Current PGA tour

[Nickj1]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/haven-t-fi ... 46221.html

[Wknhacker]

I watched some of that BMW championship during the 3rd and 4th rounds.

Guys were hitting it into the trees, hazards, and water knowing that all they needed was to loft it up with a wedge on to the soft greens and tap it in for birdie. On a short par 4 Justin Thomas tried to drive the green with his driver and hit it into the water. He took his drop, grabbed a wedge and stuck it within a foot for his par. So much for risk/reward PGA tour golf course set-ups.

I felt sorry for the golf course. It had absolutely no defence to the bomb and gougers.

[lagpressure]

Adam Scott:

“If you require us to shape tee shots to get it in play, we’re going to struggle. We just play straight. Everything straight. If you had to draw a driver to get it in the fairway, then we’re going to see different scores. But while there’s an option to go over trees and go over bunkers, it’s just relentless.”

Brent Snedeker:

“Now the drivers are made so easy to hit that there’s no penalty for swinging as hard as you want to at every driver, because it won’t go as far off-line, there’s no penalty for really going all-out on one.”

Goose Gossage on baseball:

“I can’t watch these games anymore,’’ Gossage said. “It’s not baseball. It’s unwatchable. A lot of the strategy of the game, the beauty of the game, it’s all gone.
“It’s like a video game now. It’s home run derby with their (expletive) launch angle every night.’’
Is it healthy for the game if every player can hit 40 home runs and records are threatened constantly? Does that issue get more concerning when the ball is influencing the extreme home-run rate? Knowing that, how should fans contextualize records set in this era?

[Wknhacker]

There are a lot of modern pros would adapt reasonable quickly to using a persimmon driver if they were mandated to do so. Lots of fans are now voicing their demands for at least one big event on the PGA Tour calendar where the players are only allowed to use persimmon woods, blades, and balata balls.

Here's 2012 U.S. Women's Open winner Na Yeon Choi ripping one down the middle using a persimmon driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5SXZX8zvQ&feature=youtu.be

[LesMurray]

Here is an interesting exhibition event down in Carlsbad, CA. It is at a course called Goat Hill rescued and restored by the people at Ashworth. Not a big fan of the guy who runs the channel but this is pretty cool with pros playing persimmons on an old-school course.

Enjoy

[LesMurray]

This just in from the USGA...

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2020/02/key-findings-distance-insights-usga.html

Here are the key findings:

There is a 100-year trend of hitting distance increases in golf, as well as a corresponding increase in the length of golf courses, across the game globally The USGA and The R&A believe this continuing cycle is detrimental to the game’s long-term future.

The inherent strategic challenge presented by many golf courses can be compromised, especially when those courses have not or cannot become long enough to keep up with increases in the hitting distances of the golfers who play from their longest tees. This can lead to a risk of many courses becoming less challenging, or obsolete.

Increased hitting distance can begin to undermine the core principle that the challenge of golf is about needing to demonstrate a broad range of skills to be successful.

If courses continue to lengthen, it is at odds with growing societal concerns about the use of water, chemicals and other resources

Longer distances and courses, longer tees and longer times to play are taking golf in the wrong direction and are not necessary for a challenging, enjoyable and sustainable game.

A concern has been identified that many recreational golfers are playing from longer tees than is necessary relative to their hitting distances, and, in particular that the forward tees on many golf courses are very long for many of the golfers who play from them.

[k2baloo]

https://youtu.be/oYwamLXl7_s

I enjoyed this. Reminds me of the vintage game in terms of tempo and approach shots. She had to hit a 5 wood into a par 3 and long clubs into many par 4s. Shot par very easily.

[Wknhacker]

I'm subscribed to that channel as well K2. I really enjoy the content but especially how in almost every video he stresses the importance of knowing one's limitations and playing within those limitations - as it pertains to the recreational golfer. Worst than having a bad swing is having an ego the size of Texas on the golf course.

On a similar note, someone has uploaded a ton of the old Shell's Wonderful of Golf matches to YouTube. It's really amazing to see how in the old days guys like Knudson, Player, Palmer, Snead et al were having to play 5 and 6 irons into par 4 greens and holding those greens with the long irons.

[lagpressure]

The Match at Brookline with Sanders vs Casper shows how much different the game was then.
I remember they both hit fairway woods into the first hole, second shot. Par 4!

On #10 if I remember, Casper hits a 2 iron off a hanging lie into the par 4 all carry over water in front of the green and makes birdie.
On hole 11 or 12?, it's a par 4 playing so long they can't even reach the green in two shots with fairway woods.

[Wknhacker]

I recall watching last year's Masters and seeing Jon Rahm (a fine player) throw a hissy fit because he missed the green badly with a 5 iron from the fairway.

That was one of the holes they lengthened by 40 yards (number 5) specifically to bring the long iron back into play since before that it was 3 wood > short iron or wedge > putter. To see one of the very best players in the modern game miss the green by some margin with a 5 iron, from the fairway, really demonstrated how much professional golf has changed.