Can the PGA tour be coed?

Space Bandito

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I've been thinking about this for a while, and before you give a resounding no, hear me out.

If the PGA tour were to dial back their tournament courses to <7000 yards, and play more parkland style courses with forced layups and dog legs, rather than moving to more and more ridiculously long tracks in an effort to prevent certain players from simply over powering, I think it could possibly level the playing field for men and women to play together.

e.g. on a 450 yard par 4, it's 275 to the end of the fairway before a hazard of sharp dog leg. Minjee Lee can hit a driver if she wants (265.764 yards avg) where as Rory Mcilroy maybe hits a 3 iron. At the end of the day they both have roughly 175 to the green. The course style prevents the long hitters from over powering the tee shot, and going driver/wedge on every hole where some of the ladies may be hitting driver/7 iron.

Some of the benefits in this scenario seem to far outweigh the encumbrance:

1. The LPGA gets a heck of a lot more of the spotlight (this is huge in my book)
2. Companies can stop selling "distance." If driving the ball 350 yards is no longer important on tour, R&D can focus on the finesse aspect of the game
3. No more talk about dialing back the golf ball. It just wouldn't be necessary if you're not overpowering the course.
4. Great, shorter, courses that have been taken out of the rotation over the years can make a come back.
5. No more of this garbage bifurcation talk. If courses on tour play similarly to the course we play at home, we all get to play the game the way it suits us best using the same equipment and tech.


So what do you think? I know there's more to it, but let's start a discussion here.


Bonus talking point* is it something you want to see?
 
I don't think you need to reconstruct courses (or re-choose) just move the tees. I've always wished they'd put together a few mixed field events. It would be interesting.
 
for an exhibition event every now and then, sure. as a regular or even replacement of existing tournament, definitely not. it's good for the game to watch the men hit the ball a long way. it keeps us interested, and it sells equipment. there are so many better ways to manage scores.
 
I think its a great idea for a single tournament every year, could be a spectacle for both tours if they did it right, but regularly, no.
 
It might be fun to watch once or twice a year. I think the men would find a way to over power the course, going over trees or maybe hitting to the next fairway.
 
I'd support it
 
Once a year would be doable. Most don't realize than the PGA Tour players are not only longer than the women, but their short games are much better as well. LPGA Pros don't putt, play sand shots, or get up and down nearly as well as the men do.
 
Honest question, how are the courses on the lpga tour set up in regards to rough length, green speed, etc?
 
I would be in favor of this for a few events a year.
 
huhhh;n8887103 said:
I don't think you need to reconstruct courses (or re-choose) just move the tees. I've always wished they'd put together a few mixed field events. It would be interesting.

I think this brings in the problem of giving a big advantage to the men, who have statistically longer games. You can't shorten a course to be playable to shorter hitters, while the long hitters are attempting to drive every green.
 
So the men would not be able to hit more than 4 iron...………..yawn
 
I would watch an event like this. I don't think I watched a single LPGA event until the British Open this year. But came away with a real appreciation and enjoyment from watching them play. This could be a good way to make a more level playing field. However, I'm not sure the LPGA has the depth of players that the PGA does, so I'd add a twist. Each day they play a different course. Day 1 & 2 shotgun start to reduce weather change issues. I'm sure there are plenty of locations that would have a variety of course styles that could make for very interesting test of overall golf skills.
 
Snickerdog;n8887126 said:
It might be fun to watch once or twice a year. I think the men would find a way to over power the course, going over trees or maybe hitting to the next fairway.

I feel like there are simple ways to avoid that - a few rule changes to make it a fair game.
 
Leftyuk;n8887207 said:
So the men would not be able to hit more than 4 iron...………..yawn

Why wouldn't they be able to use whatever they felt was best for the hole?

Maybe guys like Cameron Champ would use fewer drivers and 3 woods per round, but so what? PGA tour driving average is around 290. Lots of guys would still hit long clubs.
 
McLovin;n8887104 said:
for an exhibition event every now and then, sure. as a regular or even replacement of existing tournament, definitely not. it's good for the game to watch the men hit the ball a long way. it keeps us interested, and it sells equipment. there are so many better ways to manage scores.

But don't you think there would still be risk/reward opportunities for the longer hitters on some holes? That would be a lot more fun to watch if there was risk involved. Especially in a close tournament.
 
tahoebum;n8887147 said:
Once a year would be doable. Most don't realize than the PGA Tour players are not only longer than the women, but their short games are much better as well. LPGA Pros don't putt, play sand shots, or get up and down nearly as well as the men do.

The difference is sand save percentage (the top 10 in the category, for each respective tour) is 3.26% Hardly a deterring factor.
 
My opinion on why it could never be done on a regular basis? It would make the LPGA look horrible. Especially on the greens. And if anybody thinks the PGA Tour has an issue with slow play, let Bryson, JB Holmes and Jordan Spieth play in front and the other tour might not catch them.
 
JB;n8887241 said:
My opinion on why it could never be done on a regular basis? It would make the LPGA look horrible. Especially on the greens. And if anybody thinks the PGA Tour has an issue with slow play, let Bryson, JB Holmes and Jordan Spieth play in front and the other tour might not catch them.

This is an excellent point. Do you think, perhaps, down the road somewhere, it could ever just be a combined tour? Not LPGA/PGA, but just PGA? Obviously, things like pace need to be addressed across the board, but the stigma of making the LPGA look bad would go away.

It would force players to be their absolute best in every aspect (including pace) in order to remain relevant.
 
It's a fine idea, but it brings up a problem I have with Ladies tees to begin with.

In your example, both are 175 away. But the clubs the players need to hit to make that 175 are different, and harder for the LPGA player.

This is why I have a problem with ladies tees. Many are jsut set up to even out the driving distance, but second shot, men will generally be hitting a shorter club, so how much did the tees help?
 
pmm21;n8887270 said:
This is an excellent point. Do you think, perhaps, down the road somewhere, it could ever just be a combined tour? Not LPGA/PGA, but just PGA? Obviously, things like pace need to be addressed across the board, but the stigma of making the LPGA look bad would go away.

It would force players to be their absolute best in every aspect (including pace) in order to remain relevant.

No. They wouldn't remain relevant. They would finish near the bottom of the pack every week. Equality is a wonderful thing in theory, but there are things that are just...different. You are adding 700-1500 yards to their courses, speeding up some greens and overall it is a different game. Could some make the cut every now and then? Of course. We have seen that before and I am sure will again.

Could a tour exist with everybody intermingled? Not without the female side of it looking poorly week in and week out, and I don't think anybody wants that.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing an exhibition or coed team event, but as a straight head to head weekend event? No, I don't think this would make good TV or be very favorable to many of the women on tour. The distance the men play is too much to overcome.
 
fuffle master;n8887454 said:
I wouldn't mind seeing an exhibition or coed team event, but as a straight head to head weekend event? No, I don't think this would make good TV or be very favorable to many of the women on tour. The distance the men play is too much to overcome.

My argument for this is to stop playing super long courses. It's the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph. Avg. LPGA tour length is 6600 yards, avg. PGA tour length is 7200. So if you made the avg. 6800 or so, and made it not overtake-able, length shouldn't be an issue.
 
baylrballa;n8887148 said:
Honest question, how are the courses on the lpga tour set up in regards to rough length, green speed, etc?

Their courses are much shorter. I think the longest they play (this is me not really looking it up) is like 68-7000 yards. Average is around 6600. Their rough isn’t nearly as penal typically. The greens are slower and the pin placements not as extreme or diverse. Not to say they aren’t good. Obviously they are. But on a pga set up very few would perform well consistently. Even if they kept the length the same but mirrored the green complexes the women would have a very rough go at it.
 
pmm21;n8887611 said:
My argument for this is to stop playing super long courses. It's the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph. Avg. LPGA tour length is 6600 yards, avg. PGA tour length is 7200. So if you made the avg. 6800 or so, and made it not overtake-able, length shouldn't be an issue.

No but green speeds/hole locations/firmness/etc would have to remain the same as the current pga events or else the men still run away with it with no looking back.
 
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