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Increased distance - Golf Balls vs Club Technology?

That's quite a wrong assumption Del!

I am happy with the game as it stands, which means the year on year advancements and changes which are regulated by the R & A and USGA. so I'm promoting anything other than the status quo as, in my view, everything does change and continues to do so.

You, however, seem to want to continually offer proposed rule changes to, on one hand make the game easier by enlarging the holes and on the other hand, harder by restricting ball flight or club technology ..... unless I'm missing something, isn't it you wanting the status quo on this particular issue as you want the golf world to stand still?

Two of the findings of the PGA commissioned report I quoted in the original postings were that length off the tee and putting ability are the most critical parts of being a successful, money winning tour pro.
 
If you want to be as good as the pros then get the lessons and spend the time on practising what you are taught. Why should we drag the best players in the world down to hitting the shots of an amateur? You wouldn't put a weight vest and heavy boots on Usain Bolt so he could only run the 100m in 14 seconds just like the man down the park.
 
Two of the findings of the PGA commissioned report I quoted in the original postings were that length off the tee and putting ability are the most critical parts of being a successful, money winning tour pro.

In other blindingly obvious news. Finding space and being a good finisher are the most critical parts in being a good centre forward.
 
Formula 1 has specified smaller and smaller engines over the years to be safer and more eco-friendly. For this year the engines have been reduced from 2.4 litres to1.6 litres. :)

However, the power output and delivery is still similar. You still wouldn't expect them to race without the latest technology available to them within the rules though...
 
However, the power output and delivery is still similar. You still wouldn't expect them to race without the latest technology available to them within the rules though...
There are still restrictions in F1 to keep the cost down (relatively speaking), including a rev limit on the engines. If golf driver head size was restricted to say 200cc, there would be no need for expensive lightweight materials such as Titanium and carbon fibre to make them, so drivers could be a lot cheaper. There would be more emphasis on having to hit the ball off a much smaller sweet spot (pretty much the same as a 3-wood), so that would tend to reduce the case for ultra-long, stiff and lightweight shafts, offering another cost saving. A 6000 yard golf course can be built more cheaply and on less land area than a 7000 yard one, and would also allow for quicker rounds.
 
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Two of the findings of the PGA commissioned report I quoted in the original postings were that length off the tee and putting ability are the most critical parts of being a successful, money winning tour pro.

As usual, you answer with a complete change of direction.

You said that I wanted the status quo - I showed that the opposite was true and it was you arguing for the status quo, and then you post a point completely irrelevant to the matter we were discussing!
 
We can play the same surface, from the same tees, with the same equipment if means allow it. No other major sport offers this.

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That's not strictly correct... I'll give you tennis as one example that you can use the same kit and play on the same surfaces... You could even get a game at Wimbledon if you have the wherewithal and connections...
 
Seriously these courses don't need to be long was it not the US open course last year that caused mayhem and everyone complained? No the courses are too easy, I cannot go out and swing out of my boots because I need to control the ball, on tour you can slap everywhere and someone will find it, you'll have a line over trees from another fairway etc... The bunkers have dispersants in to make them nice and fluffy ( and getting out of fluffy sand is easy, getting out of crusty sand 1/4 inch deep with a mud layer underneath is quite hard). The American fairways are beautiful the ball sits up and striking it is like playing off a tee. You can talk about equipment till the cows come home, but look at green keeping and general course condition is has improved significantly!
The ball has changed the game, so have the drivers ( they are longer in shaft because they are more forgiving - but that is a weakness for the amateur). The players are fitter, no more Craig Stadlers, more understanding about body mechanics etc, if you want more power take up yoga and go weight training .. Explosive power and elasticity ( which explains why these featherweights hit it far)
i think I have lost around 4-6mph in SS but my length over 20 yrs has remained the same ...
 
Two of the findings of the PGA commissioned report I quoted in the original postings were that length off the tee and putting ability are the most critical parts of being a successful, money winning tour pro.

And you want to remove the advantages that the guys who have worked extremely hard to acquire!

Get real!

And you are 10 or 12 (or even 25!) years too late anyway! Report states/concludes only marginal increase since then! The major change was in the 90s with Driver shafts and heads.

As for your 'conclusion', I quote the PGA report.

Findings include, “these results indicate that
putting is the most significant skill factor (Peters 2008).” And “it still remains true that
putting ability is still by far the single most important determinant of earnings (Alexander
and Kern, 2005).” And “these findings indicate a remarkable stability in terms of the
relative importance of greens in regulation and putting average in explaining the
variability in scoring average (Wiseman and Chatterjee, 2006)." Similarly, “the analysis
shows a high greens in regulation percentage and a good short game are the keys to
low scoring averages and high earnings. This is no surprise and should not be
considered a ‘finding.’ Heiny (2008).”

So I'd dispute your assertion about driving distance in the first place!
 
That's not strictly correct... I'll give you tennis as one example that you can use the same kit and play on the same surfaces... You could even get a game at Wimbledon if you have the wherewithal and connections...

You got me there but I suppose with the right connections and wherewithal they is very little that can't be achieved. ;)

Maybe I should have said that it is something most players can realistically obtain.
 
That's not strictly correct... I'll give you tennis as one example that you can use the same kit and play on the same surfaces... You could even get a game at Wimbledon if you have the wherewithal and connections...

Hockey certainly can and does! Plenty of other major sports also, though it's not a rarity rather than the 'every day' that can happen with Golf - though I'd also challenge just what proportion of the Golfing population can actually do so!
 
Seriously these courses don't need to be long was it not the US open course last year that caused mayhem and everyone complained? No the courses are too easy, I cannot go out and swing out of my boots because I need to control the ball, on tour you can slap everywhere and someone will find it, you'll have a line over trees from another fairway etc... The bunkers have dispersants in to make them nice and fluffy ( and getting out of fluffy sand is easy, getting out of crusty sand 1/4 inch deep with a mud layer underneath is quite hard). The American fairways are beautiful the ball sits up and striking it is like playing off a tee. You can talk about equipment till the cows come home, but look at green keeping and general course condition is has improved significantly!
The ball has changed the game, so have the drivers ( they are longer in shaft because they are more forgiving - but that is a weakness for the amateur). The players are fitter, no more Craig Stadlers, more understanding about body mechanics etc, if you want more power take up yoga and go weight training .. Explosive power and elasticity ( which explains why these featherweights hit it far)
i think I have lost around 4-6mph in SS but my length over 20 yrs has remained the same ...
If we ordinary club golfers played on courses in the perfect condition that most of the PGA Tournaments seem to be in, off the forward tees, I am sure that we would find golf an easier game. As most tour pros can hit the ball miles with their hi-tech clubs, and expect to get on the greens in regulation most of the time, the only way to separate the men from the boys is to trick up the greens by making them lightning fast. Tournament golf these days is mostly about putting, so maybe the US TV channels have got it right after all! :mmm:
 
If we ordinary club golfers played on courses in the perfect condition that most of the PGA Tournaments seem to be in, off the forward tees, I am sure that we would find golf an easier game. As most tour pros can hit the ball miles with their hi-tech clubs, and expect to get on the greens in regulation most of the time, the only way to separate the men from the boys is to trick up the greens by making them lightning fast. Tournament golf these days is mostly about putting, so maybe the US TV channels have got it right after all! :mmm:

Erm if tournament golf is all about putting doesn't this conflict with your opening post a little ;)
 
the greens don't need tricking up, careful pin position and fairway cuts will sort it all out ... you have to understand the game and how to score, if you make it harder to hit a green accurately you reduce the birdie count. If you just trick the greens up you achieve nothing more than a load of missed putts and people looking ridiculous, which is not good golf. Golf is about tee to green not just green, so using bunkers and cutting the fairways a course can protect itself. I would even go as far to argue that a shot that strays onto another fairway should be deemed OB, after all these guys are professional and should play the hole in front of them!!
 
There are still restrictions in F1 to keep the cost down (relatively speaking), including a rev limit on the engines. If golf driver head size was restricted to say 200cc, there would be no need for expensive lightweight materials such as Titanium and carbon fibre to make them, so drivers could be a lot cheaper. There would be more emphasis on having to hit the ball off a much smaller sweet spot (pretty much the same as a 3-wood), so that would tend to reduce the case for ultra-long, stiff and lightweight shafts, offering another cost saving. A 6000 yard golf course can be built more cheaply and on less land area than a 7000 yard one, and would also allow for quicker rounds.

How will playing a 6000 yard course be a shorter round time than a 7000 yard one? Some of my longest rounds have been on shorter courses.

What you are basically saying is that Golf should not move with the times, should still use actual wooden clubs which in turn makes it harder for new players to learn the game, reducing numbers of golfers even more!
 
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