Anyone else watching the daylong Arnold Palmer

tequila4kapp

Tom Watson called to say “Hi”
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stuff on Golf Channel?

These All Star golf shows are kind of interesting. They were broadcast in the late 50's. Man, things have changed in nearly 60 years:

Black and white broadcast with no more than two cameras. "Graphics" are an artist's rendition of the hole with white dots showing where shots went.

People driving and parking their cars on the course.

The agronomy.

Distance. Palmer is in his late 20s. Most of his drives are between 250 and 280. Long par 4s are 415 yards.

Approach shots. Nobody is spinning the ball and attacking the flag. It's all about landing it short and rolling it up. It is rare to have a ball stop inside 5 feet.
 
I love watching these older shows. I'd much rather watch this than say a repeat of the 2016 Masters or the 2014 Open Championship. I watched it live less than 2 moths ago! Show me some golf from the 60's, 70's and 80's, stuff I haven't seen in years. I love seeing the greens rolling like a ball now does in the fairways and hitting a ball into trouble really means trouble. I love seeing the old swings and putting styles.
 
So true. The tee boxes almost look like a first cut of rough.

Driver distances are relative. They are hitting it 270ish on 400 yard par 4s (today it's 300+ on 450+ par 4s). What's really apparent to me is how "amateurish" they are on approach shots. They don't hit that many greens and certainly aren't attacking pins like we are used to seeing today. I wonder if that's where we see iron and ball technology at play?
 
So true. The tee boxes almost look like a first cut of rough.

Driver distances are relative. They are hitting it 270ish on 400 yard par 4s (today it's 300+ on 450+ par 4s). What's really apparent to me is how "amateurish" they are on approach shots. They don't hit that many greens and certainly aren't attacking pins like we are used to seeing today. I wonder if that's where we see iron and ball technology at play?

It looks to me also that putting is more about aim than speed. All the putts that they miss just end up being tap ins and don't just continue to roll another 20 feet past. Doesn't seem to be any "just tap it and roll halfway across the green".
 
I watched for a little while. He was an amazing man!
 
My favorite thing about these old broadcasts is the vast variety of swings and putting styles. These days most of the kids coming through seem to have the same motion and instruction.
 
I watched it for a while, but most of it I saw on TV live when I first started playing golf. AP was an icon back then and was until he passed this year.
 
I watched the 1960 Masters broadcast on YouTube last night. They breezed through the first round in about 10 minutes.

It was interesting to see all the bent over putting styles. Putters must have all been 32 inches or shorter.
 
I learned the game in the early 60's, using a set of forged, 1961 W/S dynapower irons. There was zero forgiveness in any of the forged irons back then, and the balls were just as finicky. I, for one, always enjoyed watching the top pro's hit their irons. I think they got the most out of their equipment at the time.
 
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