Thanks for the link. I understand that Mr. Ogilvy is no fan of Fazio's work. For that alone he ought to receive emeritus status from this site.
"You had to hit it well for the ball to go anywhere. The difference between a good hit and a bad one with a driver was about 40 yards. With a modern driver you can hit the ball anywhere on the face really. The difference is only about five yards."
That might be true for the pros, but it certainly isn't for old hacks like me. When I hit a ProV1 with my R7 in the enlarged sweet spot, I can get 260 - 270 yards out of the drive. This happens maybe a couple of times per round. Much more often is the contact somewhere in the face yielding drives of 220 to 240.
While I agree with Mr. Ogilvy regarding the rough and the obsession with protecting par, I don't know that width in conjunction with firmer putting surfaces would change the pros' approach that much. Anyways, firmer greens are more a function of weather, soils, and green construction (I doubt that many superintendents set out to make greens soft and receptive for professional tournaments). Sub-surface systems to control temperature and moisture are very exepensive and apparently limit the architect's ability to design with varying slopes.
For the club player, whatever advantage is gained by having wide fairways (often confused here with providing more options), more is lost with firm, unreceptive, difficult greens. Shave the fringes, add slope, and deepen the bunkers and you have a recipe for 6-hour rounds.
What is good for the game may be very clear to Mr. Ogilvy and some on this site. As one of my favorite politicians likes to point out, rolling back the advancements of the last 40 years is not progress.
Taking away the Pinnacle and the loaf on a stick from the 18 handicapper and making him play a Club Special and a Powerbilt Citation is not going to further his enjoyment of the game. No matter how wide the fairways are- can he really utilize the suggested strategic options anyways?- firm up the greens and we make an already difficult game for most even more so.
Perhaps Mr. Ogilvy is speaking only about the state of professional golf. Certainly he is entitled to his opinion.
However, somehow I've got to believe that the good of the game implies more than just what applies to a very small fraction of 1% of the golfing population. BTW, I personally prefer short grass and firm grounds, and am generally indifferent on technology (R7 driver, Hogan Apex irons, Anser style Cameron putter). I just don't see the issues as being so black and white on this matter, and would hate to have the USGA and R & A base its rules and policies solely on what the professional game prefers.
BTW2, I was rooting for Leftie and Monty. It is nice to see a rising star, and apparantly, the winner had been named by some knowledgeable folks before the tournament started.