We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Super Tuesday - Golf Edition - How Would You Change the Game

flog2424

flog2424

Philippians 4:13
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Messages
5,234
Reaction score
75
Location
Atlanta, GA
Handicap
2.9
In the midst of Super Tuesday.... Lets say you are running for Golfing President of the World. You have three things you have to pass to make "Golf Great Again". What are the three ideals that you run on?

For me:

1)Make Golf More Affordable
2)Make Golf Faster through better Golfing Education
3)Continue to grow the game through Youth Programs as a majority of the golfing community is over the age of 40
 
flog2424 said:
In the midst of Super Tuesday.... Lets say you are running for Golfing President of the World. You have three things you have to pass to make "Golf Great Again". What are the three ideals that you run on?

For me:

1)Make Golf More Affordable
2)Make Golf Faster through better Golfing Education
3)Continue to grow the game through Youth Programs as a majority of the golfing community is over the age of 40
Click to expand...

I mean you hit the top three that came to my mind on the head. I honestly can't think of anything else.
 
I think there are a few rules changes that might help.

Change OOB to 1 stroke and drop nearest relief (like lateral hazard).

Preferred lies in own fairway (many clubs have maintenance issues)

Relief from footprints in bunkers.

I am concerned about the cost issue. Golf is expensive but if it is made much less expensive will we over crowd courses and slow play even more?
 
I would take a strong stance on pace of play, targeting the right people, not handicaps (dumb).

There would be a push for a higher number of executive style courses or 'short' courses for families to enjoy as a great place to start their kids into the game, with goals to reduce costs through various programs so more kids can get involved in total.

The rulebook would get a heavy audit to change that which is currently ridiculous (balls played out of divots, balls played out of footprints, lateral OB, etc etc)
 
1) Teach everyone the proper way to repair ball marks on the green.

2) Teach everyone to play ready golf

3) Teach everyone to properly fill their divots with sand

4) Simplify the rule book, use common sense in the rules.

on a side note I see many people say make golf affordable, I think that is a relative term, I think most of us want to play nice courses, and we have to realize now days it is very expensive for a course to keep thinks in great condition. If people want to play average conditions I think golf is affordable. I remember paying $25 green fees in the 80's for courses that were not in great shape you can play same course now for $30 I wish all of our inflation was that low.
 
Wow, your list was great! Time, money, growth and maybe simplify it a bit. Way to complicated in terms of rules, we need to make it more fun for the beginner. After they reach a certain skill level, if they so choose, they can pay attention to the rules. Until then enjoy the time and people and forget about the score!!
 
1. Have the pros start playing ready golf. If they start doing it, everyone will.
2. Allow the pros to wear shorts in tournaments over 80 degrees.
3. Allow the relaxed rules of golf to be used for all amateurs for handicapping purposes.
 
It was so weird moving to OH from CA golf course wise. I would totally say golf needed to be more affordable in CA but here in Ohio I don't think it is much of an issue. I guess that is the price break for only getting golf weather 9 months of the year

Would love to see the rule book changed up to be simple, OB as lateral ect.
Under 4 hours for a weekend round would be nice as well.
 
A tutorial for all fans attending the events on how to not be a tool.
 
Being an old school guy, I would do what I could to dial back the ball and clubs. The added distance from the ball and clubs have made the game slower, courses have to be longer, and made the pro game one dimensional. I would return the game back to its roots where the emphasis is on shot making and not on bomb and wedge.

That's just me.
 
Better balls and clubs have made the game slower? Color me confused
 
1. Simplify the rules
2. Create more environments for golfers with time constraints - par 3 courses, TopGolf, etc and give them more support from the visible golf leadership.
3. If I were Golf President there's no way I wouldn't executive-order myself into each and every THP event on the calendar.
 
cbaker2882 said:
Better balls and clubs have made the game slower? Color me confused
Click to expand...


I never said better, I said longer. With handicaps unchanged, shots go farther off line - deeper into the rough, woods, OB, hazard, etc.
 
A set of amateur rules to speed up the pace of play and take into account that we actually spend money to play ... clubs aren't just given to us to game and endorse. For instance, OOB is a two stroke penalty and you drop where you approximate it went OOB. Also, drops without penalty around tree roots, allowed to remove rocks out of sand traps, etc.
 
We're talking about changing the game, right? Not about adding more facilities.

1. You can repair ball marks on the greens, but you can't repair spike marks. Change that rule so you can repair spike marks as well.

2. The hole was originally designed around the British sized ball which was slightly smaller than the American sized ball. The size of the hole is currently 4.25". The rules on ball size has been agreed to be the American standard. Also green speeds have gotten a lot faster over the years, but most courses have not redesigned their greens due to costs. Let's enlarge the hole to 5" in diameter. This will have minimal impact on the overall skill required to play the game, but I think that it might speed play on the greens by making 3' - 6' putts a little easier to make. It will have little if any impact on putts longer than that.

3. Add more tees. Many courses still only have 3 sets of tees. There needs to be at least four to five sets of tees. One at 46-4800 yds; another at 5200 yds; another around 5700 yds; another around 6200 yds; and another around 6600 yds. in addition to the pro-tournament tees at 7300 yds or longer on the biggest courses.

Next really push the Tee It Forward campaign and how players can benefit. I think the average approach shot into the average par 4 should be an 8 or 9 iron regardless from where you hit it. It's still a challenging shot to get it on the green and not drop it in the bunker. There are par 4 holes that are longer than average and will require a 7 or 6 iron. There are par 4 holes that are shorter and you'll hit a wedge. Have some fun. Golf, while it's hard to play well, isn't supposed to be so difficult that it's a chore.

One thing people have to understand about the professional game is that it is very different than the amateur game. The long hitters on the PGA tour are taking out a 9 iron from 160 yds. They're taking out pitching wedges from 145 yds. Some of us are taking out 8 irons from 150 yds. Some of us are taking out 6 irons from 160 yds.
 
57Staff said:
I never said better, I said longer. With handicaps unchanged, shots go farther off line - deeper into the rough, woods, OB, hazard, etc.
Click to expand...

Going to have to highly disagree with that. You'd have an extremely hard time getting me to believe new technology in balls and clubs are slowing down play in any way shape or form. I also don't agree with new tech in clubs causing shots to go further off line.

But we're all entitled to our opinions, so that's fine as well and no point arguing about it if that's how you feel. Just an interesting viewpoint to me.
 
1. Simplify the rule book
2. Increase minority and youth participation
 
57Staff said:
I never said better, I said longer. With handicaps unchanged, shots go farther off line - deeper into the rough, woods, OB, hazard, etc.
Click to expand...

Which is off set by the golf balls. Ballata golf balls curved miles compared to modern ones.
 
Divots would be ground under repair (which it is) so you would get relief.
You would be able to fix marks on the green including spike marks not just pitch marks (a bad spot is a bad spot).

Get SERIOUS about pace of play. It is not just the people, the courses are mostly to blame with long walks between holes, blind shots, big doglegs etc.

Square grooves would be back giving you the choice of either square or v.

Nothing would change with OB shots. You can not reward the distance because you can't hit it straight.

Re-write the Rules of Golf. Go back about 80 years. Make it simple. Play it as it lies most of the time.

Don't set club limits and make the rules only because of what the world class players are doing on the course. They make up only 0.01% of the worlds golfers. Consider the other 99.9% for once. If it takes "Tour Only" rules and balls, than so be it (there already is = groove rule). A tour only ball would go a long way to level the field between the 0.01% and the 99.9%.

Allow shorts on all tours. Men have been wearing shorts to play for years everywhere, everyday. It is 2016 not 1916.
 
I jokingly posted a few days ago about making the golf rule book one page long. As I sit here and ponder it a little more, what at first seemed like a silly thought, now is starting to make a little more sense.

Let me start by my first premise: the game is scored by the player, with an understanding that he/she will be honest in recording what they shot. If indeed it is so, then what are the rules for? To basically say you can move the ball under this circumstance, or not under that circumstance to keep you from gaining an unfair advantage over your opponent.

Now, my rules would be so simple, you couldn't mess them up. If you have a shot where you have an unfortunate lie, you simply have your competitor or playing partner come over and make the following judgement: You can move the ball, without penalty (let's use one club length for a generic distance) OR you can move the ball, but you have to take a penalty stroke, OR you have to play it where it lies.

The game itself will decide whether your opponent/playing partner decides what your course of action will be. If you are playing for money, he may decide to stymie you. If it's a casual round, he may tell you to move it, without penalty. Now, remember, you will get to call his actions as well. So it adds a little option of gamesmanship in there.

The beauty of my (admittedly goofy) rules will speed up the game, make it more fun by taking a little bit of the penalty away from errant shots, and really get it back to the roots of hitting a rock around a field as the game was in it's infancy.

I can't really envision Young Tom Morris debating whether an ant is a burrowing animal.
 
1) ban the world "golf" from ever being used as a verb or adverb
2) lift the ban on anchored putting contingent upon an eternal ban on hightop golf shoes
3) lifetime membership to augusta national golf club free of dues or assessments for all future golf presidents starting with my election with a provision to sunset upon the expiration of my term

seriously, the biggest thing i would campaign on is bifurcation of the rules, and creation of learning centers subsidized by funding from all major governing bodies to include quality, low-cost instruction, access to clubs to be "rented" like library books, and quality practice areas.
 
All of mine would be pace of play related

1.) remove alignment aid print from golf balls and make it illegal to draw a line on the ball. Way too much time is spent (especially on tour) aligning the ball before a putt

2.) revise the rule book in a way it's understood by everyone, including someone learning the rules for the first time

3.) Ready golf. Ready golf. Ready golf. Not many people understand exactly what ready golf means
 
1. Allow repair of spike marks on the green.
2. Allow to move ball out of divot (including sand filled) in fairway.
3. Anyone who yells "in the hole" at any event is to be immediately incarcerated and beat severely (not necessarily in that order).
 
Limit golf rounds to 4.5 hours, max.

Divots in the fairway are "ground under repair" and relief is granted appropriately.

Allow shorts on the professional golf tours.

Different rules re: OB for tournaments than for non-tournament play.
 
Faster rounds.

6-foot wide gimme circles so no one has to putt from 3 feet unless pro tournament play. Anyone who chooses to putt inside the circle will need to keep counting until the ball is holed.

Casual wear everyday unless it's a tournament.

Fitness, golf swing and diet centers to help us hackers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top