Reinventing Golf
There are two golf realities: The virtually unreal version people watch on TV, and the game people actually play.
There has been a lot of discussion amongst the golfing community about rolling back the power characteristics of today’s modern high tech golf balls. After Cameron Young blasted his tee shot on the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass (it ended up being 375 yards long) and going on to win The Players Championship, everyone was astounded. That drive is the longest ever recorded (official recording began in 2003) and especially under the circumstances, it just seemed ridiculous!
Afterwards, I watched Golf Channel commentators marvel at Cameron’s deceptive power. The discussion ultimately led to the question, how do we reign in this deformation of the game? The answer seemed to boil down to two solutions: Do nothing, or bifurcate. To bifurcate, the governing bodies of golf would set different standards for Professional and Amateurs. They would divide the groups, providing some restrictions on the golf ball used in professional competition. Like putting governors on race cars.
I can’t think of a dumber idea.This is not what professional golf should be pursuing. Besides, I wonder why we are so worried about what the best players in the game are doing. What about the rest of us?
Golf is such a multifaceted sport, and the skills required are in many ways more nuanced than any other athletic skill set. Great golf performances incorporate subtle talents like patience, precision, planning and tactics, hand-eye coordination in the upper 2%, resiliency, controlled body mechanics, green and atmospheric reading skills, and maybe more important than any of those challenges, an ability to control your emotions.
When we add into the equation the advanced engineering that is common with modern equipment, the game we see on TV has changed dramatically. Some will argue for the better, others worry it has devolved into a video game-show that in no way reflects the experience of millions of everyday amateur golfers flailing away on municipal courses across the country.
In that sense, golf as a sport, is already bifurcated. Meaning there are two golf realities: The virtually unreal version people watch on TV. Then there is the game people actually play. That is OK because fans enjoy seeing such ‘what could be’ rather than ‘what is’ while sitting on their sofa.
It is estimated that roughly 12% of the fans that watch professional golf on TV actually play the game. So they have expectations that may not align with active players who know how difficult the sport really is.
Lets face it, professional golf and amateur golf were never the same game. But amateurs pretend it is. They want to experience something like what they see on TV. But it is getting harder rather than easier. Would anyone suggest that playing a $6 per ball Titleist Pro-V1 is really going to lower their handicap? Give us weaklings 325 yard drives? Come on, man!
The single most impactful equipment innovation in golf was the introduction of The Big Bertha driver developed by Ely Calloway. Coming off the innovative Howard Head designed Prince Oversized Tennis Racket that increased the sweet spot on the strings back in the late 70’ and early 80’s, Calloway reasoned everyday players would flock to buy a club that made hitting it longer and straighter much easier.
From that prototype we now have 450cc sized heads made of exotic carbon and titanium coming from almost all club makers. Most everyday golfers have seen improvement in their tee shots. Even with technological improvements, the truth is, overall scoring averages, both pro and amateur, are relatively stagnant. In the past twenty five years we have seen remarkable feats, more 59’s, lowering handicaps at clubs, but we must also understand that golfers themselves are refining their bodies with specialized exercises, using video slow-mo training and ball speed measuring devices, and spending more time playing than past generations. Achieving statistical advances is a normal process in every sport.
Meantime, course designers and remodelers are lengthening the holes, adding more hazards, and increasing green fees. I would argue that all of these so-called enhancements are making the everyday player suffer. But they are the backbone of the sport!
The question of equipment bifurcation (dividing the golf ball into two different specifications) to bring it back into conformity with what the golf courses were designed to challenge, is worthwhile. I used to enjoy rooting for smaller players like Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green and Cory Pavin. They had to employ different tactics to attack longer courses. Lately, all we see are guys crushing 9 irons into 225 yard par three greens.
The little guy, the quiet, unassuming, but highly skilled short game golfer is no more.
“It just seems like the average golfer now is just a bigger, better athlete than they were seven to 10 years ago. There’s not a lot of guys that are under six feet tall. I saw something the other day where the average height of the PGA Tour had gone up like four inches or something like that. Guys are bigger. Guys that would have been piddling around in minor league baseball are out here hitting 320 yards now.”
-- Pro Golfer Brian Harman ( 5’7”)
So, as far as putting a governor on the balls pros play? No, I think that would mean we would have to put an asterisk next to every record ever achieved in the future. Let the Big Dogs eat. The fans are loving what they are seeing, so the Show Must Go On. As for the rest of us? That is another thing altogether.
I would like to see a golf ball that would only serve us recreational players.
The ones who play on weekends with a few friends, or with our wives.. A ball me and my friends can play in our skins games, our afternoon Nassau competitions. Something we can all benefit from. A ball we could hit 300 yards off the tee. Why not? The pros don’t need more distance to improve their experience, but most of us do! Imaging getting more opportunities to putt for birdies and eagles. More opportunities to hit longer par threes because we can hit an 8 iron instead of a 5 iron.
Why not? We can go on vacation and tackle the great Championship Courses designed by Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Tom Weiskopf and hundreds of older courses recently remodeled to be longer than originally designed. Torrey Pines, the iconic oceanside resort course in San Diego, has been remodeled in recent years. It was a tough course for amateurs before, but now it is brutally difficult.
If a player is out for a fun day, not keeping his score for handicapping purposes, why shouldn’t he/she play what I would dub The Turbo Ball?
Give me one good reason why not?
True bifurcation would be giving less talented and dedicated golfers a leg up. Don’t “handicap” the pros, they are doing what other sports have done: they are using technology and physical developments to raise the bar just like automakers do in NASCAR and Open Wheel racing. Just like sail boat racers, swimmers, and even baseball players benefit from improved materials, mechanical and digital scoring systems, we spectators all enjoy better and more accurate results.
The golf world needs to look at this issue differently.
Instead of lengthening and tricking up existing courses, catering to the smallest portion of the golfing public (pros and low handicappers) golf course operators should let players who are only out for fun, experience golf like the best players in the world. If they are not playing in organized tournament competition, just relaxing and playing games amongst friends, why not allow technology to give them a better chance to play great courses the way they were meant to be played?
Hey USGA Rules Committee, are you listening?