Monty says a new tour ball is needed to counter Bryson DeChambeau's crazy distance

[Smada962]

That's one person you are describing, not all long hitters. Hitting it long and keeping it in play is a tremendous skill, guys on here act like it takes no talent. Also, its ridiculously unfair to try to create a ball that only punishes long players and not shorter hitters also. If you're going to roll the ball back it has to be done proportionately.

 

 

[lefty1978]

Honestly, I really don't care either way. I do think the professional golf screwed up years ago allowing metal woods with larger heads insane forgiveness. They should have done what professional baseball did, keep wood for pros, metal and composite for amateur. Too late to go back and change it now. My prediction is nothing will be done.

[J13]

The reason that doesn't work is because millions of adults buy millions of golf clubs every year. Adults aren't running around buying bats unless it's for youth sports.

 

I'm in the camp that there isn't a problem. I love the long ball and I love drive-able par 4's if you want to take the risk. There's a lot of ways to score in golf so if a player can't figure it out with his or her own set of skills then they aren't good enough to play professionally on the big stage. Just like every other sport on the planet.

 

And btw they said the pro's were going to destroy Merion for the US Open because it's short by todays standards. The course was setup in a way that ate their lunch. Loved it and proves the length of the golf course isn't directly related to scoring.

[smashdn]

Yep. I am happy to admit my preference is in the minority. "Chicks dig the long ball." And that is fine for the PGA product. I've just accepted that PGA Tour is golf made to fit a purpose (entertainment) and not necessarily representative of the true game.

 

I don't intend this to come off as condescending but at some point the "hit it long and go find it" game is fairly easy golf for a casual fan to understand, especially if they don't play much themselves. You have to have a certain level of understanding of the game to appreciate a well-executed lay up shot whether from the tee or as a second shot.

 

Same deal with some plays in baseball. A sacrifice bunt is not typically an exciting play but sometimes is absolutely the "right" play given the circumstances. Same with intentionally hitting in behind a runner to move him up a bag. The average fan may just see it as a ground out but the skill it took to properly execute is what is appreciated by those in the know.

[smashdn]

Jones put up scoreboards for The Masters in the 30's that showed scores relevant to par so I don't think that form of scoring is all that new. It does help the viewer (and golfer on the course) know where he stands in relation to the field.

[smashdn]

I don't know that it is the governing bodies that receive the advertising dollars, directly. They put out on an event and sell the rights to broadcast the event. The network(s) broadcasting sell the advertisement spots. Indirectly, if the event isn't worth watching, it doesn't draw viewers, it is not desirable to pay for advertising time.

[smashdn]

"The equipment ship has sailed years ago, if it ever was in port to begin with. And I use semi legitimate because most golfers don't play by the complete rules as they are written anyway."

Ed Zachary. Dr. Beeper brags he bought the new driver that Rickie Fowler uses. Just exactly what he uses. Except Dr. Beeper has a senior shaft and the production head and stock weight set. Rickie's is custom weighted and has that hot fill stuff shot into in just the right places and in the right amounts to produce his desired ball flight, spin and sound. Plus no telling what kind of one-off, tuned, splined, harmonically balanced xx stiff, triple tipped shaft he has in it. And I don't blame Rickie one bit. He is playing for millions of dollars when he tees it up.

But the rest of us should be wiser. Not duped by the advertising. With the exception of the rare stories where guys go into a second hand store and grab a putter, I highly doubt there is much "off the rack" between the ropes.

But I don't like the idea of bifurcation either. But I really don't like the idea of golf fading into obscurity because it takes 8000 yards to contain the game and keep the features on the ground forcing decisions between the golfers ears.

[smashdn]

It doesn't get more difficult, it just doesn't get as long as you impart more force to the back of the ball. That already occurs, that is physics. The change in the ball would just lower that threshold so it occurs sooner, with less force.

If you accept that golf is going to get longer and longer, then you accept that historic courses will not be able to contain the game. You accept that new courses must get longer and thus more expensive to build and maintain and longer to play. None of that sounds like a good way to grow or even sustain the game.

[Nels55]

Club heads and balls are restricted now and you can buy illegal versions of both that hit too far if you want to. I think that we are approaching the technological limit for distance even with all of the optimization of launch and spin and forth using launch monitors. The stronger faster athletes who can hit it farther has a limit somewhere and we may well be approaching that so the possibly the end of the arms race is in sight.

That said the ball could be rolled back with some restrictions applied and in 10 years everyone would forget about it and find something else to complain about.

[FakeClubPro]

Another reason why Jack was the greatest. He had to mostly use persimmons and you had to hot it on the screws. The drivers today are so forgiving and so are the balls. I have a Cobra F9 and it is insanely forgiving.

[Smada962]

Ugh, this one again. The new equipment being easier to hit makes it harder for an elite talent like Tiger or Rory (or Jack if he was in this era) to stand out. Tiger would have benefited from them sticking with older equipment. The newer equipment creates more parity and makes it easier for lesser talents to step up and compete.

[PhilsFanDrew]

Where is there this rule/standard that if you are a big hitter you don't have the ability to or don't have the need to create golf shots? Bubba Watson had to create a golf shot in the playoff for his 1st Masters win and a hallmark of his game is his shotmaking and seeing lines that other players don't see. Golf is about getting the ball in the hole with the fewest strokes possible, period. Some players are going to bomb and gouge to do that. Others are going to hit yardages and plot their way around the course. It's clear you prefer one way to play golf but don't pretend it's the only proper way.

[15th Club]

Fair enough. You can think that.

I think that some golf fans have a deep rooted ignorance of golf course architecture and history.

[Smada962]

You can see in this thread there is certainly a "holier than thou", pompous attitude from the guys in favor of a rollback. Like they think anyone who hits it long or enjoys that is a caveman who doesn't understand the game.

[15th Club]

Personally, I’m not laughing about the prospect of litigation. Litigation, in the form of Acushnet Holdings Co. v. United States Golf Association, is what I have been looking forward to for about 15 years.

Very much unlike the slapdash Ping Eye 2 case, this time the USGA will have spent decades studying the problem, developing data, documenting possible solutions, and preparing its defense.

The USGA may even have the full cooperation of at least some of the equipment manufacturers. Titleist’s market share for golf balls isn’t doing anything for Ping, TaylorMade, Callaway, Cleveland or Wilson.

[15th Club]

Jack Nicklaus knows what it’s like to be a long hitter. He gets it. He wants a rollback.

Greg Norman was the best driver of his generation. He gets it. He wants a rollback.

Gary Player, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Watson; people who know a thing or two about building as well as playing great golf courses. They all want a rollback.

Oh and there was some younger guy — Tiger Woods is his name — who said the same thing:https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2017/11/04/tiger-woods-publicly-advocates-golf-ball-roll-107379/

[trilerian]

I'm against any ball rollback that will affect the distance the average golfer hits the ball. If you limit the flight to 80%, which was suggested above, the average male golfer will not be able to make a 350 yd par 4 in 2. Every course in the world will have to be rated again, new tee boxes will need to be put up, forced carries will need to be shortened. Why change golf for the masses when all you have to do is change it for a few. The least intrusive change is changing course conditions for the pros when they visit a course. Change more par 5s to par 4s, make a par 4 a par 3. It's already done now, but go bigger. Have the par be 65, really, who cares, the scoreboard is relative to par.

If you want to make a ball change for the pros, have at it. It wouldn't bother me a bit to watch them play 7000 yds and only hit their tee shots 270. But this isn't feasible for the masses.

[Titleist99]

Most of the earlier golf courses were either 12 holes or 9 hole courses and later lengthened to 18. All those courses were designed for a feathery golf ball, hickory shafts and the ability to drive the ball just 200 yards off the tee. The object of the game was to get the ball in the hole with the fewest strokes...... 1925 was the first steel shaft. Up until 1938 you could still carry 22 golf clubs. you cant compare eras and you can't relive the past. The only thing that is the same is ........The one with fewest stokes win and at the end a champion is crowned.

[puttingmatt]

There's more to playing the game well, than long drives. Fill the landing areas with traps, course set up, fixes all these concerns.

[bscinstnct]

 

I can’t believe you think the players, who all grew up playing a certain ball, And have been playing it their whole lives and pro careers, are going to allow it to be rolled back.

 

As I said earlier, the only way to change the ball the PGA Tour plays, is to mandate that competitive junior golfers start playing it. Then play it through hs, college, and in the pros.

 

Would take 10 years but that’s the only way it’s happening.

[Soloman1]

Baseball doesn't do that. Aluminum bats until minor/major leagues.

 

Put the shoe on the other foot and roll back the tour ball for 2 years and see what happens.

[15th Club]

I am not talking about rolling back recreational players by 20%. I’m not talking about it, and not thinking about it, apart from how to not do that.

 

[15th Club]

????

Make those kinds of terrible changes to golf courses, instead of $4 golf balls?

[PhilsFanDrew]

Agreed. As far as I am concerned guys like Monty that want to roll back the golf ball have a solution in search of a problem.

[Titleist99]

Golf is exactly the same as baseball......If you don't have the big stick, you have to play small ball......LOL!

[Rosco1216]

Just grow out the rough and narrow the fairways a bit. Also, make them carry their own bag without a caddy and no green book. I thoroughly enjoyed how relatable it was to watch the Wolff/Fowler and DJ/Rory match while carrying their own bags without caddies. Seeing them struggle on touch with those 80-100 partial wedge shots was very relatable for me.

[Soloman1]

It is a problem because it changes the nature of a golf course.

Pompous? Not holier than thou, but apparently smarter than thou. Cavemen? What a ridiculous statement. That's not the reason for the roll back.

[Titleist99]

Lets say they are stupid enough to roll the ball back 20% so the pros can't reach a dogleg, cant go for the greens in two, and hit one irons into par fours. Somehow, some amongst us seem to think that this is exciting golf. In a sport that's trying to generate new fans and new sponsors.....good luck with that.

[smashdn]

And Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie, Perry Maxwell, et al are no longer building us classic courses. From around 1925 (as you mentioned, steel shafts) to ~1990 technology did not change appreciably. Therefore courses did not change appreciably and most had had ample time to evolve distance-wise with increasing distances due to physically bigger, stronger players. For ~75 years there was stability to be designed around.

 

My hope is that the technology curve has shallowed if not all together stopped adding distance. My fear is it has not. My hope is that there will be time and ability to add length to most classic architecture to ensure it offers a comparable challenge to today's golfers. My fear is some are maxed out and certain design features are lost for good.

[smashdn]

I hope golf doesn't have the same problems regarding interest and attendance that baseball does.