The spirit of golf must constantly be protected. It is incumbent on our leaders (sheepdogs) to protect the game (the sheep) from those who look to exploit the game (the wolves). Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, an expert in protection and an author who specializes in the study of the psychology of killing and protecting, was quoted in the movie American Sniper. Grossman writes: “Most of the people in our society are sheep, then there are sheepdogs who live to protect sheep from the wolves.”
Making the sheep, sheepdog, and wolf analogy frames the positions of those involved in this contentious issue of possibly rolling back the distance of the golf ball. Please understand: the distance issue only applies to the professional game.
Many sheepdogs through the centuries have protected our game. Bobby Jones comes to mind as one of America’s first great leaders who not only established, but also protected the values and principles of the game. Byron Nelson was another. In fact, there are many sheepdogs in the golf industry. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus are two others. Arnold Palmer may have said it best: “Success in golf depends less on strength of body and more on strength of mind and character.”
So true, so succinct. Yet, the game of golf has shifted into quite the opposite direction from Arnie’s words of wisdom.
Technological advancement is crossing the line with some of today’s golf equipment. When technology allows a player to advance without otherwise having earned the required skillset, it goes against the spirit of the game. This should get the attention of our sheepdogs.
In one aspect of technological advancement, today’s golf balls are designed to spin less, which makes the ball travel significantly further and considerably straighter than golf balls of the past.
Another technological advancement, which contributed to this issue, is in the driver head. The enlarged size alone magnified the “sweet-spot” or the Moment of Inertia (MOI), when the driver head was allowed to expand to 460cc.
In other technology, thin-faced drivers increase the speed or “trampoline effect” – the ball comes off the face of these high-tech drivers – the Coefficient of Restitution (COR) is the technical term.
The cocktail of these three technologies together, plus the dynamic elements of a “Dustin Johnson”, produce an atomic reaction to golf ball speed. The consequences of this fallout are challenging the spirit of the game today.
The unfortunate aspect of many of these technological advancements is it exponentially benefits those golfers who need help the least. The bombers on the PGA Tour reap the greatest gains, relatively speaking. This formula contributes to the decimation of our world’s iconic golf courses.
Without our sheepdogs to fend off the wolves, will the distance leaders on the PGA Tour be hitting 400+yd. drives on a regular basis 20 years from now?
Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and most recently, Tiger Woods, have spoken for change – to rollback the distance of golf ball for the best players in the game.
There is a current thrashing of the spirit of the game in how far the ball goes by the PGA Tour’s longest drivers. The USGA and the R&A failed miserably to protect the flock. Legal precedent was firmly established in US District Court, (Arizona) in Karsten Manufacturing Corporation v. United States Golf Association, 1990).
Legal precedence from the resulting out-of-court settlement echoed over the past 27 years to where we are today.
“Ever since Ping forced the USGA to accept its terms, the ruling body’s willingness to use its power to legislate equipment design has been compromised,” said former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman. “The probability for potential lawsuit has opened the floodgates to a technological revolution in clubs and balls,” Beman stated. He added, “they (the USGA & R&A) made a choice to protect its treasury instead of the game.”
In the USGA’s and R&A’s capitulation, our sheepdog was emasculated and the wolves began to have their way. The question now is can they get it back?
We all get it – change is inevitable. But do we want wolves to manage the sheep? Major League Baseball never allowed aluminum bats to infiltrate their game in order to protect the spirit of baseball and their sacred baseball parks. Is it too late to roll it back? Do we bifurcate the golf ball for professional golf only?
The primary factors relating to distance is based on ball speed, launch angle and spin rate of the golf ball coming off the clubface. Ball speed is relative to the player’s club head speed and how consistent the player finds the “sweet-spot” at impact.
PGA Tour players with the fastest club head speed are: Tony Finau (124mph); Sergio Garcia (123mph); Dustin Johnson (122mph); and Bubba Watson (121mph). Jack Nicklaus first tested his club head speed when he was 58 years old in 1998; Jack’s club head speed was measured and recorded at 118mph.
In 1980, my friend Dan Pohl was statistically the longest driver on the PGA Tour, averaging 274 yds. It is presumed Dan Pohl’s club head speed in 1980 was similar to today’s power hitters. In 1980, the PGA Tour distance average was 257 yds. In 2017, Rory McIlroy averaged 317 yds. with his tee-shots and the PGA Tour average was 293 yds.
Today, the longest drivers of the golf ball on the PGA Tour are making a mockery of our great golf courses. The first shocking incident happened when Bubba Watson struck that astonishing tee-shot on the 13th hole on Sunday in the final round of the 2014 Masters. Watson unleashed an atomic drive covering 400+yds. on this famous 510 yds. par-5. His tee shot left him with a flip sand-wedge for his second shot. Both Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, the architects of Augusta National, would have wept had they witnessed the display of those two shots. Those in charge of protecting the true spirit of the game and its honourable traditions looked the other way while standing the post.
Another leading power player today is Brookes Koepka. In Koepka’s impressive victory in the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills, we watched Koepka strike a 3-wood off the tee on the 72nd hole, which traveled 357 yds. Moreover, Koepka did not have a second shot to a Par-4 that required more distance than his 7-iron in all four rounds – this on the longest golf course (7,839 yds.) in championship golf history.
I’d like to make a suggestion to solve this issue. The governing bodies can either change the Rules of Golf to outlaw the “golf-tee.” Golfers would be required to place their ball on the ground in tee box for each tee-shot – and that ball is in play. Or simply bifurcate the ball. Make the golf ball spin more for professional competition, which would bring the art of ball striking back to the game.
