USGA ball roll-back testing

If they want to roll it back for the pro's fine, i dont like it but i can understand the motivation. If they do it for the general public then they are idiots.

Under no circumstances should the USGA bifurcate the game.

Of course, considering how well they have handled the groove rule, nobody should be concerned about this...

For pro's it makes sense as it stops the courses being extended 300 yards each season


However......... there is no reason for them to put that rule into play for amateurs as we need a don't need to be losing 50 yards from the driver just because someone on the PGA can blast it 325 each time and they want drives to be at 275 to improve the challenge.

What we need is a set of rules for amateurs and pro's where if you are a pro you lose out with v grooves and shorter flying balls. For us we should keep it as it is and use the standard balls and square grooves for wedges.

They should just leave the game alone. This effects such a small percentage of people, and during a tourney.. everyone plays the same course.

The same set of rules for pros and amateurs.

[quote name='HeadonaStick' timestamp='1283212706' post='2669887']
Under no circumstances should the USGA bifurcate the game.

Of course, considering how well they have handled the groove rule, nobody should be concerned about this...
[/quote]

Absolutely agree. I don't want to have 2 sets of rules designed for pros and amateurs. Why? I want an accurate measure of my handicap and skills against the standard that is most visible...professionals. Will I ever be a professional? No. But why would I want to play by rules that dilute my ability to compare my score/skill relative to the pinnacle of the game. Otherwise, I might as well fluff my lie, use the foot wedge, take a drop when I hit it OB, give myself mulligans and use a driver with a COR that exceeds .83.

Just my opinion...

While I'm not enthused about the idea of having two sets of rules on equipment. I'm also not going to delude myself in thinking that all duffers out there are or should be playing the same equipment as professionals do. Most of us low end amateurs have such a huge difference between what the pros play compared to we that it already exists to a certain degree.

As a side track, the devil in me would love to see events where everyone played essentially the same set of clubs and balls. But, also have events which are a technological free for all. They'd be more spectacle than true events, but I think they'd be fun.

The USGA should abdicate its position as ruling body of golf, or the PGA Tour should work with the R&A and other pro tours to govern themselves. Every time the USGA decides to make a change for the "betterment" of the game, more money comes out of everyone's pocketbook, with no corresponding improvement of the enjoyment of the game. Yeah, roll the distance of the ball back, and either bifurcate the rules or lessen one of the aspects that makes this game fun. The pro tours have complete control over the setup of the courses they use, and can easily make them challenging for the best in the world. High rough, fast greens, tough pin placements, bunker depths, etc. None of this will affect the recreational golfer, who enjoys hitting a few big drives a round, and a few shots that fly and spin back like a pro.

Guess I will be continuing to not send in my money ...The USGA is really misunderstanding what it means to promote and shepherd the game of golf.

I would like to give them the same advice I give to congress and 5 year olds picking at wounds..."Just stop, you are only going to make it worse."

[quote name='Deggs' timestamp='1283213612' post='2669927']
The same set of rules for pros and amateurs.
[/quote]

I agree the balls need to be 'rolled back' some, and also agree that the same rules should apply for all golfers, both pro and amature.

Many of us guys have this macho male "bigger is better" or "longer is better" attitude about everything in life. Sorry but that is simply a mindset and in real life it means nothing. The game of golf is about ability, talent, and accuracy. Let alone the fact that over 1/2 of the shots/strokes in a average round of golf are chips and putts.. therefore ball distance means very very very little.
I say... rein in the golf ball some and restore the game.

Cornbread, the game of golf is stagnant at best, the reason being just as many people leave the game as pick it up. You dont want to make the game harder for the normal golfer

Yeah. People are clamoring to watch pros hit shorter shots, use long putters, and hit with little spin.

It's why Tim Clark is the biggest star on tour.

So if the long hitters are now twenty yards shorter, that means the short-knockers are also twenty yards shorter...sooo...nothing really changes? USGA = FAIL.

I don't think there is an easy answer, I certainly don't have one.....but it does sadden me that many of the classic tour stops in the USA are simply to short and many have run out of real estate to further lengthen their courses.

While professional golf is still fun to watch, I do miss watching pros have to hit the occasional long iron or fairway wood into a long par four. It just seemed as though "old style" golf required players to hit shots we simply never see anymore.

Tough situation for the people that run the game!

I would rather see the driver COR rolled back for tour players then mess with the ball. Roll them back to .8 flat and see if that does the trick.

In the long run i dont see it mattering. The players today are better athletes who spend more time prepping their games. A ball roll back will only temporarily slow down progress.

[quote name='Rohlio' timestamp='1283214611' post='2669970']
Guess I will be continuing to not send in my money ...The USGA is really misunderstanding what it means to promote and shepherd the game of golf.

I would like to give them the same advice I give to congress and 5 year olds picking at wounds..."Just stop, you are only going to make it worse."
[/quote]


I havent paid my dues in 2 years and dont plan on reupping....this is getting ridiculous.

Most amateurs are playing the wrong ball for their ability anyway.

the blueprint is already out there being played

Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island, S.C. - 6,973 yards

when is this rollback BS going to stop? pretty soon the PGA is going to start having lightweight, welterweight, and heavyweight categories. you're swing speed is 122? not fair for the guy who only swings 112! OBVIOUSLY something needs to be done!

This is old news. The USGA has been doing these kinds of tests for years. One shouldn't read anything into this statement as Rugge is just confirming that they do these tests (likely because some pundit is stirring the pot). Yeah, they do a lot of questionable things but there is no way that they could roll back the ball or create a "Tour Ball" since they would be litigated out of existence.

At some point they likely will impose a new limit or a new way to measure that limit, but the thought that they could do more than that is not reality.

i'd like to think of golf as a sport and players as athletes. Having said that Bigger, Stronger and Faster is normally an advantage and shouldn't be penalized. If Dustin Johnson loses 20 yards then Corey Pavin should as well. I would be dead set against Dustin losing 20 and Pavin 5. That would simply not be fair. The only way I could support such a roll-back is if Every player lost the exact same amount of distance.

[quote name='sooperstring' timestamp='1283216089' post='2670042']
Yeah. People are clamoring to watch pros hit shorter shots, use long putters, and hit with little spin.


[/quote]

Golf is [b]a Sport[/b]... if its entertainment you seek, go watch the WWE!

[quote name='Cornbread' timestamp='1283222049' post='2670373']
[quote name='sooperstring' timestamp='1283216089' post='2670042']
Yeah. People are clamoring to watch pros hit shorter shots, use long putters, and hit with little spin.


[/quote]

Golf is [b]a Sport[/b]... if its entertainment you seek, go watch the WWE!
[/quote]
Professional golf is entertainment.

At least if I'm not entertained, I'm not watching. Same with all professional sports.

[quote name='HeadonaStick' timestamp='1283222226' post='2670381']
[quote name='Cornbread' timestamp='1283222049' post='2670373']
[quote name='sooperstring' timestamp='1283216089' post='2670042']
Yeah. People are clamoring to watch pros hit shorter shots, use long putters, and hit with little spin.


[/quote]

Golf is [b]a Sport[/b]... if its entertainment you seek, go watch the WWE!
[/quote]
Professional golf is entertainment.

At least if I'm not entertained, I'm not watching. Same with all professional sports.
[/quote]

+1 Why else do most people watch professional sports?

[quote name='nyusigep' timestamp='1283222887' post='2670425']
[quote name='HeadonaStick' timestamp='1283222226' post='2670381']
[quote name='Cornbread' timestamp='1283222049' post='2670373']
[quote name='sooperstring' timestamp='1283216089' post='2670042']
Yeah. People are clamoring to watch pros hit shorter shots, use long putters, and hit with little spin.


[/quote]

Golf is [b]a Sport[/b]... if its entertainment you seek, go watch the WWE!
[/quote]
Professional golf is entertainment.

At least if I'm not entertained, I'm not watching. Same with all professional sports.
[/quote]

+1 Why else do most people watch professional sports?
[/quote]

+2 If I want to see a bunch of guys shoot over par I would set up a chair on the 18th green, strap on a helmet, and watch paying folk try to salvage bogey. As much as I enjoy seeing professionals get challenged ( US Open) I like seeing good golf. It doesn't need to be over par golf. I think we are getting close to seeing the limitations of technology. Leave the ball alone.

We in the US appear to have become so bored with life that we must have constant hype, drama or change to remain entertained. To me that's a form of selfishness. Golf was not invented, nor is it played for other peoples entertainment. Again, it is a sport was a very strick set of rules. Its a gentlemans game, of course therein lies the problem.... we in the US have lost much of the art of being gentlemen. Now we want fist pumps, cursing, amazement and drama.
Again, reducing the flight distance of the Golf Ball will only minutely affect the game, especially since 1/2 of our strokes are putts or chips.
I suppose these same folks that are against reducing ball distance would like to see every swing at a baseball game be an out of the park homerun. How boring that would become.
The creators of games establish rules for a reason, that being the good and fairness of their game.

[quote name='Cornbread' timestamp='1283215458' post='2670011']
Many of us guys have this macho male "bigger is better" or "longer is better" attitude about everything in life. Sorry but that is simply a mindset and in real life it means nothing. The game of golf is about ability, talent, and accuracy. Let alone the fact that over 1/2 of the shots/strokes in a average round of golf are chips and putts.. therefore ball distance means very very very little.
I say... rein in the golf ball some and restore the game.
[/quote]

You are contradicting yourself. If distance means "very very very litte," then there is no need to roll back the ball.