USGA's Davis Has An Idea.....

Well, don't ever let it be said that the USGA's Mike Davis is afraid to go "outside the box," though Jack has been chirpin about this for years-

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/usgas-davis-considers-variable-distance-golf-ball/?cid=Email_WednesdayNL_20170308

Thoughts?

If this is posted somewhere else please let me know and I'll shut it down :)

**Later edit: If this proposed solution is not amenable to you, what would you do if in Mike Davis's shoes to deal with this situation?

Fairways & Greens 4ever My Friends⛳️

RP

I think this is nothing more than CYA because he knows they f...ed up when they let the ball and clubhead size of the driver get away from them prior to the 15 year period he talked about.

Terrible idea, long hitters are just an outliner in the population of golfers. I think less than 3% can drive over 300 yards.

How would they force DJ to use an 80% golf ball in the tournament And have a player like ZJ or Luke Donald hit a100% ball?

That is a pure EEO to level up the field. Long hitters leverage their natural gifted talent and technology to hit it far.

This confirmation bias will be great for lawsuits filed by long hitters.

The same thing happened in the education system with admission quota based on other identity factors.....

Idiotic. Right up there for me with giving participation trophies. Some beer swindling couch potato wants to go play with DJ and he plays a 100% ball and DJ plays 80%. Cuz DJ was blessed with superior genetics for golf and works hard on his game and in the gym he gets brought down the guys "level". Maybe Lebron should play on a 12 foot hoop or JJ Watt should be injected with something to make him weaker so he can play against average Joes on the gridiron. Or Usain Bolt should wear 5 lb shoes when he runs since he was blessed with a much longer stride with almost equal leg turnover as the other sprinters.

What so now DJ is playing with some 80 year person and plays a 10% ball? How do you regulate a slight of hand and someone putting into play a perfect replica of the dummy ball that isn't 80% Goldfinger style?

Also didn't Nicklaus use a ball not even available to the other tour pros on staff with his ball company during his career? Starting to wonder about alterior motives trying to protect his major record. As a golf course designer he could easily implement changes to stop the bombers.

After a generally positive week last week with the announcement of the proposed rule changes, the USGA has gone back to looking like the drunk in charge buffons who messed up the US Open last year.

Guys that hit it far, shouldn't be punished for that. What next? Spieth you putt it good so have to putt to a 3.5 inch cup.

Stupid idea!

I don't hate it but its not going to bring US Opens back to the classic courses, sure the length is a factor but a bigger issue is the lack of room for the infrastructure.

Uh I donno! This to me reads like it could take away from a professionals skills. I mean If Long ball hitters start to rely on equipment to do the easy part of dialing back distance then what skills would any player need to develop on a course like the one mentioned in the article.

Why not put then rim up to 12 foot for guys that can dunk amd leave it at 10 foot for all others. What an accenine idea

Don't kid yourself, there are already many people in the world with less than 100% balls ;-)

Well, don't ever let it be said that the USGA's Mike Davis is afraid to go "outside the box," though Jack has been chirpin about this for years-

 

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/usgas-davis-considers-variable-distance-golf-ball/?cid=Email_WednesdayNL_20170308

 

Thoughts?

 

If this is posted somewhere else please let me know and I'll shut it down :)

 

Fairways & Greens 4ever My Friends⛳️

RP

Didn't they just tout a study a few weeks ago that found NO SIGNIFICANT GAIN IN DISTANCE over the last 20 years?

Don't they have a handicap system in place that allows me to compete with Dustin Johnson from any tee?

And who here thinks they should even be in a competition with DJ?

I have an idea that's just as sane

Make DJ do 9 shots of Tequila, spin him around 10 times, and push him towards the 1st tee.

How much money does this guy make to come up with this idea?

No matter what ball I play, it is variable distance ball.

I like this comment - "I don't think that you can find another sport that has allowed equipment to dictate how playing fields get changed."

I like this comment - "I don't think that you can find another sport that has allowed equipment to dictate how playing fields get changed."

Yea, he basically is admitting that they let the ball and driver size get away from them.

“Think about baseball in the United States,” Davis said. “If they were using titanium bats and a hot baseball, and they had to go to Fenway Park and say move the Green Monster out another 75 or 100 feet? That’s exactly what’s happened in the game of golf.

Stupid idea.

I would like to see the ball dialed back for everyone.

Someone's been brainstorming on the sauce again.

I want to attend the next meeting

\

Not the worst idea ever... but probably the 2nd worst

.

The USGA needs a task force...

Terrible idea, long hitters are just an outliner in the population of golfers. I think less than 3% can drive over 300 yards.

How would they force DJ to use an 80% golf ball in the tournament And have a player like ZJ or Luke Donald hit a100% ball?

That is a pure EEO to level up the field. Long hitters leverage their natural gifted talent and technology to hit it far.

This confirmation bias will be great for lawsuits filed by long hitters.

The same thing happened in the education system with admission quota based on other identity factors.....

Where in that article did it say anything about forcing different players to use different balls during a tournament?

Dumb.

First of all, anyone that thinks that USGA driving distance study was accurate is out of their mind. Just open your eyes man. I understand where Mike Davis is coming from here but reality is going to hit him in the face. Fine make the tour players use the 80% golf ball. But no recreational golfer in the world is EVER going to use an 80% golf ball. The fact that he thinks that is even a possibility is mind blowing.

I heartily endorse the idea. It is time to experiment with different balls with different initial velocity limits to see what effect they might have on elite players playing older, or shorter courses.

A ball with a reduced initial velocity would better serve Augusta National than buying Augusta Country Club's 13th hole, which is currently under consideration. Unless you think that today's elite players playing Augusta's 13th hole with a driver and a wedge is a good idea, you have to admit that there might be a place in the game for elite players to use a reduced distance ball.

Heck, YOU wouldn't have to use it. But I might, and I would just play off the senior or ladies tees. Same game, more historic equipment.

Many have said for sometime that shot making has been reduced by modern equipment. Bomb and gauge tests swing speed more than swing finesse. How many times do modern players play a long iron into a par 4 anymore?

I think that this is the very first admission by the USGA that the equipment has fundamentally changed the game at the elite level. It is about time that the discussion be entertained about changing the equipment for elite players on older courses.

By his logic, the three point line should be moved back to the half court line for Steph Curry.

Any idea that punishes someone for being more talented than others is plain dumb.

I'm all for it. 370 yard drives is just ridiculous. Courses are becoming obsolete. Make this PGA tour only though.

At some point, the courses that host the PGA Tour have to stop lengthening their golf courses. It gets expensive. We're headed toward 8,000 yds which is crazy.

I could see them coming up with a TOUR ball that dials the distance back for every player on tour, so that the long hitters still have their advantage but they can stop having to lengthen golf courses saving construction and maintenance costs. This probably should have been dealt with 25 years ago by the USGA. The genie is out of the bottle for everyday amateur players, but that's okay. Makes the game more fun for them.

Bring back the wound ball.

I don't know about anybody else, but I sort of want to watch the pro's with a genetic advantage tear up golf courses. This is what gives me entertainment, watching professional with all types of skills and abilities do amazing things that I can't replicate well in my weekly golf outing. If they want to dial the ball back to make me and Johnny Pro look the same, why would I bother to watch that on TV?

As for the historic courses that have been pushed to the wayside by today's athletes, I feel bad but that's how evolution works. There are plenty of older historic courses that have stood the test of time. There are also plenty of new fabulous courses that can replace them in the USGA rotation. For every Fenway park with a ton of history, there is a PetCo park, PNC Park that are amazing venues that have been built rather recently.

Kinda late on this one. And I totally disagree with it. Also Nicklaus' idea was to use the ball to make new courses much shorter thus not using as much land. Cut maintenance costs etc.