400 yards

If the initial velocity of the golf ball is limited, by the rules, 170mph........

Why do we get ball speeds way above that..?
 
jim8flog said:
Balls are sent in for testing on a specific bit of kit and clearly some hit the ball harder than Iron Byron.
Click to expand...
Which shows, when people say that there are limits on ball speed, that they're talking out of their rear ends.
Whats the point in having a ball speed limit that gets broken the moment you hit it harder than the test machine.?
Its nonsensical
Its like saying the ball speed limit is 100 mph when you hit it at 50mph ..hit it at 60 and you get 110...worthless.
If the ball speed limit is 170mph then the ball speed limit should be 170mph..end of story.
Nobody gets to hit it 350 yards unless they're downhill with the wind behind.

In truth, the only people who need to worry about this is the Pros themselves.
Keep going the way it's going and, taking a snapshot of opinions on here, many, many people will switch off because its simply dull to watch.
If enough people switch off, the advertising revenue drops and if that drops far enough there won't be anyone willing or able to pay these multi million $/£/€ purses that get played for every week...
Personally, I dont care.
I watch, maybe, 2 or 3 events a year - Masters , Open, RC and maybe a couple of the Womens Majors...
It wouldn't end my world if I didn't watch golf on TV again.
Let them hit it 400+...in my opinion they're only, ultimately, harming themselves.
 
Despite watching less golf these days, I am watching the Italian Open this afternoon as I know one of the leaders from my former club. On the clubhouse wall was a cartoon depicting an incident when the pro concerned "drove through" a group of ladies who were putting out on the 12th. The 12th is 387 yards and slightly uphill, the green is out of view from the tee and the ball rolled onto the green without any great pace, but sufficient for the lad to be pulled up about it.

The commentators this afternoon were discussing the merits of the relative players, and the pro involved was described as probably the shortest hitter in the field; 387 yards uphill is a short hitter then? :unsure:

And people think golf hasn't got problem with distance? I'm not so sure...
 
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It's not just the Pros, it's all of us, we shouldn't be hitting the ball the distance it's hit now.

On the average course, on several par 4s, the average golfer will hit driver wedge, and expect to reach a few par 5s in two, if they're a decent striker they'll hit lots of wedges into par 4s and be able to reach most if not all par 5s in 2.
 
Crow said:
It's not just the Pros, it's all of us, we shouldn't be hitting the ball the distance it's hit now.

On the average course, on several par 4s, the average golfer will hit driver wedge, and expect to reach a few par 5s in two, if they're a decent striker they'll hit lots of wedges into par 4s and be able to reach most if not all par 5s in 2.
Click to expand...


But that's just not true is it. The average golfer has seen little gain in distance.
 
I don't think the average golfer hits hard enough to make the tech work as it could.
However, as I get older, my swing speed is getting slower, and yet I am not getting any shorter off the tee, so it is doing something.
 
Crow said:
We just have differing opinions then. :)
Click to expand...
Well , no one's a fact.
Modern tech like arcos and game golf are giving us stats from millions of shots by your average golfer and your view just doesn't stand up.

I'd venture the bigger gain is that the bad shots go further than they used to. I can hit my m2 off the tee and it still goes pretty good.
 
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drdel said:
If he can maintain enough accuracy over that distance then that is special. Good luck to the guy.
Click to expand...

But they don't, the issue is the advantage gained hitting out the rough with a wedge. They don't care if it is off line just that it's close enough to use pure power to get it on the green when off line
 
Crow said:
We just have differing opinions then. :)
Click to expand...

I agree with you, my son is 13, decent golfer lessons since he was 10. He can already hit his 3w 270 yards and his driver around 290. He is 5ft 8. he is gonna smash it all over the place and local courses will not cope and he is only just starting to really grow and size up. Scary for an amateur. He loves watching the big hitters and his focus is distance all the time. My role as his dad is to try and encourage him to also get with the short game and irons on to the green and that is currently working as I can still beat him and he can see having those shots in his armoury is worth it b ut once he hits it that far all he needs is a wedge that will go. But it's all about distance these days and personally I would like us to change that focus.
 
robinthehood said:
Well , no one's a fact.
Modern tech like arcos and game golf are giving us stats from millions of shots by your average golfer and your view just doesn't stand up.

I'd venture the bigger gain is that the bad shots go further than they used to. I can hit my m2 off the tee and it still goes pretty good.
Click to expand...
That's definitely true with the last decade or so of driver advancement. It's not about distance, your best drive is probably not much longer, but nowadays there's no distance loss from heel or toe strikes.
 
Reemul said:
I agree with you, my son is 13, decent golfer lessons since he was 10. He can already hit his 3w 270 yards and his driver around 290. He is 5ft 8. he is gonna smash it all over the place and local courses will not cope and he is only just starting to really grow and size up. Scary for an amateur. He loves watching the big hitters and his focus is distance all the time. My role as his dad is to try and encourage him to also get with the short game and irons on to the green and that is currently working as I can still beat him and he can see having those shots in his armoury is worth it b ut once he hits it that far all he needs is a wedge that will go. But it's all about distance these days and personally I would like us to change that focus.
Click to expand...
That's the point..... the distance is there for some, but for your everyday once a week golfer , little has changed, average handicap , distance etc...
 
Just a fad. Grow the rough brutal and hide the pins. If anyone at that level can drive it that far and straight they deserve all the trophies that come their way!

Rick Shiels claims a 320 carry distance and struggles to break 80 on pitch and putt courses. Not all about distance :ROFLMAO:
 
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