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USGA and R&A - Distance Rollback Proposals

baylrballa said:
Also, what grounds could you possibly sue on?

Why haven't metal bat manufacturers bankrupted MLB?
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This is a thread about golf. There's probably a baseball thread somewhere on THP.
 
I recently read an article by, i think, Brandel Chamblee (who i do not always agree with). He had some interesting ideas and metrics to (seemingly) back it up. His thought, rather than dial back the ball or driver was to simply deal with it using the tools that the superintendents have in their arsenal and that being the mowers and agronomy and bunkers. Longer fairway grass to prevent excessive roll, longer greens to rid us of the pool table - like putting surfaces. I mean, look back at the greens in the 60's and 70's and they were much longer/slower than the greens of today, so it's not like they've always been 12+ on the stimpmeter..... just something we've been told that we need. (like longer flight balls and more advantageous club design.) Using the course to try and limit distance would let players like us keep what we have (I need all the help i can get) and the pro's would just have to deal with it. They're pro's... they ought to be able to)

it's obvious that the vast majority of existing courses are at their limits (size-wise) or near it. If "Golf" isn't going to deal with it via equipment, the only other way is to use agronomy and mowers in such a fashion that the course itself does what it can to battle difference. Outside Elon Musk developing a way to selectively affect gravity in a given section of the earth, there doesn't seem to be another way around the distance issue.
 
blugold said:
Jack Nicklaus is bad for golf.

There, I said it.
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Jack the spokesmen and record holder, not Jack the Golfer. Jack the golfer would have fought against this.
 
If I was a rival tour with some serious dollars.... this would be something I would bring up in my pitch to top tier players....
 
Water and grow the fairways = shorter drives.
 
Kmench said:
Water and grow the fairways = shorter drives.
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This is the most "no ****" thing ever.

Also, Rory hit 43% of fairways this week and finished in the top 20. Maybe, just MAYBE, they need to spend a bit more time making courses more difficult and stop trying to cheap their way into higher scores by screwing with equipment.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
Jack the spokesmen and record holder, not Jack the Golfer. Jack the golfer would have fought against this.
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I take Jack about as seriously with his hot takes on golf equipment as I do Gary Player on his environmental hot takes.

They need to quit while they are ahead (spoiler: they won't).
 
Please leave everything as is. No need for driver COR adjustments or detuning golf balls. Pro golfers are pro golfers because they are most excellent (most of the time) in their tradecraft and fitness. But I do ponder how Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Trevino etc. etc in their prime would compare distance wise if they have had today’s equipment. I would guess the margin is fairly small.
 
NVGOLFER80 said:
Jack the spokesmen and record holder, not Jack the Golfer. Jack the golfer would have fought against this.
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THIS. If it was his era, he’d throw a fit, but we are seeing him get grumpier with age.
 
Canadan said:
This is the most "no ****" thing ever.

Also, Rory hit 43% of fairways this week and finished in the top 20. Maybe, just MAYBE, they need to spend a bit more time making courses more difficult and stop trying to cheap their way into higher scores by screwing with equipment.
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Agronomy is the solution. Always has been.
 
“This problem obviously didn’t happen overnight, and we’re not looking to solve it overnight,” said Mike Davis, USGA CEO. “But we are looking to solve it.”
 
Is this like when you go to pick up your score card they hand you a sleeve of balls that you have to play for the round? "You'll play these balls and like it!"
 
The only thing I saw that I would definitely agree with is USGA tightening the tolerance on the CT testing. It was likened in GD as, currently the speed limit is 65, and you get fined going 72. tightening the tolerance would get you fined going 67.
 
They need to get old golfer commentators who can’t stop talking about distance out of the booth. I’m sure that would help. Replace them with former top pros like Rickie, Jordan, and Phil.
 
baylrballa said:
make the pros all play the same (rolled-back) ball.

change this ball week to week.

don't tell them the specs of the ball beforehand.

don't touch the equipment.
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I like this. I'd also add that pros not in the top 50 owgr should have to play in a Monday/Tuesday qualifier for a Thursday tournament start.
 
The problem with simply raising the mower blades is that with the longer players, they can play target golf. The biggest area of improvement to diminish distance is to make a course more penal when missing.
 
captaincaution said:
The only thing I saw that I would definitely agree with is USGA tightening the tolerance on the CT testing. It was likened in GD as, currently the speed limit is 65, and you get fined going 72. tightening the tolerance would get you fined going 67.
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I would agree there, but we both know that the change wouldn’t be that common sensical, it’ll be extreme and stupid.
 
Canadan said:
Maybe, just MAYBE, they need to spend a bit more time making courses more difficult and stop trying to cheap their way into higher scores by screwing with equipment.
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Didn't they try that for the 2020 U.S. Open and it backfired?
 
JB said:
The problem with simply raising the mower blades is that with the longer players, they can play target golf. The biggest area of improvement to diminish distance is to make a course more penal when missing.
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But target golf fixes their made up distance problem if the rough is an actual deterrent, no?
 
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