FORGET BIFURCATION
I ALMOST always enjoy reading Huggan’s Alley in each month’s edition of Golf Australia. However, I must say, I found John Huggan’s recent column,“Bifurcation is simply common sense”, seriously lacking in the usual quality of analysis that I have come to expect from him.
I suggest the only rational reason for bifurcation is to prevent the need for continual lengthening of golf courses where professional tournaments are played (which probably accounts for less than one percent of the courses worldwide), so as to roll back the increasing distances technology has delivered to pro golfers.
While John touches on this point, much of the column is devoted to points that seem irrelevant to the subject. He seems to suggest that, because many golfers don’t know the rules, they should be exempted from them. That sounds like my local amateur soccer club not having to worry about minor issues like offside rules. He also seems to suggest that ‘mulligans’ are the norm in amateur competitions – in 44 years as a club member, I’ve never played in a competition that allowed mulligans.
And if I have a ten on a hole, that is my score for that competition – it is only for handicapping purposes that a lower number is used – and since professional competitions are not played with handicaps, this cannot be an example of bifurcation.
I have two suggestions for dealing with the technology problem without bifurcation.
The first is to roll back the technology (especially of the golf ball) for everyone. Since most amateurs have gained little from technology advances, they have little to lose from rolling it back. The second is to focus on the design of holes rather than the length of holes. As I recall, the driveable par-4 10th hole was about the toughest on the course at the recent Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Courses do not have to be 7,000 metres long to be challenging, even for professionals. [Sorry Ken, but I have to agree with John. The way golf is today, professionals play a game that is far and away from the one you and I play, so how can one set of rules apply to both? – Editor.]