A lot has been said about the USGA Distance project, and many would agree that tour based distance has become a bit of a problem.
Do you believe we can alter the design of a course to accommodate the new rather significant numbers being projected by the 'new' PGA Tour golfer? Here are a couple potentially viable solutions that would make distance be a bit more difficult to achieve;
- More doglegs, with impossible cutoffs
- Crazy tight fairways at a certain distance
- Bunkers or water at a certain distance
- Angled fairways at a certain distance (which at tour firmness would launch most balls into rough)
- Set up uneven lies or basically fairway moguls at a certain distance
I agree with you in principle, but I don't really want to watch the tour playing what could be considered clown golf. I think these could be done in a very understated way and be effective. Look at this weeks event. Sure the greens had everyone confused. More 3 and 4 putts than you will see the rest of the year. But, the course was tight and playable at the same time.
It was a very good balance of risk and reward. Also, accurate shots to the fairway should be rewarded. Setting up fairways to essentially be a penalty because if you it it too far and it kicks the ball into the rough is not a good set up in my mind.
I think the model for course set up should be Royal Melborne. Not every course can effectively do what they did at the Presidents cup, but that was great golf. It also was not overly tight or tricked up.