It's time to regulate equipment.

dompip57

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At 68 I could say I have lots of swings under my belt. Years ago down at 7 handicap with the old wood woods and steel shaft irons. And included in my bag of 14 clubs was a 1 iron.
Baseball requires balls, bats, and other equipment must adhere to size requirements. Much the same with other sports.
But golf. No. The increase in club face in particular I believe has altered the game in an negative way. Back in the day a 280 yard drive on target with a small faced wooden drivers was a challenge. It meant your swing was on point. But be off just a "hair" spells disaster. Clubs today are forgiving.
I'd love to see a pro tournament where say 1970's equipment is used. Be interesting. Those 470 yard par 4's would be a real challenge.
Bring it on!
 
At 68 I could say I have lots of swings under my belt. Years ago down at 7 handicap with the old wood woods and steel shaft irons. And included in my bag of 14 clubs was a 1 iron.
Baseball requires balls, bats, and other equipment must adhere to size requirements. Much the same with other sports.
But golf. No. The increase in club face in particular I believe has altered the game in an negative way. Back in the day a 280 yard drive on target with a small faced wooden drivers was a challenge. It meant your swing was on point. But be off just a "hair" spells disaster. Clubs today are forgiving.
I'd love to see a pro tournament where say 1970's equipment is used. Be interesting. Those 470 yard par 4's would be a real challenge.
Bring it on!

Welcome to the forums!

There are already rules/regulation on the clubs, their designs, and their use. Balls have to be a specific size and weight, driver faces can only provide so much energy back to the ball, etc. Are you saying they need to be stricter?
 
What equipment isn't regulated?
 
Same as the previous remarks above. What isn’t regulated in golf? There is an entire section in the USGA handbook that has all these requirements in a single spot.
 
Welcome to THP. Like has been said if you're competing in an event, your golf equipment must conform to established standards.
 
























I mean, welcome to the forum, and what they ^ said. :)
 
I dunno.... everything these days seems to be trending towards faster, farther... easier...

I understand “better” equipment and longer, straighter balls may take frustration out of the game, but it also seems to take a bit of the quest to overcome the intricacies of golf out of the equation (as compared to years ago)

I’m, in no way, what anyone would consider a good golfer, but having played for over 40 years, I am a traditionalist. Still appreciate the days of butter knife skinny top lines on the irons and the anxiety they induced

I bust out my 1983 Titleist blades and persimmon woods a couple of times a year to remind myself of what the game used to be like and the challenges those older clubs afforded

Do I appreciate a nice new set of cavity backs and a proV ? Absolutely.

Do I think I’m playing the same game I did as a kid? Nope.
 
I dunno.... everything these days seems to be trending towards faster, farther... easier...

I understand “better” equipment and longer, straighter balls may take frustration out of the game, but it also seems to take a bit of the quest to overcome the intricacies of golf out of the equation (as compared to years ago)

I’m, in no way, what anyone would consider a good golfer, but having played for over 40 years, I am a traditionalist. Still appreciate the days of butter knife skinny top lines on the irons and the anxiety they induced

I bust out my 1983 Titleist blades and persimmon woods a couple of times a year to remind myself of what the game used to be like and the challenges those older clubs afforded

Do I appreciate a nice new set of cavity backs and a proV ? Absolutely.

Do I think I’m playing the same game I did as a kid? Nope.

But average scores/handicaps haven't gone down. So how is the game getting "easier"?
 
 
Golf is a very regulated game - every piece of equipment has to pass strict controls and adhere to established rules.

That said, I just looked at average handicaps again. Seems Golf Digest had an article about this back in 2017 as well. They wrote that amateur mens handicaps dropped about 2 strokes from 1991 to 2016, while tour pro scores dropped from 71.50 to 71.12. While amateurs are improving, the pro game is not quite seeing the same result.

So perhaps there is a smidge of rationale behind the OP's comment that golf clubs are getting more forgiving, thus allowing for better scores? Even if that is the case, I do think that there are other improvements that would have contributed; such as changes to coaching techniques, training aids, general fitness, and other technology (like laser range finders or Arcoss).
 
I dunno.... everything these days seems to be trending towards faster, farther... easier...

I understand “better” equipment and longer, straighter balls may take frustration out of the game, but it also seems to take a bit of the quest to overcome the intricacies of golf out of the equation (as compared to years ago)
It's always been this way though. I'm pretty sure Allan Robertson (widely regarded as the first professional golfer) said the same thing about the gutta percha making the game too easy vs. the old feathery. Probably right before he told Old Tom Morris that he would fire him if he saw him using one, which he did.

The game, ball, clubs, courses, and rules have all changed throughout the years like they do in many other sports. They have put regulations in place already, no need to roll things back and make it any harder than it already is. We are getting a lot of new people into the game or back from long hiatuses with covid. Most of these are probably still struggling with learning the game and they want to make it harder on them. Why? It will just drive people away and will hurt the game of golf.
 
I mean I would love it if everyone had to go back to old clubs and play golf the right way......


















.....except for me, I'm keeping my thundersticks! I need the help, sorry (not really).
 
At 68 I could say I have lots of swings under my belt. Years ago down at 7 handicap with the old wood woods and steel shaft irons. And included in my bag of 14 clubs was a 1 iron.
Baseball requires balls, bats, and other equipment must adhere to size requirements. Much the same with other sports.
But golf. No. The increase in club face in particular I believe has altered the game in an negative way. Back in the day a 280 yard drive on target with a small faced wooden drivers was a challenge. It meant your swing was on point. But be off just a "hair" spells disaster. Clubs today are forgiving.
I'd love to see a pro tournament where say 1970's equipment is used. Be interesting. Those 470 yard par 4's would be a real challenge.
Bring it on!
This is a great get off my lawn start to THP!! It would be fun to have a 9 hole match to see what it would be like but I do not want to go back to playing a driver the size of a 3 wood.
 
At 68 I could say I have lots of swings under my belt. Years ago down at 7 handicap with the old wood woods and steel shaft irons. And included in my bag of 14 clubs was a 1 iron.
Baseball requires balls, bats, and other equipment must adhere to size requirements. Much the same with other sports.
But golf. No. The increase in club face in particular I believe has altered the game in an negative way. Back in the day a 280 yard drive on target with a small faced wooden drivers was a challenge. It meant your swing was on point. But be off just a "hair" spells disaster. Clubs today are forgiving.
I'd love to see a pro tournament where say 1970's equipment is used. Be interesting. Those 470 yard par 4's would be a real challenge.
Bring it on!
Respectfully the governing bodies have written the conforming specifications. Now they are trying to roll it back. The answer is agronomy, lets roll the agronomy back and see how that works. This argument is ridiculous. However it could be fun to see a 9 hole exhibition using pre 1980’s equipment or even further.
 
Certain aspects of the game are easier than in years past, but you still have to execute the shot and put the ball in the hole. That part of the game is just as difficult than years past!!
 
what a great first post...you are going to be very popular here :ROFLMAO:

I'm guessing a little troll action is going on but still fun to read the posts coming from it
 
Plenty of rules and regulations regarding equipment. I for one have no desire to give up a more forgiving driver, (which by the way conforms to USGA regulations).
 
If I want to hit a 280 yard drive straight down the middle, even with today’s modern clubs, my swing has to be on point LOL.
 
Which regular forum member created this account for a little action? Come clean!
 
Play the game that suits you best. If you want to play hickory and feather balls....that can happen. I'm good with forgiving, performing clubs that make the game enjoyable for me.
 
t having played for over 40 years, I am a traditionalist. Still appreciate the days of butter knife skinny top lines on the irons and the anxiety they induced

Those clubs are still out there. Have it 'em. No one tells you want to play but you. Unless you mean people being forced to play them as a whole for lack of other options.
 
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