What Would Make the Game More Fun... (Influenced by an elite player's perspective)

I was talking with my teacher, an elite golfer, former top amateur and touring pro (who's a full time teacher now with with a number of PGA tour pros along with top ams and college players among his clients) about what would make golf more fun. I'd been hitting an old persimmon driver he had laying around. It was 43" steel shaft like 11* loft. Lost about 15-20 yards carry, but total distance was 6-10 yards less on Trackman. I loved it, brought back great memories and made me focus on my ball striking much more and consequently, I struck it really well.

That got my teacher animated. He said "I hardly play anymore, but you know what would get me excited about golf again? If we'd go back to that..." [pointing to the persimmon headed driver]. "What is that 200cc?" I told him it was more like 175 or 180. He said "Perfect! Bring that back and you bring ball striking back into golf and I'm interested in playing again." He deplored the way modern drivers just make everyone swing from the heels with little consequence. And lest you think he's distance challenged, his Trackman ss is 120, carries it 300 and rolls it out 340 routinely. He is a beast! But he laments the injuries he sees with his young stars who nearly all even in their teens and early 20's have had significant back/core muscle injuries that sidelined them for months.

From our conversation here's 4 ways to change the game 1) The longest club in your bag can't be over 43" and the head size can't be more than 180cc (so the size of a modern 3 metal). Loft can't be below 15* (make them learn to manage spin!). And zero spring like effect. Make 'em out of any material you like but it can't have a higher CT time than a persimmon head. This will reign in the distance without having to roll back the ball and make older classic courses challenging even for pros. Equipment companies will sell plenty of "new conforming" drivers, so they can't complain--much. 2)Restrict the highest lofted club in the bag to 56*. Limit the green speed at tour events and all courses to 10 on the Stimp--max. This would save a lot of money in course maintenance and make the game fun for literally everyone again. Do we like seeing Tiger 4 putt? We do not. That's silly. This stops that. 3) 10 clubs max. Make shot-making more of a factor again, plus encourage walking with lighter bags. Again equipment companies will sell a whole bunch of new sets with wider loft gaping. 4) The club you use on the putting surface must be the shortest club in your bag. Simple as that. Hold it anyway you like and we're done with watching Langer, Scott and others cheat. With slower greens mandated, there is no reason anyone can't figure out a way to putt like that. If you can anchor a 35" putter, well, you should get a prize. Knock yourself out.

And since this is about making the game more fun here's his equipment take (he has contract students with all the top manufacturers and gets no endorsement money himself from any--and sees everything on Trackman and on course with his students): Titleist TS and Callaway Epic/Maverick are current driver/fairways he'd play, just a smidge better than the others (3 years ago he said TaylorMade was clearly the best). Mizuno blade irons are easily the choice for him. Pro V1 for golf ball (he sees no difference between V1 and V1x) or TP5. Vokey wedges. Ping or Scotty putters.

Enjoy the game!

Sounds like it would make it harder, not more fun.

I have no problem for them doing that on Tour, Except I won't watch. Leave us amateurs alone. You think my 66 year old father who hits one 200m on a good day wants to go back to tiny woods?

As for your putting rules. You can 'putt' with any club in the bag. As far as I'm aware there is no requirement to even cut the hole on the green. You could have it a metre off the green if you wanted, then could use a longer club?

I'm all for bifurcation, my game was almost destroyed by the yips, so I used the belly putter (I find a broomstick absolutely impossible to use) while the technique was legal. The world's 1% of golfers should not be influencing what rules and equipment I get to use and maintain a handicap with.

I could get behind all of this.

from my perspective, I don’t care what they do. I play golf in two ways: for fun and to compete.

I will do both with whatever equipment I’m told to.

I am almost 65. I prefer to let sleeping dogs lie, lol.

What would make it more fun for me personally is if there were no such thing as a hosel.

Google Cleveland VAS...

Interesting perspective - thanks for sharing. I wouldn't mind some of these changes. I enjoy watching the pros struggle.

Sounds fun. Now that your bag is so much lighter, maybe put a deck of cards in it so you have something to do while waiting for my group of four hackers in front of you make it to the green.

I respect where you are coming from and you still play stipulated comps I take it. The difference between you and I and again I can respect that----- I do not play comps or stipulated events anymore so I do not play what the USGA or anyone else tells me to play----- I play what I want to could care less and neither do any of the groups I play with. But we do share one opinion in this case we do have fun doing it how ever we want to. So I say rock on! Remember when we had that icon?

Tying things to persimmon specs is silly, can't have a wedge over 56? Solves nothing. Otherwise same old stuff argued over and over here and same old crap you've stirred up on here many times about anchoring and lost me at the obligatory dig at Langer and the claim (you are 100% blind) that Adam Scott is cheating (get over it). If you watched him putt the last 4 days it is obvious he is not. Credibility gone at that point, OP just window dressing for your same old rants.

Hickory tournaments are held around the country. Why doesn't your pro play in those? I've heard of a few former PGA Tour Pros

playing in them for fun.

I'm really not a fan of these threads or proposed new rules. Golf is hard as it is. Stop trying to make it harder

Always seems to be a correlation between people who complain about the state of golf recommeding changes to be made and people who no longer can find a leaderboard with their name on it.

If people really want to see a change at the tour level without changing the ball or equipment; really want to see who is the best year in and year out, then stop having so many exemptions! There is way too much money in golf, but that problem cannot easily be solved since shareholders of major corporations are not going to agree en masse to reduce the price of everything. So leave the money alone, leave the equipment alone, but no more top 125 get auto expemptions. Cut it to 50 and everyone else better play well or you do not play. Open up a lot more spots for Monday qualifying. Then we will see who can play.

Good news, you can do this when you go out and play a casual round. For the rest of mere mortals, having clubs that are easier to hit makes golf easier, and therefore, more fun.

Everyone is so obsessedly lately with trying to "change the game", and go back to "the good ol days". In case people haven't noticed, sports generally don't back track when it comes to equipment or rules. You aren't likely to see hockey switch back to wood sticks like the good ol days because a few guys in the NHL can rip clap bombs 100 mph.

If clubs wants to host events with local rules I'm all for it but good luck getting people to accept wide spread bifurcation. This is such a pipe dream that seems to be mostly perpetuated by our greatest generation. Most tour pros I see quoted in golf media are not for this, and don't really acknowledge golf as being "too easy". Last round of Pebble pro Am and now the Genesis are key insights on how to make golf challenging without drastically changing equipment or rules.

Maybe golf is boring for the very experienced and elite players but they only represent. 01% of the actual golfing population. To change the game because of them would be illogical.

Have been playing

No driver for a few weeks.you make golf FUN yourself.My core

practice is putting and chipnrun and bunkers

Had the back issues...

More fun through over-regulation?

I think it’s a lot more fun now hitting it straighter and almost as long as I did in my 30’s even though I’m early 50’s now.

It's an interesting line of thought, but I agree with those that say it would help kill the game if applied across the board. Or, maybe help kill off the current ruling bodies, LOL.

Going to nitpick with a couple of your points, because that's what we do at WRX.

The jumbo persimmons, like the famous M09T Jumbo and others, were 200cc. The standard models appear to be around 190cc. FWIW.

And, early sand wedges were not infrequently found in 58* or even 60* lofts. At the time the sand iron was introduced, there was no pitching wedge, sets went thru the 9 iron. Once the PW came into being, it was around 53*. Not likely they'd then go to a 55* or 56* sand iron above that.

/end nitpicking

this is a pass for me. would probably quit at that point. doing the opposite of what I am trying to do to my game.

money matches I use modern bag but I have more fun with this set up when playing with wife or friends

Geo Izett persimmon driver

tommy armour persimmon 3wd

claveland TA3 irons

56 degree wedge

any 8802 style putter

Not looking to make the game more difficult, less fun, and ignore modern technology.

OP's pro has proposed a completely unmarketable scenario. I think another needed change is to drive to the course with no air conditioning, automatic transmission or seatbelt. No miracle fabrics, you just accept the wet towel nature of a nice pure cotton polo. From above, back in the day, there were only 60 fully exempt players. In about 1983, it was changed to the current 125. The last 10 or so on the money list would pluck your eyes out to maintain that exemption. For rookies, after Q-school, you had to Monday qualify for a tournament, then make the cut not to have Monday qualifying for the next tournament. For guys who lost their exemption, there was no KornFerry, no Champions, and no living wage to be made elsewhere. The nature of the grind made it almost a closed shop. Yes, there were pitching wedges and sand wedges back in the day. From my Maltby book circa 1974, pw's were 50-52*, sw 55-56*.