Stop the tech ruining our game

[Steve Smith]

In this world of profit the companies have just gone all out to make the game easier for hackers who ultimately think they can spend to get better.

Is that true? Is the new "must have" anti slice driver going to get you down from 18 to single figures?
I believe that the skill is being taken out of the modern game and replacing it with just bulk and strength. Very soon all of the Open Venues will become obsolete

 

[Brattz]

In this world of profit the companies have just gone all out to make the game easier for hackers who ultimately think they can spend to get better.

Is that true? Is the new "must have" anti slice driver going to get you down from 18 to single figures?
I believe that the skill is being taken out of the modern game and replacing it with just bulk and strength. Very soon all of the Open Venues will become obsolete

I don’t share your opinion Smitty. Yes drivers are more forgiving but a bad swing is a bad swing and you only hit 10-14 drivers a round. The skill game is with wedges and putter. There isn’t a tech fix for these and this is where 50-60% of shots in a round are played. Getting from 18hcap to single digits is all about consistency in the long game and skill building on the short game.

With regards to the open venues, they’ve been obsolete for 20 years unless the wind blows. St Andrews is a pitch and putt without wind. The only 3 courses to stand a test with lesser winds are Birkdale, St George’s and Muirfield. The problem with trying to toughen them up is that the rough can only be grown, not brought in so fairways remain pretty wide. They could make the greens quicker and firmer but the slopes and undulations would make them near enough unplayable above maybe 11 on a stimp.
The US don’t have this problem as most of not all of their majors are played on parkland courses where the rough can be cultivated and brought tighter in and greens formed up to 13.5 on a stimp.

 

[Brattz]

Very good point about links greens Bratz, 2015 had to be halted because of the wind. I agree you are right that the wedges and putting are where the game is won and lost, but I still believe that there should be a standard tournament ball flying about 20 yards less for the longest hitters, this would proportionately reduce the gap as the pros get shorter and not affect us mortals.
Perhaps they should make Bryson, Dustin, Jason etc play with tennis balls 😁😁😁

Interestingly enough in 2007 they lengthened Augusta and made it a monster, then the wind really blew. Won by one of the shorter hitters but one of the best wedge players in the game...Zac Johnson.
He won because he played the par 5's as 3 shotters and relied on his wedge play, so would score 4 or 5. The big boys might make the odd eagle but they risked 6 or 7

Ditto with the 2015 Open.

The only other players to have won the Masters and the Open at St Andrew's are - Snead, Nicklaus, Seve, Faldo, and Tiger.

I reckon that is pretty cool company to be in 😄😄😄👍👍👍

Thanks for the reply mate, always interested in your views 👍👍

Smitty

Reducing the ball flight is a non-starter. They are Pros for a reason and on of those reasons is because they hit the ball longer and straighter than amateurs.....
Bifurcation is a red herring. If you are a professional and in the case in point a top 150 golfer in the world then you should be expected to hit the ball straight. By bringing the rough in at 300yds to 2/3rds the width of before 300yds you create a premium on accuracy. Lay up and have a wider fairway or hit a smaller target with higher punishment for missing it, with knee high bundu.
That would work for the majority of tour events and only needs to apply to professional competitions for which courses usually close upto 8 weeks in advance to prep.
Like I said, our open courses are just too old and too rigid in possible changes that they have been made obsolete since 2000.
I would:
A) make the greens as quick as possible without stupidity
B) grow rough as high and penal as possible and mow the sod heavily in winter so that the bottom of the rough is heavy as lead
C) back mow fairways as much as possible
D) increase the receptiveness of bunkers so their ‘gather reach’ is larger
E) make gorse more prominent aside the landing areas so a miss is terrible bearing in mind the fairways are harder to pinch in

 

[Brattz]

I have to disagree about backmowing the fairways mate, that just takes the reward out of accuracy and means you are lowering the advantage of hitting it straight instead of hitting it in the rough.
I agree about narrowing of fairways, but that has always happened for championships.
Ok you are right, maybe the ball thing is a non starter 😀
But it should be about proportion, risk and reward, I dont think that rock hard greens with thick 4 inch rough 2 foot from the greens is the answer. We saw that in the 70's and 80's with the way the USGA set up their Open courses and it was a lottery.
I agree that fairway bunkers should be more punitive, if you hit it in then you should not be able to just put it on the green as if you are on the fairway.
Very valid points mate😀
Played 11 at Whitley today and shot 3 over with a triple at that 2nd hole my nemesis. Starting to feel like I can actually turn again. Hoping to get down from 11 back to Cat 1 before my few years of back problems.
Take care dude
Smitty 😀😀👍👍

BackMowing stops run. Makes the tee shot all carry into fairways