he had personal issues then too.....always had personal issues....he is a piece of Arkansas trailer trash that is a disgrace to the game. ( I can say that cause I am from Arkansas)
BLOG: Lessons Learned from 71 and a Half Holes in the Sun
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he had personal issues then too.....always had personal issues....he is a piece of Arkansas trailer trash that is a disgrace to the game. ( I can say that cause I am from Arkansas)
Richie3Jack
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I disagree with the assertion that US golf is a bastardization of the game. Different topographies, different weather conditions call for different designs of golf courses. If we had mostly links courses in the US, we'd see outrageously low scores in second tier amateur tournaments. The big issue with links golf is that it relies on the wind. Here in the US we just don't have a consistent wind to rely on. St. Andrews is a course where if the wind isn't blowing, the pros will tear it up. Architects understood this a long time ago and adapted to the conditions.
3JACK
3JACK
its not the americans, it the new up-and-coming players who are very one-dimensional. tom watson grew up playing golf in a time where you had to mve the ball either way at will. greg norman was a tremendous links golfer, as is tiger (usually) and i think sergio will win an open sometime
rogerdodger
New
The ball dictates how the game is played, shotmaking was essential with the balata ball. European golf is better due to the style of play. Everyone walks, and a round is played in 3 hours. I am sick of five hour rounds while people in carts drive all over the course, don't have the right club and don't know that golf should be played briskly. If anything is learned from Watson, it is his pace of play, which is fantastic. He was waiting on every tee. America will fall behind in golf in ten years, teens do not want to spend five hours doing anything, let alone golf. We have to play faster.
cal7426
New
Trust me, no-one gets round in three hours very often round here. I agree that carts can slow the game down, but they are usually a necessity in the US as the courses are designed with them in mind, i.e. a half mile trek through houses to get from green to the next time. I've only played in Florida, mind, so it may be different in other states.
I think the debate about whether any other style of course other than a true links is a bastardisation of golf is a non-starter. It's an argument I've heard many times from so-called purists who also tend to be anti-hybrids, anti-golf carts, anti-lob wedge, anti-big headed drivers, anti-women, anti-juniors, antedeluvian. The world contains numerous fantastic non-links courses and golf would be alot poorer without them.
On a separate note, I'd give a vote to Peter Thomson as the best links player.
curtisj76
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Exactly! Someone explain how Augusta is a bastard?
Richie3Jack
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Great post. The terrain in the US can be quite hilly. I know that in Kevin Shields' area of Pittsburgh, PA, there are a lot of courses that really are not meant for walking. One of my home courses in North Georgia not only isn't mean for walking because it's hilly, but trying to do it in 90*+ summer heat could be hazardous to one's health.
And Watson wasn't exactly the fastest player in his day or even in this past Open. If you want to watch a fast pace of play, watch Daly or Calc. If you want to watch a slow pace of play, watch many of the Euros, most infamously Langer.
3JACK
I like your post.
I do not have any true links experience, but I know that just about everywhere I've played in Europe, a round of much more than 4 hours is considered to be slow play.
I do not like the fact that so many courses in the U.S. & Canada have been designed not to be walked and some of the some of the ones that could be walked, have mandatory carts. But that seems to be the golfing culture of the general golfing public. Why would a typical American in his/her right mind walk anywhere? - except on a treadmill of course. That's a perception that many non-Americans have anyway.
I will not regularly spend 4 to 5 hours on a golf course if I'm not allowed to walk. I might do it now and then to play a good course, but not often. So that's usually the first thing I check, can I walk? - If not, let's find another course.
Jared Willerson
Super Moderator
I never said I didn't like our version of the game....It is just drastically different from the original
i personally am not a fan of playing links golf. i find it too difficult lol
and i dont think all courses that are not links courses are bastards. i just like the way links golf makes you play in a certain way (shot-shaping to the max, creativity and immense ball control) that the new up-and-coming players (most in america now, but also many in europe) cant play that way, as many courses allow players to get away with moving the ball one way only
Erik_K
New
Excellent point.
The reason why USA golfers don't have a small arsenal of shots (low punches, low/hi draws & fades, bump and runs from all over) is that they simply don't need it on the PGA Tour. Granted, they do play a variety of shots but most of these guys can rely on a handful of shots and trajectories because that's all they need.
It's not their fault the courses are set up this way. By the same token, let's say all par 4s were 600 yards long. You'd only see huge golfers out there who could hit it 350+ from the tee.
The courses breed the golfers and the shots they must play.
Despite that, the US has had lots of success at the British Open. Since 1920, a player from the US has raised the Jug over 40 times - pretty decent if you ask me.
cal7426
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Is this true or just a perception? To get to the level of being on the PGA Tour these players must have spent a lot of their formative years on the course and range. Surely, in that time they would have experimented in order to play all the shots they would require.
Further, is it true to say that all PGA courses/conditions are the same so that playing one way is all that's required? The USA is a vast country and there are differences between playing in Texas (windy/hard pan), Colorado (altitude), the Southern States (hot/humid), Arizona (desert) etc., and these changes must require different shots and styles of play or at the very least some adaptation of a player's stock shot. Or do you feel that the courses are set up in such a way as to minimise the climatic differences and thus obviate a player's need to adapt?
Erik_K
New
All I am saying is that there's is a big difference in weather between the US and a place like the UK.
Yes, as I mentioned in the post, most of these guys can play just about any shot you want. They are a talented bunch for sure.
However, when I watch golf on TV it seems that you don't often see the players having to make the same adjustments, use the same aresenal of shots that is required at a cold, windy, course in England.
Yes, as I mentioned in the post, most of these guys can play just about any shot you want. They are a talented bunch for sure.
However, when I watch golf on TV it seems that you don't often see the players having to make the same adjustments, use the same aresenal of shots that is required at a cold, windy, course in England.
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