When and how...

[Jordan Wall]

...did technology start to get so overwhelming.

Wasn't it just ten years or so ago when people would never, ever hit a 460cc driver?
When there was no such thing even close to a ProV1?

Wasnt it thirty or so years ago when wooden drivers were still being used?
When spinning a ball back was about impossible?
When hitting a 250 yard drive was huge?

When did this huge technology thing come booming in and why did it take so long?
Why has, in ten years, technology grown more than it had in the previous 60 years?  80 years?  100 years!?

And, when did the trend to make courses so long begin?
Did this trend begin just a few yuears ago?
Is it becoming out of proportion?

I think some holes are becoming unplayable for me, and I don't consider myself a bad golfer.
Even green speeds have gotten excessive enough to where the course I love most is having to rebuild some of their greens.
Why the sudden change in the past few years when it the previous 100 years nothing like what is happening was ever even thought of?

[JESII]

"The Bounding Billy" seemingly had a more significant effect (percentage wise) on the distance a ball traveled than the evolution of competitive quality two-piece balls.

 

[Adam Clayman]

In the beggining there was light...

[Wayne_Kozun]

I agree technology should be rolled back but I found it easier to spin back a balata ball than a Prov V1.  It's just that balatas were not used by amateurs as much.

[Jordan Wall]

I agree technology should be rolled back but I found it easier to spin back a balata ball than a Prov V1.  It's just that balatas were not used by amateurs as much.

Interesting.  That is kind of cool.  
Something to think about.

A big question is, how do pros go from hitting 250ish 10-20 yeras ago to around 315 now?
Thats a HUGE increase!

[Garland Bayley]

I think it all began with Karsten S. The ping putter, then irons, then u grooves.

He showed you didn't have to be an existing player in the business to make a killing. You just had to have innovative ideas. It all went downhill from there.

Time to make everyone go back to playing blades!

 

[Wayne_Kozun]

In the past you used to have to choose between distance and feel/spin.  With new technology you don't have to choose anymore plus the top balls (i.e. Pro V1) go longer than the old distance balls did.

You could use a balata and get lots of spin but it meant you were giving up distance off the tee.  It also got cut very easily which was a factor for the amateur who didn't want to go through several balls a round, even when you didn't lose them.

I will occasionally play 54 holes with the same Pro V1 - that never happened with a balata ball.

[Jin Kim]

1898, the invention of the Haskell ball.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Around the year 2000 I had heard that for the first time engineers had created accurate finite element models of wood heads.
I thought that was absurd, as I'd been doing it for years on everything from huge models, to tiny brackets.  I apparantly seem to forget that I used to work for the world's largest defense contractor and had everything at my fingertips.

CAD and FEM are hugely helpful for design of mechanical parts, not golf courses.

CAD and FEM also became more affoardable and much more mainstream.  CAD and FEM also had a tremendous impact on the manfucturing side.  If you could build a part more accurately, you can push it to its limits more cost effectively.

And the PRIZE money didn't help either....