Golf easier for Women, or not?

sweaty sock

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Thought experiment...

Just read Hannah Holden's tweet below


I think Hannahs analysis is wrong.

Though a shot from 172 may be a 7 iron for PGA, same as 141 is 7 iron for LPGA. I think the shot from 172 is harder. It needs nearly 2 degrees (20%) better directional control, and 15 percent better distance control to end up the same distance from the pin.

Similarly, the drive to get to 172 needs to be 2 degrees betterin directional control to hit the fairway, than the shorter drive leaving 141 yards.

No argument, Linn killed it. But I think Hannah's analysis is incomplete.

On to thought experiment. Given women will always have less bone density, muscle mass, height, so wont be able to move as fast as men. Would a smaller hole even up the difference, meaning approach shots would need to be hit closer to achieve the same strokes gained stats...

I may have taken this too far...
 

clubchamp98

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I really don’t understand the need to have both sexes playing together.
I am sure some senior pros could still compete if they played off shorter tees.
Just have mens tour and Ladies tour.
It’s basically a handicapped comp.
 
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Depreston

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Wasn't she the only lass to be in the top 20?

I think it's a good idea me if they can get it to be near enough a level playing field based on tees then why not?
 

Ethan

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Linn Grant is a great player, no doubt, and will win tons, but I think Hannah has made a rather simplistic analysis. As others have said the fact that men and women hit the same club does not mean the challenge of both shots is the same. The starting point is to decide what to normalise things to. Clubbing is too simple, but perhaps some measure of average shots from a given point could be. So, if for example, male pros took a median of 2.5 shots from 170 yards, then the fair point of women would be the distance where they take an average of 2.5 shots to hole out. But then you would also have to consider the precious drive. Was there the same chance of hitting the fairway for both genders?

And not sure her stats really make the case. Most of the holes where women had more club than men was only one club, but some of the holes where women had less club than men were more, e.g. the 218 (3-iron) versus 155 (5 iron) par-3.
 

Orikoru

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I haven't read the article because I can't really be bothered (haven't got my stats head on today). But surely any argument about whether it was unfair should be negated by the points that:
A. She absolutely annihilated the field rather than winning by narrow margins.
B. No other female was anywhere near the top of the leaderboard were they??
 

Imurg

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I haven't read the article because I can't really be bothered (haven't got my stats head on today). But surely any argument about whether it was unfair should be negated by the points that:
A. She absolutely annihilated the field rather than winning by narrow margins.
B. No other female was anywhere near the top of the leaderboard were they??
Exactly.
I think the next best placed female was 14 shots behind...
They tried to even up the course as best they could...and Linn smashed them all..
The fact that 2nd to 13th places contained 13 men shows how dominant she was.
Quite frankly I don't see a problem other than a bunch of blokes got beaten up by a girl....
 

tugglesf239

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Great win for her no doubt as she is a cracking player.

No point trying to put a detailed analysis in place for this though.

Non of that matters because it’s disregarded by those who just want to keep pumping out “The Message”

?
 
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One good point that Alison Whittaker made, during coverage, was that when playing to a hole cut say, behind a bunker, is that men have the advantage as they can generate more height and spin, as a result of hitting it harder.
 

Slab

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Are the odds of any one women getting a hole in one, better or worse than those of any one man

Might that indicate if golf is easier for a woman
 
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