What Would Happen To Golf If

[johnseg]

It is funny. In every era that lacks a dominant player it is because of depth of field. Then the next great comes along and it is because the competition is weak. There will be another great and it is hard to gauge the response. I cannot see a crack down on equipment. They let the horse out of the barn so we are where we are. The trick is to find what the companies are working on for the next increase in distance and limit that factor. With all of the optimization of swings through spin, launch, smash, etc. it will be hard to stop the push forward. I don't like the idea of growing knee-high rough, not raking bunkers, etc. I don't like seeing golf courses that look worse than my own yard. You can continue to lower par but that is just a perception, but maybe that is enough for some people. Remove all of the par 5's and make par 68.

 

Maybe at the end of the day people will decide that it isn't broken and everyone just lives with what is happening and drops the "get off my lawn" mentality.

[QuigleyDU]

> @idrive said:

> Time to put a limit on the Golf Ball.

>

> Generally speaking most courses cannot be lengthened. They don't have the property for it. Most courses don't have the money behind them like Augusta to go out and purchase more land **IF** it's available.

>

> I do agree the talent pool is deep and becoming deeper. IMO no one will ever dominate again like Jack and Tiger. There will be guys go on a hot streak for a year or two perhaps but it won't last for 10-20 years.

 

All they have to do is not dry the courses out so much and the ball will instantly go 30 yards shorter. It is time to stop the bowling alley fairway setup.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

> @idrive said:

> > @"Ashley Schaeffer" said:

> > > @dalehead said:

> > > It’s all about the golf ball. I don’t want to see the rules bifurcated when it comes to the ball. Can’t our great ball technologists come up with a ball that a tour Pro can’t hit more than 300 yards but the guy who hits it 220 can still hit it 220?

> >

> > I don’t know if that’ll ever happen, pard. Physics and chemistry and stuff. Guy can dream.

> >

> > The fact remains that these touring professionals hit the ball too far for the likes of you and me. I won’t stand for it. I hope our stance here can bring some real change.

>

> You're upset because there are professionals that are better than most? Like there are in Baseball, Football, Tennis, etc.

>

> I'm not sure what it is you won't stand for and this stance is we're (you) supposed to take.

 

I'm kidding. I think equipment is fine.

[idrive]

> @QuigleyDU said:

> > @idrive said:

> > Time to put a limit on the Golf Ball.

> >

> > Generally speaking most courses cannot be lengthened. They don't have the property for it. Most courses don't have the money behind them like Augusta to go out and purchase more land **IF** it's available.

> >

> > I do agree the talent pool is deep and becoming deeper. IMO no one will ever dominate again like Jack and Tiger. There will be guys go on a hot streak for a year or two perhaps but it won't last for 10-20 years.

>

> All they have to do is not dry the courses out so much and the ball will instantly go 30 yards shorter. It is time to stop the bowling alley fairway setup.

 

Don't disagree with that but IMO the "pro" would prefer to see the ball stop opposed to rolling out and have no control over it.

[QuigleyDU]

> @idrive said:

> > @QuigleyDU said:

> > > @idrive said:

> > > Time to put a limit on the Golf Ball.

> > >

> > > Generally speaking most courses cannot be lengthened. They don't have the property for it. Most courses don't have the money behind them like Augusta to go out and purchase more land **IF** it's available.

> > >

> > > I do agree the talent pool is deep and becoming deeper. IMO no one will ever dominate again like Jack and Tiger. There will be guys go on a hot streak for a year or two perhaps but it won't last for 10-20 years.

> >

> > All they have to do is not dry the courses out so much and the ball will instantly go 30 yards shorter. It is time to stop the bowling alley fairway setup.

>

> Don't disagree with that but IMO the "pro" would prefer to see the ball stop opposed to rolling out and have no control over it.

 

I agree there as well, but these guys are good enough that even bad drivers of the ball are hitting half the fairways anyway. Might as well make them hit 6 or 7 irons vs wedges.

[Bad9]

> @disco111 said:

> I think we can all agree that when Tiger was winning in his prime, he certainly changed how the game was played. Aside from physical training, which apparently a lot of players have taken too, he was responsible for courses "Tiger Proofing" their layout. With all the current advances in equipment, pro's are in general, longer than ever. OK, given all that, if a player starts on a similar run like Tiger, what if anything do you think would happen to golf in general, but especially the pro tour?

>

> Personally, I think the pool is too deep with talent and there won't be another "Tigeresque" player, but lets play what if..........

 

That's what they said about the Couples/Love generation before Tiger. Someone will rise up but may not be playing the PGA Tour yet.

[shanx]

Let the grass grow...

 

I played Hilton Head the Monday after the tourney was over, I could not believe how fast the fairways were, balls just rolled. I remember playing a fade off a tee, and the ball still ran 20 yds.

 

Water the fairways, let them grow, stop the roll. These guys still carry the ball 280, which is plenty long enough. You will get less than ideal lies from time to time, let them deal with that too..

 

Maybe put COR limits on fairway woods and hybrids too..

[golfandfishing]

The firm fairways used to be a real obstacle on tour, balls ran into the rough and that was, at one time, an actual bad thing. Tour players used to far prefer wet, sift fairways that held tee shots out of the rough. Now most venues and almost all TPC courses do not grow rough long enough to penalize players. It takes extreme weather and very bad luck now to draw a lie in the rough that a green can’t hold. So the firm fairways are a holdover that has become standard. But now anything resembling a less than perfect lie draws rules officials en masse until a drop is granted. I like firm fairways - grow the rough, move the gallery and the bleachers back in the landing areas and let the players play from where they hit it. They swing without fear now, the lack of any penalty for wayward drives has allowed some of the increase in clubhead speed. They don’t care if they blast away and fire 6 scuds per round. 2 will result in a free drop, 3 more will be in a relatively clean lie and 1 will result in a pitch out. The 4 eagle putts per round are more than worth that. Grow the rough and make them play from it - driving distance will start coming back to earth.

[buckeye440]

I have said it before and I will say it again, I think it could all be fixed with the course design.

* Narrow fairways (like half current width)

* Longer and thicker rough

* Sand in bunkers that actually allow balls to be buried (it seems like 90% of balls in the bunker on TV are never berried whether airmailed or rolled in). It is called a trap for a reason.

* Smaller greens with rough closer to the green (narrow fringe straight into deep rough). No need for collection areas or run-ups to every hole (this is not links golf).

* This would be really course selection, but get away from wide open courses. Look to play tree lined fairways and sharp doglegs without a true option to cut the corner so players have to use more of their clubs.

* Bring back par 5s! Again more course design, but have crick/pond/trees/bunker from 270-330 yds so players must lay up off the tee and hit woods/2i into par 5 greens if they really want to go for it. Best shot in golf IMO and we usually don't get to see it anymore.

* Lastly, bring OB back into play. These guys hit it 40 yds off the fairway yet they are still in play?

 

Some of these things could be instituted but others would be harder because a lot of the newer courses are focused on open course design.

[Itsjustagame]

The very best golfers are not set apart by their physical skills or equipment. You win 10+ majors with your brain and absolute confidence that you can win as much as anything else.

If you restrict ball flight yes the long players will still be long - but the slow players will still be slow.

Baseball is playing with a juiced ball because distance (home runs) sell.

Killing the long ball in golf could just as easily be a detriment to the game.

To the extent that distance might be a "problem" it only applies to a very small percentage of the golfers in the world, and only to a very small number of golf courses who feel it is important to them to host professional golf tournaments.

The vast majority of golfers (95%?) have no need for a golf course over 6500-7000 yards, and most get all the challenge they need closer to 6,000 yards.

 

 

 

 

 

[jonsnow]

How about just making certain the golf ball cannot be perfectly round? In other words, bring back the MacGregor Tourney.

[chigolfer1]

> @DavePelz4 said:

> > @ctsgolf said:

> > Deep bunkers and smaller, more undulated greens.

>

> Deep, unraked bunkers along with tighter fairways/deeper rough. Just like if a ball rolls into a divot, if a ball rolls into a footprint in a trap from a previous player, let them play from that.

 

Unraked? That seems a little silly and not sure how that would even work exactly. But, yeah, deeper in fairway and around the green. It doesn't make sense to me that you have a supposed "penalty" for hitting a bad shot that, in some cases, the players actually want to be in vs. the surrounding rough.

[mjen43]

Narrowing fairways and growing rough just gives the long hitters even more of an advantage. If you want to see true bomb and gauge golf, make the fairways 10 yards wide with 10” rough and see what happens. Hint: they aren’t going to be hitting 9 irons off the tee to get it in play.

[dlygrisse]

Already invented. It was called Titleist tour balata. > @dalehead said:

> It’s all about the golf ball. I don’t want to see the rules bifurcated when it comes to the ball. Can’t our great ball technologists come up with a ball that a tour Pro can’t hit more than 300 yards but the guy who hits it 220 can still hit it 220?

 

 

[tannyhoban]

Next Tiger will be King of the Par 3 Tour

[PowderedToastMan]

Many people strongly believe that Tiger’s 2000 run wouldn’t have happened without the switch to the Nike Tour accuracy. He became a much better driver of the ball, and the elements affected it less, particularly off the tee. He made the switch at the time when a very small percentage of other players were playing balls with solid cores, less than 5% I think. That ball gave him an advantage over the players not using it (for the record, I think he still wins everything he did no matter what ball he uses).

 

The clear answer is to roll back the ball. Every legend of the game is saying this. I think they know what they’re talking about. I personally would like to see smaller greens as well. Tour greens are generally absolutely massive and watching lag putts all day is absolutely boring.

[BrickDaFunk]

> @Gautama said:

> The problem with just narrowing fairways and deepening the rough is that it doesn't resolve the loss of architectural interest and strategy that make the game so great. It just reduces it to a game of exclusively accuracy and penalty, which is even more boring than bomb and gouge. The ball is the right answer, and has been for decades.

 

Or, simply add viper pits as missed fairway obstacles, crocodile moats for green side hazards, and 30 second shot clocks...with Terry Tate lurking to penalize slow play.

[new2g0lf]

Driving distances are down compared to last year, 2 yards less at the top and only 47 compared to 61 last year average over 300.

[cpeck]

i wouldn’t like to see the ball be different then the ball we all play. i like to play golf knowing i’m hitting the same ball more or less then the pros not for comparison on distances but just what they can do with it VS what i can’t but want to do. i think that would just be the dumbest thing ever to do IMHO , besides the lpga dress code!

[slprince67]

Just change the club limit from 14 to 9 or 10......bring back shot making and strategy.

[grm24]

> @shanx said:

> Maybe put COR limits on fairway woods and hybrids too..

It already exists - .830 - Same as the driver used to be before they switched to CT for the driver. Irons are limited to a COR of .830 as well.

 

 

[ea19]

What I don’t get is instead of lengthening courses more and more why don’t they bring the fairways in and grow the rough? Seems like they have taken the greens as far as they can go.

[Ashley Schaeffer]

It would be really interesting if they did nothing and just let pro golfers play golf.

[ea19]

> @Gautama said:

> The problem with just narrowing fairways and deepening the rough is that it doesn't resolve the loss of architectural interest and strategy that make the game so great. It just reduces it to a game of exclusively accuracy and penalty, which is even more boring than bomb and gouge. The ball is the right answer, and has been for decades.

 

 

I guess that answers my comment. Lol.

I do agree on the ball and drivers but I think making driving require more accuracy would cut back on distance pretty quickly. I assume it could be balanced so above does not happen too badly.

 

 

 

 

 

[Shilgy]

Growing the rough more around the greens reduces the skills needed compared to tightly cut runoff areas. So yeah, maybe the scores go up a fraction. Is that the point or to identify the best player that week?

Where are these tour courses that no one else plays? Folks keep posting about massive greens and fairways as if the pros get easier courses. Yes, longer courses typically have larger greens. And watch carefully many weeks on tour. No, not all have thick rough but many have much deeper rough than some seen to think. They are just better and stronger at hitting out of it than expected.

[tiderider]

> @disco111 said:

> I think we can all agree that when Tiger was winning in his prime, he certainly changed how the game was played. Aside from physical training, which apparently a lot of players have taken too, he was responsible for courses "Tiger Proofing" their layout. With all the current advances in equipment, pro's are in general, longer than ever. OK, given all that, if a player starts on a similar run like Tiger, what if anything do you think would happen to golf in general, but especially the pro tour?

>

> Personally, I think the pool is too deep with talent and there won't be another "Tigeresque" player, but lets play what if..........

 

what would happen if someone went on a run like tiger? ... the game of golf would abnormally grow, as it did during tiger's run, and golf purses would increase dramatically, probably a bit too much, as it also did during tiger's run ...