Is golf too easy?

[T_MacWood]

Anthony Pioppi's thread on George Thomas inspired this question, its a question that has been asked off and on through the years. Perfect bunkers, perfect fairways, perfect greens, lively golf balls, forgiving golf clubs, riding carts, etc. Is the game too easy today?

If the game was considerably cheaper, but more challenging, what effect would that have on its popularity? Would a more rustic, and challenging game, be less enjoyable or popular?

I personally believe the game is enjoyable with perfect conditions or less than consistent rustic conditions, but the perfect modern game is far too expensive....rediculously expensive.

[ForkaB]

Good thread, Tom

I think of Darwin's biography of Braid where JB lost an Open at TOC because he had to play off the railway tracks to the right and took 11 or something on 16.

I also think of when some friends of mine and I decided to play Fort William Golf Club on the way from Dornoch to Turnberry.  We were experimenting with this quaint Scottish custom of playing the ball as it lies, but FWGC was a goat trrack that had just been plowed (oops, laid out....).  Hitting 4 irons out of muddy cows footprints was an interesting experience.........

And, how many of us relish the chance to hit out of an unrepaired divot mark or from a lie in an unraked bunker?  The very small number of elite golfers on this site might enjoy this challenge in match play, and there are the Naccaratos of the world who will seek out such penance, but...

Counter that with the percentage of current "players" who are quite happy to drive into valley fairways that funnel the ball towards the center, and hit to greens that act like flypaper.

Recent excursions to bowling alleys with my sprogs have uncovered the dirty little secret that you can now get BUMPERS to thwart gutter balls!  The girls like it vis a vis the alternative (putting most balls in the gutter and scoring near to zero), but is it bowling?  Is it teaching the sprogs anything about actions and consequences?  About responsibility?  I think not.........

[TEPaul]

I believe in the "Big World" theory of golf and golf architecture. Basically no matter how hard anyone tries they'll never be able to influence golf and golf archtiecture to some extent that makes it either one dimensional or homogenous. There will always be a huge spectrum of variety of all types of styles and maintenance practices and easy and hard out there. Frankly, it's the essence of architecture and the essence of golf. And furthermore, no matter how hard anyone tries or how much anyone, the USGA/R&A, golfers generally, or anyone else tries, they'll never kill golf----it's here to say!

[ForkaB]

Tom P

Does this "big world" include bifurcation?  Specifically, can you imagine a world where an elite player such as you is required to hit out of a divot mark, but that Mr. Haversham is allowed to roll his ball over onto a nice piece of turf?

[TEPaul]

"Does this "big world" include bifurcation?"

No!

[ForkaB]

Hmmmm......

Pretty small world, then......

[Steve Pozaric]

Recent excursions to bowling alleys with my sprogs have uncovered the dirty little secret that you can now get BUMPERS to thwart gutter balls!  The girls like it vis a vis the alternative (putting most balls in the gutter and scoring near to zero), but is it bowling?  Is it teaching the sprogs anything about actions and consequences?  About responsibility?  I think not.........

BUT, it might teach them bowling can be fun and entice them back for more.  We had a party at a bowling alley with bumpers on some lanes.  My 4 1/2 and 2 yr olds had a lot of fun b/c they could actually knock down pins.  Had they just thrown gutter balls, I doubt they would have had such fun.  No it isn't really bowling, but they had fun and maybe it would cause them to want to continue to try (if we frequented bowling alleys).  

All part of growing the game.  Similar to starting with Par 3's courses, First Tee, game improvement irons, etc. that can change to 7000 + yrd high slope course played with blades or anywhere in between.

[PThomas]

I agree with Steve re bumper bowling

and the game is definitely not too easy for probably 95% -- maybe more -- of us who play...I think its difficulty for beginners is one on the reasons the number of players is stagnant:  IT'S SO DAMN HARD TO BE ABLE TO EVEN HIT THE THING EVERY TIME WHEN YOU ARE FIRST PLAYING!!!!

[Mark Brown]

As long as the greens roll reasonably well, I wouldn't mind rustic conditions.

[Rick Shefchik]

All credible instruction I've read on how to interest children in the game of golf involves not counting strokes, letting them tee the ball up wherever they want, hit till they're happy, take 'em home before they get frustrated, etc.

I had those theories in mind with my two kids, but I doubt that I practiced them religiously enough. My 20-year-old last touched a golf club when she was 9, and my 16-year-old has only a vague interest in the game, since he can't see the connection between a golf stroke and The Strokes.

Too easy? The game's a stone-cold bitch. I think the one phrase that Dan Kelly and I have said to each other more than anything else during our rounds of golf is, "God, this is a hard game."

Of course, it all depends on how good you want/expect to be.

[Dan King]

It may not be too much easier physically, but it is much easier mentally. Modern golf doesn't require nearly the mental challenge the game had in days gone by.

The idea wasn't to get enjoyment out of hitting out of the divot hole, but to be tested by the divot hole. Successfully maneuver out and you could feel good about facing adversity.

Hit from a non-level lie and feel good about meeting the challenge. Hit a blind shot and anticipate how good your shot is and see how you handle the thrill or disappointment. When you hit a shot exactly how you want to hit it but discover it in a bunker will that carry over into the next few shots or will you calmly play the bunker shot and proceed accepting the bad with the good? Can you figure out how to hit shots into greens when the challenge is more than throwing darts?

Lot of weak mental players have been successful at removing much of the mental challenge of the game so they only have to be capable physically to be good at golf.

Dan King

However unlucky you may be, it really is not fair to expect your adversary's grief for your undeserved misfortunes to be as poignant as your own.
  --Horace Hutchinson  (Hints on Golf)

[THuckaby2]

Dan:

I'm curious - why do you find that mental challenge to be diminished, if not removed?

It sure exists in spades for me and damn near everyone I play with....

Looking forward to your explanation.  Is it all about perfect conditions these days?  Jeez if that's the case I really DO need to get you out to Santa Teresa.

 

TH

[Bob_Huntley]

I have introduced many a youngster, including four of my own, to the game of golf. I started out with a rubber ball, graduated to a tennis ball and eventually a golf ball. All the time the emphasis was on.... having fun.

There is a lifetime thereafter to suffer from the wretched game.

Bob

[Dan King]

It's about the perfect conditions, the consistent bunkers and greens, the level lies, the removing of blind, etc...

It's about turning golf into a game about the shots. It fools golfers into thinking if they just get better at the shots they will become better golfers. Even the mental game gurus mostly talk about the shots -- mostly now dealing with repetitive routines. They advise to make the game as much like hitting balls on the range as possible.

Dan King
p.s. leaving for Sacramento, so who knows where this thread will be when I get back :-)

The poetic temperament is the worst for golf. It dreams of brilliant drives, iron shots laid dead, and long putts holed, while in real  golf success waits for him who takes care of the foozles and leaves the fine shots to take care of themselves.
  --Sir Walter Simpson  (The Art of Golf)
 

[JESII]

Of course, it all depends on how good you want/expect to be.

That's the kicker.

In the early days of American golf the notion of par for 18 holes was reserved for only the very best players. There was a recent college tournament with results in Golfweek in which the last place they listed (about 60th) was 2-under par. This was a very high level tournament (loads of top teams) but the winning score was in the neighborhood of 23 under for three rounds.

In every other aspect of our lives innovation is largely devoted to making our lives easier, so there is a very natural progression to do the same with golf. The trouble is many of us like the game to be as hard as possible, but are not willing to sacrifice the advantages of todays equipment for one reason or another. I am certainly guilty of that.

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