Should the PGA, USGA, R&A slow the ball down?
- Thread starter ggsjpc
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Brian Manzella
Administrator
When we agree, mark it down.
vjsinger
New
I'll play. I know you've all heard this one before, but I think it is true and a reasonable arguement. With the really fast ball, alot of the old design courses are made too easy, because of their length..especially for the TOUR pros. Now designers have to try and redo the course to "restore it's original integrity". Why not just leave the course alone and slow down the ball? That's all I got.
Jared Willerson
Super Moderator
The only thing that has changed is driving distance...iron distances are about the same when you consider the stronger lofts these days. Curiously, with all that distance, scoring averages have barely budged.
Mitch Voges won a US Amateur in 1991 using a pinnacle with the same solid core ball that you see now, He felt like the distance he gained gave him the edge in the tournament, point being the technology has been there for a while, but the new covers and layers are what makes the difference and why tour players can now use these balls with the solid core.
Mitch Voges won a US Amateur in 1991 using a pinnacle with the same solid core ball that you see now, He felt like the distance he gained gave him the edge in the tournament, point being the technology has been there for a while, but the new covers and layers are what makes the difference and why tour players can now use these balls with the solid core.
It does put more people to work too.
ggsjpc
New
Which is it?
Does that mean you agree or disagree? I'm guessing disagree because of my contrarian nature.
Does that mean you agree or disagree? I'm guessing disagree because of my contrarian nature.
ggsjpc
New
Yea, like a tournament ball that Nicklaus and others recommend.
mgranato
New
It doesn't bother me either way. The NBA has it's own spec ball, the NFL has it's own spec ball, MLB has it's own spec bats, etc. I'm most familiar with the NBA, and through out its history they have consistently tweaked its rules/court based on the level of its players. The NBA is played way above the rim, so it's not hard for the average "church leaguer" to understand that that small/elite group of athletes needs their own set of constraints inside the general rules of the game. The same is true for PGA Tour level players, but I'm not sure the same sentiment is their from the average capper golfer.
trickyric67
New
I don't know if any of you have ever been to Augusta but they are definitely running out of room, The green on #2 is about 8 yards from #3 tee and the #3 green puts players in jeopardy of getting brained on #4 tee by incoming balls.
The funny thing is that the new technology seems to drastically help the best players more than the people that it is really aimed at.
The funny thing is that the new technology seems to drastically help the best players more than the people that it is really aimed at.
ggsjpc
New
So, should the courses and owners not be required to keep up with the times.
When the length of the ball changed 100 years ago, new courses needed to be built to deal with the extra length.
Some courses faded away and others were built.
Why should today be any different.
I think I'll do a little research and see how many courses have been able to hold majors for long periods of time.
I'm sure the ones that have could keep up with the advancements.
The others just faded away from that environment.
ggsjpc
New
All of those things have been around for decades.
ggsjpc
New
What is different in an NBA ball than one purchased at the store?
mgranato
New
Seam sizes.
IMO, constantly adding length is not the way to combat the long ball - all that does is cater to the long ballers. I also don't understand the obsession with adjusting par to keep the scores near par.
Par is made to be broken, and total score is the only number that really matters.
Thank goodness other sports didn't adopt the idea of par. Or worse, didn't adopt the idea of trying to protect it.
IMO, constantly adding length is not the way to combat the long ball - all that does is cater to the long ballers. I also don't understand the obsession with adjusting par to keep the scores near par.
Par is made to be broken, and total score is the only number that really matters.Thank goodness other sports didn't adopt the idea of par. Or worse, didn't adopt the idea of trying to protect it.
Richie3Jack
New
I don't think they should revert to old distances. I would like to see them kind of keep the technology of distance the same as it is now and not allow it to expand any further. The problem with scaling the ball back (or drivers scaling back) is that it will effect the popularity of the game. But, at the same time if they keep allowing the ball to go further, it will turn classic courses into jokes.
I think the golfers will hit it longer in the end, no matter what. But, the increased distance skyrocketed over the past 15 years and it needs to curb a bit.
3JACK
I think the golfers will hit it longer in the end, no matter what. But, the increased distance skyrocketed over the past 15 years and it needs to curb a bit.
3JACK
Richie3Jack
New
Agreed 100%.
And that in part is where I think Augusta made the mistake. It's now a bomb-n-gouge tournament, unless somebody like Immelman catches absolute fire. Bobby Jones built Augusta with St. Andrews in mind. But I don't believe that concept meant he wanted to see guys hit it all over the lot and should double digits under par.
Somebody asked the other day on a different forum 'when is the last time you saw a PGA Tour player go O.B?'
It got me thinking. That is pretty rare these days.
I think if they want to scale back distances a bit, they need to bring O.B. back into play.
As far as courses adapting, it's very hard to do considering the changes in population in the country.
3JACK
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