yards in diameter and have the entire green surrounded with traps (or at least 80% of the perimeter with no roll up avenue from the fairway to the green.
I love golf, but it's a joke to see what can be done with technology and a deep pocket that will sue your arse if you don't comply with a group of manufacturers demands.