Rory-proofing.....

[Imurg]

So our Rors is reducing 500 yard holes to a driver/gap wedge.
This is quite frankly, ridiculous. Isn't it?
What can, realistically, be done?
Reigning the ball in, taking it back10 years, is one answer but can anyone see the OEMs agreeing to that? Same with clubs. They've spent millions developing product, why should they go back?
Making the courses longer is only going to help those like Rory.
Growing the rough and narrowing the fairways will result in a "hack-fest".
Or do we just let it ride and go with the flow?

Is it time for separate gear for the Pros?
A " Competition" ball that they all have to use - make it go 300 yards maximum. It could alternate between manufacturers so the all get a look in......

 

[Tiger man]

But surely then Rory and other big hitters will just hit the new ball further than everyone else, it will just be a knock on effect meaning the short hitters lose distance too and will struggle to compete? It's not like he is cheating, just think we should enjoy it.

 

[Tongo]

I’m surprised that course designers aren’t a bit more innovative when it comes tothis sort of issue. So all we see now is holes becoming longer and longer and more land required in an attempt to maintain a semblance of a challenge. For traditional courses, i.e those normally used for majors, there will come apoint, if we aren’t there already, when they cannot lengthen holes any more. St Andrews this summer could be a massacre if the weather is good.

So rather than trying to lengthen holes why not just stop the fairway at 300/310 yards for instance? Grow the rough in between the that point and the green. Basically force the players to play from a potentially bad lie if they want to launch driver off of every hole. Or layup in the fairway. This idea will probably be seen as heresy by some but the sport surely can’t keep lengthening courses. How long before we see an 8000+yard course used?

 

[Robobum]

So, because someone has the skill, power, precision and balls to hit driver into a 20yd fairway 350yds away, we should reign it in to give the others a chance?

Pointless working so hard then isn't it?

 

[shortstuff]

Even if they banned drivers, many pros can hit the ball 300 yards with their 3W.... Courses can be tightened up, preferably with more dog-legs, but this would take years to come into place. The ball is the biggest factor in the technology equation, and the simplest thing to change, but it would be very hard to persuade the industry which is obsessed with distance.

 

[Ethan]

They tried Tiger proofing but all that did was play into the hands of the longer hitters. Unless you narrow the fairways progressively from 300 yards until they are single file at 350, or you put cross bunkers or rough to split the fairways, then Rory will always be in for a feed on those days when he is driving it straight and long. And I don't see why it is fair to just punish long hitters. Modern technology allows players to hit the ball straighter than ever, and wedges allow then to get grip coming out of spinach. Before the Tiger distance issues of the late 90s, we had the wedge grooves issues of the 80s which allowed mediocre players to hit the ball crooked but save par with their wedges. I remember Mark Calcavecchia winning The Open in 1989 with his Ping lob wedge and it was going to be the end of all that was holy. But it wasn't.

I don't like the idea of bifurcation - splitting into pros and the rest of us.

 

[guest100718]

no problem, id much rather watch Rory tear a course up than hack it about.

 

[TheCaddie]

Also, Rory doesn't win every single week and every single tournament he plays in does he? Yes he is no.1 in the world, but it is not like his distance means he has a god-given right to win any tournament he enters.

He is also, not a mutant, He is 5ft 7 and 11 stone. He has just developed an incredible technique which has given him an advantage over the rest of the field. What he does is not impossible and if anyone else wants to take no.1 spot, then they better start working damn hard for it! Just like Rory has / does.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It's all good for me - enjoy watching him tear it up

It doesn't happen every week but it's great to watch when it does

 

[Stuey01]

If everyone was doing it then there may be some merit. But they aren't. They just need to get better.
Make the ball go shorter and Rory and DJ and co are still going to pump it past the short hitters.
End the fairway at 300 yards and it just becomes a pitch and putt contest.

Appreciate it for what it is, one of the best drivers of the ball ever getting on a roll and doing his thing.

 

[One Planer]

The obvious answer would be to set every tournament up like the US-Open, I.E Very, very penal.

But that would reduce the game to best-worst score wins. Not a spectator sport.

I also don't think tricking up a course with additional bunkers/water is the answer as the touring pro's are smart enough to take it out of play and still be able to reach.

In the case of Golf, it's a very tight call. The last thing you want is it to go the same way as F1 (Slower cars, worse tyres, all sorts of race rules and stipulations).

Golf, especially at tour level is a very simple game, why make it complicated with excess changes?

Thing is, 21-Under isn't winning every week, if it were, I could see the need for change.

I'm sure tech and/or ball could be limited but the OEM's would never agree as they have already spent many millions in R&D to get the balls to this level.

How do you stop someone like Rory tearing the place up? I'm not sure you can if I'm honest. More tress. Tighter driving area. Every par 3 the same as the 17th at Sawgrass or the 12th at Augusta

Golfers now, on the whole are a lot fitter now than they were years ago. Rory is a prime example of this. Couple that with the latest tech' it's no wonder he can hit the ball so far.

Let the guys play and enjoy it for what it is. Entertainment.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

It's awesome that's what it is. To hit the ball that far that accurately takes supreme skill and is great entertainment in my book

 

[Slab]

I think we have to go with the flow as opposed to amending equipment etc

What I do think is that we should reel in some of the other advantages the top Pro’s get that can really aid their scoring (& I appreciate the following may have made no difference to Rory’s winning score)

• If they shoot into the grandstand the drop zone should be 150 yards back down the fairway, not next to the green
• If it rains on Thursday morning there’s no need for all 4 days to be preferred lies
• With TV & many spectators/marshals etc I’d like to see some severe restrictions on time searching for a lost ball
• and maybe the biggest one... I’d like to see pros permanently ‘on the clock’ which means revisiting exactly what that means with respect to being able to play etc. Some of the durations taken for putts etc are just ridiculous

I’m sure there are other areas that I haven’t considered yet but the above will certainly impact scoring without changing the game, such as introducing some tighter internal OOB for the elite tours etc

 

[need_my_wedge]

I'm in the leave it as it lays camp. As has been said above, he doesn't win every week. Just because he works hard at his game and has achieved a level way beyond that which many of us can only dream about, why should he (or any of the other big hitters) be punished for it? In Rory's case, he really has to be on his game to play like that, at which point I will sit back and enjoy every minute, because it is an absolute joy to watch. Equally, he can be out of kilter and put himself out of position with the best of them. I don't see any need to change, just marvel at the ability to hit it 367 yards off the tee.

 

[hines57]

If the majority of players are getting onto par 5 holes in 2, just make them par 4 for pro comps. If it's just the best that are getting there - good on them. Don't think we need to keep going for longer tracks - just lower par for these guys.

 

[Dan2501]

Nothing will, or should change. The paying public like seeing birdies, and they also like seeing massive drives, so the golfing authorities would be unwise to make any significant changes in regards to limiting the ball, or altering the course. It's not like Rory's tearing up courses every week. When he has a good day he can do it, but he's not shooting 61 every round and driving every par 4 green.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

It is only a score, if the conditions had been windy it would have been higher.
The longest hitters are seldom the best players. The longest straight hitters do well though.

 

[Joff]

If the majority of players are getting onto par 5 holes in 2, just make them par 4 for pro comps. If it's just the best that are getting there - good on them. Don't think we need to keep going for longer tracks - just lower par for these guys.

What difference will that make?

 

[Stuey01]

What difference will that make?

None at all, still lowest number of strokes wins. Yet the usga still do it almost every year at the U.S. Open along with other tricks to "protect" par.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

A good golf course design should allow the best, most complete player to win. We just witnessed that so what's the problem?

I would however like to see greens reduced a little in size to place a little more emphasis on creativity round the green and not just glorified putting contests as is sometimes the case on the US tour.. Could be getting into US Open territory here though and as had been stated, a war of attrition such as this each week would be pretty dull