Fix The Distance Issue on Tour (w/o Altering Equipment)

[Canadan]

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

 

[SquirrelyDave]

Yeah. Pretty much any of these things.

 

[redneckwop]

I vote for bunkers & water at certain distances.

 

[jlew]

Yes I do believe you can— any of the ones you mention will work or they could stop making the fairways like a concrete parking lot...

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

Distance is a skill. If those things are placed for some, they should placed for all.

Golf is largely effected by conditions and sometimes conditions make a golf course too easy.

 

[BanjoSaysWoof]

How about a 13 club bag on tour, and only one can be a wood (driver or wood)?

Leave courses how they are (play around with rough depth Etc but no lengthening)

 

[billyh]

I think something as easy as tightening the fairways and not making them rock hard for 20+ yards of roll would be an easy fix. You don’t have to do much of course management to reduce the distance.

 

[kevin81002]

They already do alot to keep the bombers from having an advantage. Longer rough, tighter landing areas, etc etc. I don't think it's fair on the course designers or course owners to burden the responsibility of curing the distance issue alone. Just imagine the cost involved to alter the courses.

 

[MNMarc]

If the course has the space, keep backing the tee boxes up. There are a lot of casual players/members that play the public/private courses that hold PGA events and these types of players don’t need it any tougher by adding moguls, more bunkers, impossible doglegs etc...

 

[Snickerdog]

Just let the fairways grow a bit longer, not cut to 1/2 inch. Take out the speed slots.

 

[OldandStiff]

- 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'm for ones that make it harder, not impossible in a way that immediately levels the field. And water. I'm for water on grass and in soil, regularly.

 

[Thrillbilly Jim]

Just make the fairways tighter, the rough taller, reduce rollout with water/mower.

 

[Canadan]

Distance is a skill. If those things are placed for some, they should placed for all.

Golf is largely effected by conditions and sometimes conditions make a golf course too easy.

I've put quite a bit of thought into this, and here's where I stand...

If it is a skill, that would realistically mean that not only would the longer players have a shorter club off the tee, but also a shorter club into the green. To make some courses viable, it's not like the this has to occur at 300 yards. Probably a bit further.

 

[BigMac]

I dunno - the more I think about it, the more the whole thing starts to smell like the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality. An effort to level the playing field and negate any advantage the long drivers have. Maybe instead they should just measure every drive and DQ anybody who hits a drive longer than 275 yards in any PGA Tour competition. Or randomly choose distances and lies on every hole and let everybody hit their second shot from there. There, now everybody's equal off the tee and there are no hurt feelz, and they can leave the rest of us poor schmucks alone.

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

I've put quite a bit of thought into this, and here's where I stand...

If it is a skill, that would realistically mean that not only would the longer players have a shorter club off the tee, but also a shorter club into the green. To make some courses viable, it's not like the this has to occur at 300 yards. Probably a bit further.

Those things are very true. The driver is the easiest club to hit nowadays. I was just thinking they should have to hit clubs into the same width fairways and conditions.

It would be great to have courses like Royal Melbourne or the course for the Vic Open

 

[Tevenor]

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

"To much distance" didn't seem to be a huge problem this weekend at Riviera did it? I still maintain that distance by itself its not a problem. Increased distance being able to overpower courses resulting in significantly lower scores when the course has no other defense is the problem. Add in the ideas you have stated above, and scoring should normalize which removes the presumption that increased distance as the key indicator for success on tour.

Just look at Rory today for example. Hit the ball long. Couldn't putt.

 

[baylrballa]

Itd be like moving the basketball goal higher because more people are able to dunk easier.

 

[Sox_Fan]

2 and 4 with penal rough. Make hitting fairways a premium. If every tour course had US Open rough, the pros would be begging them to stop cutting the fairways so short to reduce roll out and give them a better chance of staying in the fairway.

 

[Flipit]

Easiest way I see is one ball for all PGA players. Lots of money to alter courses to accommodate one tournament a year.

 

[MWard]

They’re not scorching the grass off these courses just cause they’re hitting it 320. Honestly? Who cares. Give these guys options and they struggle. Give them a 500yd hole, they’re taking driver. Give them a 310yd hole with a tricky green, it’ll give them fits.

 

[aljaklaw]

 

[Tenputt]

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 think they should simply water the fairways and let them grow a little more to stop the 50 yard runout.

 

[Canadan]

I think they should simply water the fairways and let them grow a little more to stop the 50 yard runout.

I intentionally left that one off despite agreeing completely with you haha

 

[Tenputt]

Also, I keep going back to the thought that nobody was trying to penalize or reign in Jack Nicklaus in his hey day.

 

[Stemmy66]

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

You forgot the most obvious..... change the mower deck settings and the the sprinklers run a bit longer in the fairways to soften the course a bit.... But I like how you think! Genesis tourney the greens made it tough all week and I like seeing these guys struggle on the greens.... fast undulating greens with pins cut on slopes and downhills and tucked into spots that are tough to reach made it a challenge which was good to see.