New golf ball development, good for golf?

[HTL]

http://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/Golf/News/...amp;R=EPI-25585

Sorry about the website I got my info from but I just fancied hearing your views on these new "super" balls. Are they good or bad for golf? And what will this mean for your course?

 

[haplesshacker]

Oh oh. 400 yard plus drives for the pros then. That's not good news. Perhaps just keep it for the weekend golfers.

 

[Tommo21]

Not be long until we get a 1000 yard golf course then. They're moving the tees back at Agusta right now but it does takes a few years to change the dimples so they've got a bit of time.

 

[Herbie]

I dont find a thrill playing extra long courses, I may enjoy them but not thrilled, and they tend to take a longer time to get round. The courses that do it for me are the very tricky medium to short courses with all the real difficulty at the green end or awkward doglegs and hazards all over the place. I think courses are long enough and golf balls today are enough. To hit very long distances requires accuracy and there will be a lot of golfers holding up play trying to make the fairway 350 to 400 yds away. I have seen no end of pros hit drives where if they had gone another 30 to 50 yds would be in big trouble even on long holes,being minutely off line with a 300 yd drive can be very very offline hitting 350 to 400, so it seems a nonsense to me, but they will make it and it will get used, I just hope it doesnt slow play down at the club when all the players are searching for their long drive.

 

[OldWindy]

Surely the R&A etc. will have to rein this in if it ever gets to market...?

 

[viscount17]

I think they already have. These are from the 2008 Rule book.

The ball must not be designed, manufactured or intentionally modified to have properties which differ from those of a spherically symmetrical ball.

The initial velocity of the ball must not exceed the limit specified (test on file) when measured on apparatus approved by the R&A.

The combined carry and roll of the ball, when tested on apparatus approved by the R&A, must not exceed the distance specified under the conditions set forth in the Overall Distance Standard for golf balls on file with the R&A.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

TG is the golfing equivalent of the Sun. I'd take it with a pinch of sort and don't see how it will ever get onto the pro tour as it will reduce the game to pitch and putt. Even if the R&A allowed it in the amateur game the top amateurs would reduce the British Amateur and the Walker Cups to a farce.

 

[madandra]

Surely the R&A etc. will have to rein this in if it ever gets to market...?

I think the problem here is that the manufacturers have a bettr knowledge of the law and science than the R&A and USPGA.

 

[Cernunnos]

I'm all for science & development it makes the game more interesting & diverse & gives us a reason to keep trying different things, or in this case balls. Which is I supose exactly what the manufacturers want us to do, regardless of regulations laid down by R&A & USGA etc.

Thing is the Vids that were chosen to back up the article were almost laughable in content. In the second video it looked like they'd got someone out of the local pub to try & do an open univerety scetch for a monty python sendup.

Yes there may or maynot be an extra 10, 20, or even 50 yardds we might sqeeze out of a ball if the dimples were gotten just right & still conforming, but could we consistently hit these balls that extra yardage each time, I doubt it, even with the pro's, I really doubt it. And as has been pointed out in the thread, not to mention by the likes of for instance Nicklaus many years ago... That, Yes we can try & hit the ball further, but further into the trees, or out of bounds or whatever... Which I know is not a direct quote, but is the gist of what he & others have said in the past.

Scores will not in general come down, but the game could get interesting & exciting at times as eagles & albatrosses start once more occuring in the pro game, but just as equally we may see more players getting into deep trouble trying to get that albatross...

(Why do I suddenly have this mental picture of John Cleese trying to sell avian nibbles at Augusta all of a sudden).... rofl.

Though Like others I really wouldn't like to see the 10,000 yard course appearing, its a bain walking around courses well in excess of 6,500 yards, to 7,000. In someways the answer to big hitters is not so much to lengthen courses as has happened over recent years, but to narrow them down & actually shorten, or put in certain hazards & doglegs at spots to diswade big hitters from simply leathering the ball all the time. Golf should be a game that makes us think of it almost as a chess game & a musical composition as well as atheletic prowess. It should be 4 parts Kasparov, to 2 parts Beethoven, 2 parts Steve Cram & 2 part Jeff Capes... In my opinion.

Its a pity I & many others forget this, & end up trying to use 1 part Kasparov to 1 Part Beethoven 4 parts Steve cram & 4 parts Jeff Capes... rofl.

Anyway I digress. I've no problems with manufacturers trying to give us more choice of better balls.

 

[theeaglehunter]

I agree with what Homer said.

On a different level I was thinking whilst reading the article how stupid that whole piece would sound to a non-golfer, all these engineers and university boffins have been grouped together to make a few dents in a ball so it goes further. Would certainly lead many to question who supplies the budget for this sort of thing given the current economic climate.

As for me I love new technology, spend away in the name of R & D

 

[viscount17]

I did find out that the Overall Distance Standard limit has been raised from 298 to 320 yds, though when it happened I don't know.