Tougher courses are the answer to the concerns over technology
Tougher courses are the answer
Today’s top golfers are big hitters – and getting bigger.
The latest distance study released by The R&A and the USGA showed an abnormal increase in the length professionals are hitting the ball compared with previous years.
Up to now, golf’s rule-makers have seemed fairly comfortable with an average increase of 0.2 yards per year since 2003.
But between 2016 and 2017 there was an incredible threeyard increase.
That has given the powers-that-be a major headache.
They described the latest increase as “concerning” and suggested further significant gains are “undesirable”. But how do they prevent them? Pressured by luminaries such as Jack Nicklaus, The R&A and the USGA will conduct a study to try to find out the reasons for this leap in driving distances.
Jack’s easy solution is to limit the distance the ball travels by changing its make-up.
The truth is, the ball is only a contributory factor.
The other components are titanium drivers, improved graphite shafts, improved player fitness and, of course, the condition of courses.
Now, Jack is not only arguably the greatest golfer who ever lived, he has also been a golfing visionary.
So he has more than earned the right to be listened to.
But I think golf would be shooting itself in the foot if manufacturers were not allowed to innovate.
The present equipment suits people. It makes it easier for beginners and keeps people in the game longer.
As far as the ball is concerned, there has been talk of a different balls for pros and amateurs. But, again, I’m sceptical. One of the great things about attending a tour event is standing at the tee and watching the biggest hitters lash the ball down the fairway.
If you reduce their length by 20% – as has been mooted – guys like Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy’s mighty 315-yard drives would be reduced to just over 250.
At the other end of the driving stats table, Steve Stricker would find his average of 278 yards reduced to 224 yards.
Do spectators really want to see pros hitting it shorter than amateurs?
It’s a complex problem, but I think there is a solution – and it was staring us in the face a couple of weeks ago at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.
That’s a course Jack Nicklaus re-designed, and it incorporates a tough stretch of holes called “The Bear Trap” in the back nine.
It is set up to test the pros to the limit, with thick Bermuda rough and fast greens with tricky pin positions.
Factor in a stiff breeze, and the cut fell at five over par, with the victor Justin Thomas winning a play-off at eight under par.
There was no talk about the ball going too far that week!
That is the answer as far as I’m concerned – make the courses more of a test for the top players.
That way, the many advantages of technological progress will not be lost to the game.
Phil Mickelson’s victory in the WGC event at the Club de Golf Chapultepec course in Mexico City came as no surprise to me.
He had been in good form going into the event, with top-six finishes at Phoenix, Pebble Beach and the difficult Riviera Country Club in LA.
The only shock was that the win was his first since winning our Open at Muirfield in 2013.
Even at 47 years old – the oldest player in the field in Mexico – his fitness and desire was second to none.
With his brother, Tim, now firmly by his side caddying – and a new coach in Aussie, Andrew Getson, in tow – he will be one of the favourites to win The Masters for a fourth time next month.
After that, it will be all eyes on the US Open and a potential Grand Slam for Lefty.