Slowly but surely professional golf is returning. At the moment it’s not quite the same as when everything shut down way back in March – there are currently no sponsors, fans or players’ families allowed on site. However, as we move towards a safer, healthier environment that situation will hopefully change and once again we will hear the deep-throated roars of appreciation as the players work their magic in the heat of competition.
The 2018 version of Bryson DeChambeau.
But that’s not all that has changed. Are we perhaps witnessing a watershed moment in the game with the emergence of Bryson DeChambeau from lockdown a good 25 llbs heavier than when we last saw him? This wasn’t because he was occupying his couch and bingeing on box sets while tucking into the popcorn – no, quite the opposite, it transpires that this 25 llbs is pure muscle.
The post lockdown model. Yes, it is Bryson again, a couple of years laters and this mid-2020 version is carrying an extra 40llbs worth of muscle. [Courtesy of PGATOUR.com]
For years now, the great and the good of the game – including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – have called for the golf ball and equipment to be reined back in their development. In order to test every club in the bag of the professionals nowadays and to retain the full range of skillful nuances inherent in the game it is necessary to build something close to an 8000-yard course. The cost and maintenance of this type of facility is high, which is reflected in prohibitive membership and green fees – out of the reach of most people. Obviously, the time taken to complete 18 holes on this length of course is increased and slow play becomes glacial play.
Am I missing something, but is professional sport not supposed to be part of the entertainment business? Liaise with the manufacturing companies and put limiting factors on equipment to be used by the professionals and elite amateurs. Have fewer restrictions on equipment for everyone else – most of us need all the help we can get and increased enjoyment for the average golfer is surely to be encouraged? Dislike of bifurcation (different rules for professionals and amateurs) is no defence. When I first started playing the game, there were two different sizes of golf ball and bifurcation is essential in the current climate for the health of the game.
On the left a 1990s driver beside my current model. Which do you think takes more skill to hit?
The powers-that-be, the R&A and the USGA, have heard all this before, and countless times, but it appears they are not actually listening.
Perhaps they will now that we are emerging into a very different world. This 2020 version has essentially no money compared to the pre-pandemic era and in these racially aware times golf, which is perceived as a privileged white man’s sport, needs to adjust. This is a wonderful opportunity to do just that. It is not the top of the pyramid that is important here – it’s the grass roots golfer.
I am back to my familiar war cry of inclusivity over exclusivity. During these very exacting times we have witnessed some remarkable examples of sacrifice, and care and concern for each other. Inspired thinking has led to innovative solutions and the realisation that things do not have to be done a certain way just because they’ve always been done that way.
They say where there’s a will there’s a way. I hope to goodness there is a will in the corridors of power in this game – and not just a commercial one.
Hi Maureen, Interesting times. Did you read about Jimmy Walker reverting to steel shafts and still averaging 325 yards. This seems to indicate that the ball is the big difference. It would be great to see some real testing of old balls with new clubs and vice versa. A few years ago I was refereeing at Open Qualifying and I was with someone from the R & A equipment dept. and he inferred that there that the change was not that great and it was down to fitness and technique. I had to bite my tongue! I believe their views may be changing. Not all the modern players fitness fanatics and there are still a few salad dodgers. There is no question that in my time the change in distance is huge. I believe that Dave Thomas with whom, as you know, I served my apprenticeship, was the longest straightest driver in the world and his average tee shot was in the region of 278. Not even on the list of shorter hitters these days! I seem to hit the same distance with most clubs as I did 50 years ago ( did I really type that?) but the youngsters are playing from close to 100 yards nearer the green. This of course makes the classic courses out of date with regards to bunkering etc. and as land is at a premium extending them is not always possible. Whether it matters or not I do not know as tour golf is so far removed from club golf as to be two different games. I do remember Jack Nicklaus designed a course, I think in Japan, which had limited space and he got Uniroyal? I think to make a ball with inverted dimples which cut down distance to make the course play as if it were much longer. I would love to know how long it remained in existence. Well enough of the rant. Trust you are well and keep the blogs coming. Regards, Ian
Well said Maureen …..
courses don’t always have the land to extend and making them longer certainly doesn’t necessarily make them better.
As in tennis when the big serve and volley game became boring …. I think they changed the ball.
As you say …. not that long ago (!!)
Pros played with a different ball.
Always enjoy the blog and simple and effective tips…. if I could remember them
Well said. I couldn’t agree more
Hello there! Good point about tennis. So glad you enjoy the blog – perhaps I should try and put in a tip to prevent memory loss?!!!!
Thanks Bob.
Hello Ian. I did read about Jimmy Walker but had never heard that about Nicklaus and the inverted dimple ball – how interesting! One of my concerns is that longer and longer courses will equal higher and higher fees which will result in our sport becoming even more white, male dominated which I don’t think is desireable. Apparently Henry Cotton suggested that country pubs with land around them should have six or nine hole courses with everyone welcome. The pub could serve as a ready made clubhouse.
Simply put, let’s go back to persimmon woods and steel shafts. No more MOI issues.
Leave the ball alone or go back to wound balls.. Either way, the skill level needed to use wood heads requires a different mind set. If the R& A and USGA can change anchoring, they can surely outlaw metal drivers and graphite shafts. Besides the persimmon drivers look a lot better!!
I have a friend who owns his own course in the Midlands and he tells me it was more profitable when he first opened up using a container as a clubhouse than when he had a building! Regarding the golf course, it was The Britannia Course on the Cayman Islands (not Japan) and the ball was called the Cayman Ball which travelled half the distance of normal balls and although you could play normal balls making the course just par 3’s and 4’s on certain days It was played as an “Executive Course” with this ball to give players a different experience.
Brilliant info – thanks so much for that, Ian.
I would love it, John, if only the R&A would respond to your comments!
Screw the R&A. Let’s just have club sanctioned persimmon only competitions. Could have mixed competitions as well all from forward tees.
Am quite fond of the R&A, John but persimmon ok, 9 holes only, maybe even 6 to start; last time I hit my persimmon driver it went about 20 yards – 18 holes could take a while.
C’mon now, you golf quite regularly. A swing is a swing. I’m sure you can hit persimmon at least 200.
Best regards,
Jack Patton
Perhaps 20, John!