What?

[chrisd]

Are you on the crack pipe again ?

I never asked you anything of the sort, I asked you have you seen the fairways hit stats from the 2018 Ryder Cup ? A simple yes or no would be suffice

Why would I have seen the stats, I am not disputing his opinion

 

[chrisd]

Here's a quick fact, the longest hitter on average on both sides was European

And?

 

[User 99]

Are you hallucinating ? Or are you just totally refusing to answer the question

 

[chrisd]

Are you hallucinating ? Or are you just totally refusing to answer the question

The question is irrelevant

 

[User 99]

Ok I'll ask another, is it his opinion they have quirkier swings or is it his opinion that they missed more fairways due to their "quirky" swings ?

 

[chrisd]

It is his opinion that some of the US players have swings that make it very difficult to hit tight fairways

 

[User 99]

My opinion is his opinion is nonsense.

 

[chrisd]

My opinion is his opinion is nonsense.

Good thing that no one is interested in your opinion

 

[User 99]

Good thing that no one is interested in your opinion

Oh my sides, my sides, stop it, my sides

 

[User20205]

Oh my sides, my sides, stop it, my sides

Why are you picking an argument on a subjective point? It’s his pros opinion, nothing more.

 

[3offTheTee]

R and G and Chris.

You are not going to agree here. We are in Palma having a great time and 1 hour ahead of you both, had a great laugh but move on tonight.

Hope CP stay up Chris as Roy H used to manage my team.

All the best to you both.

BTW

We had a great meal tonight!

 

[chrisd]

R and G and Chris.

You are not going to agree here. We are in Palma having a great time and 1 hour ahead of you both, had a great laugh but move on tonight.

Hope CP stay up Chris as Roy H used to manage my team.

All the best to you both.

BTW

We had a great meal tonight!

Thanks 😁enjoy your holiday

(Don't worry about him and me not agreeing, he's had over 700 posts not agreeing with someone or other and now he's not agreeing with someone who's not even on the forum 😂)

 

[User 99]

R and G and Chris.

You are not going to agree here. We are in Palma having a great time and 1 hour ahead of you both, had a great laugh but move on tonight.

Hope CP stay up Chris as Roy H used to manage my team.

All the best to you both.

BTW

We had a great meal tonight!

Aye they don't like different opinions on here

 

[chrisd]

Aye they don't like different opinions on here

So, let's get this right

I posted the opinion of a pro golfer who's not a member of the forum, you don't agree with his opinion and are now saying that he doesn't like your differing opinion even though he isn't even aware of your existance?

 

[User20205]

Aye they don't like different opinions on here

Your keyboard seems to be broken. It keeps posting smileys when nothing is funny 😱😱 have a different opinion, but don’t just shout someone else down. Phil already does that to a standard that we can only dream of 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Sweep]

This forum is incredible. Even a post about a big hitter has turned to poo within the first day. Even when I made the OP I thought it might. It’s the reason why I don’t post so much anymore.
Some people - and they know who they are - need to have a good, hard look at themselves and ask why they are intent on causing friction and ruining it for others. And while they are at it, grow up.

 

[Sweep]

And back on topic...
http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/darren-clarke-speaks-out-on-golfs-big-hitting-generation

 

[duncan mackie]

And back on topic...
http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/darren-clarke-speaks-out-on-golfs-big-hitting-generation

I was unsure what the point of the original post actually was, but for what it's worth there are people capable of hitting it further than this guy did in the example given who will never play on the Tour (probably any tour) and there are other players on the Tour who are capable of hitting it those distances but don't; purely on a risk reward basis. Those who watched Alex Noren going at it with Joe Millar at the KOD event a few years ago will appreciate that.

The flip side of the players risk reward equation is the tournament organisers course selection and set up.
As there isn't a simple solution in terms of driving targets in terms of size and distance (and the penalties associated with missing them, let alone the benefits of achieving them) we get the variation we do.
The refreshing perspective inherent in Darren's observation is that it's not all about the equipment itself!

 

[Sweep]

I was unsure what the point of the original post actually was, but for what it's worth there are people capable of hitting it further than this guy did in the example given who will never play on the Tour (probably any tour) and there are other players on the Tour who are capable of hitting it those distances but don't; purely on a risk reward basis. Those who watched Alex Noren going at it with Joe Millar at the KOD event a few years ago will appreciate that.

The flip side of the players risk reward equation is the tournament organisers course selection and set up.
As there isn't a simple solution in terms of driving targets in terms of size and distance (and the penalties associated with missing them, let alone the benefits of achieving them) we get the variation we do.
The refreshing perspective inherent in Darren's observation is that it's not all about the equipment itself!

I guess the point of the OP was that the figures on the tour now are staggering. If as you say, this guy is nothing special, then that just underlines my point. As the commentator on Sky said, he reduces fairly long par 5’s to short par 4’s.
We keep hearing that officially driving distances aren’t increasing as much as we think. This claim isn’t backed up by these figures at all.
This article says a lot. Even showing how pro’s from 25 and 30 years ago hit it longer now than they did in their pomp. For the record, I have nothing against big hitting. I think we all love to see it. I admire Champ and the others. I am just not sure how the game can handle it.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....hitting-the-ball-now-than-in-their-primes/amp

 

[duncan mackie]

I guess the point of the OP was that the figures on the tour now are staggering. If as you say, this guy is nothing special, then that just underlines my point. As the commentator on Sky said, he reduces fairly long par 5’s to short par 4’s.
We keep hearing that officially driving distances aren’t increasing as much as we think. This claim isn’t backed up by these figures at all.
This article says a lot. Even showing how pro’s from 25 and 30 years ago hit it longer now than they did in their pomp. For the record, I have nothing against big hitting. I think we all love to see it. I admire Champ and the others. I am just not sure how the game can handle it.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....hitting-the-ball-now-than-in-their-primes/amp

There are so many separate aspects to this that it's easy to confuse them!
Let's see if we can agree the separate points first, before trying to get into what's next, where are we going, where should we be going?
I would suggest the following principles...
1. General Equipment - the really key aspects are that technology enables players to combine the characteristics of their equipment with their swing to deliver optimum performance for them.
2. The ball is the biggest single factor in distance alone, but you can't forget what the 1.62" ball was capable of in this regard!
3. You really can't compare the general athletic abilities of today's top tournament professionals with 30 years ago - which directly impacts on distance.
4. Distance can't be separated from variance. This becomes extremely interesting when you start to look at the tee accuracy of many bigger hitters when they hit irons. They have developed their underlying swing to enable distance - it's not a matter of going for it when they hit long drives. This embeds risk in their game rather than in some shots. For me this is a fascinating aspect of today's game.
On the other side
5. Media & Marketing
Dealing with that last element, you have a number of views represented in this thread; and they are well grounded.
I'm old enough to remember some extreme course set ups that simply had all the players taking the same approach to every shot on every hole ie there simply weren't the appropriate rewards for any risk. Quickly boring, audiences switched off in droves. In many ways this tells us why any steps that would result in a more level playing field need to be avoided - audiences need extremes of performance
Which is wy we have had such a wide range of courses and set ups ever since. There's no right theoretical answer; some courses really work well with some set ups.
It's always been the case that some players have had the distance capabilities to 'overpower' many hazards; but it's only when the majority of the players can overpower them that things become a problem.
Ultimately, as someone has already posted, the equation involves a delicate balance between the control available from various areas of the course and the rewards available from them.
Personally I believe the focus on longer par 4s and narrower fairways as a response is a mismatch - but then again tiny convex rock hard greens aren't an answer either.
The good news seems to be that most of the majors still seem to produce extremely fascinating competition with a range of winners, so for me distance isn't destroying the sport; if anything its the media discussions around distance that are causing the biggest damage?