Why haven't PGA Tour scores come down w/ tech

[vanillafunk616]

15th ... I will look up that book - I am a huge reader - I love all sorts of golf books

 

Why is Nicklaus this way? Did Hogan demand rollbacks when Jack was blasting it past him in the early 60's US Opens?

 

I am 100% against the "powers that be" making golf harder / less enjoyable for 99.99 percent of the golfing population. Surely we can all agree the Karsten grooves was a fiasco, then the modern wedge grooves, then the long putter WERE ALL DISASTERS

 

It's funny that the rules are becoming simpler - good move IMO, and long overdue - but they want to make the game harder. Really?? Most people drop playing golf because it is too hard already !

 

Palmer had feelings on golf the polar opposite of Nicklaus and that never seems to be part of modern discussions ... why ?

 

I think it's because these classic courses are huge investments and their owners are wealthy and therefore influencial. It costs a ton of money to update the course to modern conditions. So they are essentially trying to pass the buck to ball manufacturers, rather than having to come out of their own pockets.

 

As far as Jack, I think it's because he has a lot of ownership stakes in courses, combined with his general bitter old "everything was better in my day" curmudgen attitude.

[green.tea]

How is this asinine argument even still continuing lmao

[golfandfishing]

How is this asinine argument even still continuing lmao

 

It’s still snowing in some parts of the country.

 

One thing I have always wondered in threads like this. One of the reasons cited for rolling the ball back is that classic courses have to be tricked up and ruined for modern golf. Can anyone name a great classic course that is now tricked up and ruined?

[15th Club]

Palmer had feelings on golf the polar opposite of Nicklaus and that never seems to be part of modern discussions ... why ?

 

Arnold Palmer -- like Gary Player, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller, among too many to list -- agreed with Jack Nicklaus on the need for a golf ball rollback. Were you implying that Jack Nicklaus is a kind of an outlier? He is not. He is one of a very large majority of major winners, golf course architects and commentators who all agree on the basic need for a rollback. Almost everybody, it often seems, except for current Tour players who are under contract to equipment manufacturers for millions, and golf writers who work for publications that depend on ad revenue from those same manufacturers.

[Shilgy]

There once was a game called golf. The founders, sheperd's tending their flock, found that the best way to play the new game was to bunt it around....straight away on what became known as the fair way. No cutting corners, no long shots, just swings made to hit the featherie down the middle. Certainly helped that swings were restricted by tweed jackets.

The decades rolled by and very few questioned that style of play. Even though the most dominant players of every era were among the longest on tour none questioned the so called "best" way to play the game. Nick Faldo even retooled his game completely to be straighter straighter straighter.

Then came the revolution. Some derisively called it bomb and gouge but others saw it for what it was. A better way to shoot low scores. Players found that the could hit shorter irons closer to the pin, even from the rough, if they had a shorter iron in hand. They also learned it was actually more advantageous to hit the second shots on par fives as near the green as possible rather than laying up to a full wedge as the conventional wisdom decreed.

 

Point being, the car is out of the bag. The new style of play has become known as the best way to play the game so as to shoot the lowest score possible. Much to the chagrin of the old guard. So even if you roll the ball back the style of play will not change.

 

 

And ok that I bid adieu to this thread. With both sides firmly entrenched we're really getting nowhere.

 

But... And on wrx it's a big but unfortunately... Thanks to all of you for always keeping it civil.

[Sean2]

Palmer had feelings on golf the polar opposite of Nicklaus and that never seems to be part of modern discussions ... why ?

 

Arnold Palmer -- like Gary Player, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller, among too many to list -- agreed with Jack Nicklaus on the need for a golf ball rollback. Were you implying that Jack Nicklaus is a kind of an outlier? He is not. He is one of a very large majority of major winners, golf course architects and commentators who all agree on the basic need for a rollback. Almost everybody, it often seems, except for current Tour players who are under contract to equipment manufacturers for millions, and golf writers who work for publications that depend on ad revenue from those same manufacturers.

 

But how do the 70,000,000 people who play this game feel about it?

[thug the bunny]

Palmer had feelings on golf the polar opposite of Nicklaus and that never seems to be part of modern discussions ... why ?

 

Arnold Palmer -- like Gary Player, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino and Johnny Miller, among too many to list -- agreed with Jack Nicklaus on the need for a golf ball rollback. Were you implying that Jack Nicklaus is a kind of an outlier? He is not. He is one of a very large majority of major winners, golf course architects and commentators who all agree on the basic need for a rollback. Almost everybody, it often seems, except for current Tour players who are under contract to equipment manufacturers for millions, and golf writers who work for publications that depend on ad revenue from those same manufacturers.

 

But how do the 70,000,000 people who play this game feel about it?

 

Not good. Why do I have to pay for 0.000005% of the golf population? All I know is if some of my 20 cap buddies are only driving it 160 with a good hit, they will be opting for something else every time I ask them if they want to play golf. Actually, maybe this would make them more open to playing tennis, which I love. And there is shooting, fishing, cycling...golf is not the be all end all. I have no issues with focusing more on other sports.

[Slanman]

So here’s my question. Does it really matter? There’s so much talk about having to lengthen the course to keep up with big hitters, but they act like people are shooting 50s every round. I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as “they” think. Once it turns into women’s golf where there are multiple people at -20 or more under like Ive seen in a few tournaments the last two years, then there’s an issue