I for one has seen Bubba play at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on the 9th hole he bombed a 319 yd drive that had about a 60 yd cut and he was aimed at South Carolina amazing as a Club Pro it would take me 20 balls to do that and only go 260 tops but on the hole before he had SW in his hand and missed the entire green . I went to watch Furyk who peppered flags for 4 days.
The Game has changed forever
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birly-shirly
New
I still feel like I'm missing something.
Jimbo hits it shorter than Bubba, but is the better player? I don't know that many people would argue with that. Did anything change at the weekend?
Jimbo hits it shorter than Bubba, but is the better player? I don't know that many people would argue with that. Did anything change at the weekend?
Birly - shirly
Sorry if wrong info Bubba went on to miss the cut at the US Open he hit only 44% GIR. My point was there was a dozen or more players who hit it shorter and had about the same driving accuracy as Bubba which was 56% and managed to make the cut or make top 20 for the weekend. So what was it bad ball striking or what?
Sorry if wrong info Bubba went on to miss the cut at the US Open he hit only 44% GIR. My point was there was a dozen or more players who hit it shorter and had about the same driving accuracy as Bubba which was 56% and managed to make the cut or make top 20 for the weekend. So what was it bad ball striking or what?
Actually... no. Both of them missed the fairway.
The vast majority of great players have all been fairly, if not very, long. Bubba is just now learning how to win. It's a matter of time before he wins a major.
This is bang on for me. Let the best man win but you should pay the price for wayward shots. Most of the courses i play are lined with dense bush and when I hit a bad one it's lost for sure. I don't even have the option of a chip out to the fairway let a lone a shot to the green. That's would be a dream come true.
natep quote
So if someone misses a cut at some point in their career they dont deserve to ever win a tournament?
And if they do, golf is changed forever?
Ben Hogan missed cuts too.
In 292 career PGA Tour events, Ben Hogan finished in the Top 3 in 47.6-percent of them. He finished in the Top 10 in 241 of those 292 events
Sorry but there is no comparison between the 2 players hands down the Ball Striker is Hogan in this matchup
So if someone misses a cut at some point in their career they dont deserve to ever win a tournament?
And if they do, golf is changed forever?
Ben Hogan missed cuts too.
In 292 career PGA Tour events, Ben Hogan finished in the Top 3 in 47.6-percent of them. He finished in the Top 10 in 241 of those 292 events
Sorry but there is no comparison between the 2 players hands down the Ball Striker is Hogan in this matchup
In your original post, you were speaking about the loss of the art of shotmaking. Whatever you consider a great ballstriker to be, Bubba is widely considered to be a great shotmaker, as good as any around in spite of the technology. Whether or not he's a pure ballstriker statistically, he's not a good example of your argument that shotmaking is dead.
Yes i agree on his shotmaking skills one of the best no doubt. Ball striking in my opinion no not a great one to mimic.
The game has changed article was my opinion that hitting driver wedge to par 5's is a bomb and gouge era not only can Bubba do it but plenty others thats not shotmaking skills. There isnts a major college in the US that dosent have some kid who hits it 300 and a 7 iron 200 yds thats not shotmaking thats power
The game has changed article was my opinion that hitting driver wedge to par 5's is a bomb and gouge era not only can Bubba do it but plenty others thats not shotmaking skills. There isnts a major college in the US that dosent have some kid who hits it 300 and a 7 iron 200 yds thats not shotmaking thats power
If Corey Pavin had the ability say to hit his wedge 160 yds like Bubba there's no doubt that he would be able to hit it closer than Bubba thats ball striking skills The wedge is a accuracy club right? Now both have shotmaking skills curving,high or low, etc .Hitting the ball 100 yds further than someone is power, Sadlowski 400+ yds hits it by Bubba but is by no means a better ball striker than Bubba but has shotmaking skills able to curve those 440yd drives and hit high and low.
Ask tiger woods what it's like to play PGA courses from the right rough, the tree line on the right side of the fairway, and one fairway over to the right. He has many years of experience playing those alternate routes. At this point I am guessing his Firestone yardage books have yardages from one fairway to the right (maybe he sells them to other Haney students). It's really not that easy to do, by the way.
Look at the courses the players a generation or two ago played. Hugely easier conditions. Half the courses on the classic video matches from the fifties had virtually no rough and 360 yard par 4s. Today's players wouldn't pay $35 to play those tracks, which look by today's standards like goat pastures with sand traps you could putt out of, half the time.
Jack Nicklaus' short wedge game from 1960 wouldn't be nationwide tour quality by today's standards. But it didn't have to be, the courses were different and he could bomb it 40 yards past most the tour and hit par 5s in two that much of the rest of the field could not, and he didn't have to learn Woods-like wedge skills for his courses when he was a kid. No doubt his ball striking stats wouldn't have been tops, he just led in winning tournaments and majors. Sort of like early tiger when he bombed it further than all but a few. If only they had played on the Canadian tour, had a funky finish and made people on driving ranges around the world gape in awe at the perfection of their ballstriking. I'm not sure how they missed the career path to becoming fanboy golfswing faves on the internet and wasted their time bombing the ball to major wins.
Heck the more I think about it Nicklaus and Woods are really to blame for the sorry state of today's game. Ruined it for all us ballstriking afficianados.
But we know that real golfers use antique irons, wear Ben hogan hats, pine for the days when everyone had to walk five miles in the snow to get to school and wish they could watch Corey Pavin hit a 7-wood from 220 rather watch Bubba Watson carve a 330 yard drive into a 20-yard wide fairway on a hole on the back-9 at Torrey Pines. Because they remember how great everyone was in the good old days. So pure. And the passing in a high school girl's basketball game is better than the NBA, too, which is also a sport that has been ruined for us purists by athletes.
The good old days. Before the time like today. Because today everyone not on a respirator is a scratch golfer and carves 340 yards drives into narrow fairways, since the game got so easy. Because golf has become so easy now and it's no longer the challenge it was when the game was pure. And men were men, and dressed like hogan. Before the time when the Dustin Johnson's and Bubba Watsons ruined things with their crude ball striking.
I am actually a big fan of golf from prior eras. i have no doubt Sam Snead would be a top pro today. And Hogan a champion. I watch the LPGA and marvel at the ballstriking of Na Yeon Choi and Jiyai Shin.
It's just that whole "oh, the game is ruined today" pining for ancient eras gets old.
Get a grip.
Look at the courses the players a generation or two ago played. Hugely easier conditions. Half the courses on the classic video matches from the fifties had virtually no rough and 360 yard par 4s. Today's players wouldn't pay $35 to play those tracks, which look by today's standards like goat pastures with sand traps you could putt out of, half the time.
Jack Nicklaus' short wedge game from 1960 wouldn't be nationwide tour quality by today's standards. But it didn't have to be, the courses were different and he could bomb it 40 yards past most the tour and hit par 5s in two that much of the rest of the field could not, and he didn't have to learn Woods-like wedge skills for his courses when he was a kid. No doubt his ball striking stats wouldn't have been tops, he just led in winning tournaments and majors. Sort of like early tiger when he bombed it further than all but a few. If only they had played on the Canadian tour, had a funky finish and made people on driving ranges around the world gape in awe at the perfection of their ballstriking. I'm not sure how they missed the career path to becoming fanboy golfswing faves on the internet and wasted their time bombing the ball to major wins.
Heck the more I think about it Nicklaus and Woods are really to blame for the sorry state of today's game. Ruined it for all us ballstriking afficianados.
But we know that real golfers use antique irons, wear Ben hogan hats, pine for the days when everyone had to walk five miles in the snow to get to school and wish they could watch Corey Pavin hit a 7-wood from 220 rather watch Bubba Watson carve a 330 yard drive into a 20-yard wide fairway on a hole on the back-9 at Torrey Pines. Because they remember how great everyone was in the good old days. So pure. And the passing in a high school girl's basketball game is better than the NBA, too, which is also a sport that has been ruined for us purists by athletes.
The good old days. Before the time like today. Because today everyone not on a respirator is a scratch golfer and carves 340 yards drives into narrow fairways, since the game got so easy. Because golf has become so easy now and it's no longer the challenge it was when the game was pure. And men were men, and dressed like hogan. Before the time when the Dustin Johnson's and Bubba Watsons ruined things with their crude ball striking.
I am actually a big fan of golf from prior eras. i have no doubt Sam Snead would be a top pro today. And Hogan a champion. I watch the LPGA and marvel at the ballstriking of Na Yeon Choi and Jiyai Shin.
It's just that whole "oh, the game is ruined today" pining for ancient eras gets old.
Get a grip.
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lia41985
New member
Hear, hear.
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
The bottom line is in the near future if you're not a bigger stronger athlete you wont make it in the top levels of golf anymore than you would in the other sports. Its just that golf took longer to catch up in this regard. Some of our best pure athletes will be turning to golf for its safety and longevity and the "lesser" athletes wont be able to keep up. Lindsey Newman would call this natural selection.
Just because a small, slow guy who cant jump can ball handle, dribble and shoot free throws better than anyone doesnt mean he can play in the NBA.
Just because a small, slow guy who cant jump can ball handle, dribble and shoot free throws better than anyone doesnt mean he can play in the NBA.
Brian Manzella
Administrator
The Game has changed forever—for the better!
Always.
Mac was "pure" as far as contact goes, and athletic power, but not in my top ten as far as hitting it where he's looking.
Bubba is a really good PGA Tour Player, and has the chance to win several majors.
Absolutely.
.......................................
Here is my take:
Golf Course Design was pretty bad for a few years, but now as Crenshaw and Doak come to the forefront, the standard may improve. As a result of the poor designs of the 70's, 80's & 90's, there are some goofy courses on tour.
PGA Tour, USGA, and Masters' course set-ups are just starting to improve, but need more variety in length and where the risks and rewards are.
Other than this, and some junk science in some teaching circles, I think that the game has a chance for a re-birth of sorts in the post Tiger dominated era.
Bubba Watson would beat Jim Colbert by two a side.
No offense.
Always.
Mac was "pure" as far as contact goes, and athletic power, but not in my top ten as far as hitting it where he's looking.
Bubba is a really good PGA Tour Player, and has the chance to win several majors.
Absolutely.
.......................................
Here is my take:
Golf Course Design was pretty bad for a few years, but now as Crenshaw and Doak come to the forefront, the standard may improve. As a result of the poor designs of the 70's, 80's & 90's, there are some goofy courses on tour.
PGA Tour, USGA, and Masters' course set-ups are just starting to improve, but need more variety in length and where the risks and rewards are.
Other than this, and some junk science in some teaching circles, I think that the game has a chance for a re-birth of sorts in the post Tiger dominated era.
Bubba Watson would beat Jim Colbert by two a side.
No offense.
I like where the game is headed. It's survival of the fittest...and they are bigger and stronger. I'm happy to see players who cannot physically do something their competitors can do (due to genetics/body type) be weeded out. If you cannot hit the ball as far as someone else, your game doesn't measure up. You weren't blessed with a good enough body to play. It happens in every other sport. Athletes are playing golf.
It's the natural progression of all sports. Middle infielders used to not have power. Kevin Mchale's low post moves wouldn't cut the mustard in today's game because of athleticism (well, ok...he'd have gotten off the silky "up and under"...but a hall of famer if he starts his career in 2000?). Frank Gifford would not have started at tailback for the Giants today.
I have a hard time hearing that the game's changed for the worse. Instead of forcing myself to appreciate things that lesser athletes are forced to do because of their size or body type, I find it easier to appreciate things the greater athletes don't have to do. If you want to keep the game "pure", raise par for 18 holes. Make guys have to hit bombs off the tee and have to hit 140-190 yard shots too. But to impede the game's growth to level the playing field for people who aren't as physically gifted seems...downright Un-American.
It's the natural progression of all sports. Middle infielders used to not have power. Kevin Mchale's low post moves wouldn't cut the mustard in today's game because of athleticism (well, ok...he'd have gotten off the silky "up and under"...but a hall of famer if he starts his career in 2000?). Frank Gifford would not have started at tailback for the Giants today.
I have a hard time hearing that the game's changed for the worse. Instead of forcing myself to appreciate things that lesser athletes are forced to do because of their size or body type, I find it easier to appreciate things the greater athletes don't have to do. If you want to keep the game "pure", raise par for 18 holes. Make guys have to hit bombs off the tee and have to hit 140-190 yard shots too. But to impede the game's growth to level the playing field for people who aren't as physically gifted seems...downright Un-American.
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Brian Manzella
Administrator
And I wholeheartedly agree!
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