[Patrick_Mucci_Jr]

If the economy causes golf courses to go to "maintainance minimum" for the next five years, will the PGA Tour continue to present perfect maintainance standards, or, will they go with the trend and dial back on conditioning ?

If, five years from now, local golf course don't come close to resembling those courses televised every week, will there be a disconnect between the presentation and the viewer ?

Will viewers want to see PGA Tour players confront and deal with the same conditions they experience every week, or, will they lobby for their courses to improve conditions with an eye toward achieving PGA Tour standards ?

[henrye]

Pat.  I think there's a big difference between neglect and what many here call firm & fast conditioning.  I don't think we'll see "rough" conditions on the PGA tour due to the impact of the economy, but rather the move to planned firm & fast is more likely through education & environmental pressures.

[TEPaul]

HenryE:

We have been seeing significantly increased and improved firm and fast conditions on TOUR for a few years now. Haven't you noticed? If there has not been some significant rain event on most of those courses we watch weekly on TV then the significantly increased and improved F&F conditions can hardly be missed. Just follow the ball on most of their tee shots Henry----it is really trucking these days compared to what used to be on TOUR setup-wise.

[henrye]

HenryE:

Haven't you noticed?

Not really, but I confess to not being that astute an observer.  So what's Pat talking about when he references "perfect maintenance standards"?

Maybe you could take a crack at Pat's question?

[PCCraig]

I wouldn't misjudge "firm and fast" on the PGA Tour with fairwarys that run an 8 on the stimp thanks to them being damn near hand mowed.

I don't think you will ever see a change in conditioning on the PGA Tour. Clubs have too much at stake in how their club looks on TV.

[TX Golf]

It definitely has to be a combination of how tightly mown the grass is and how firm the fairways are..

I agree with Tom that unless there is a significant amount of rain prior to the tournament, those guys a getting 30-40 yards of roll in the fairways

No matter how short the grass is it still has to be firm to get that big first bounce!!

I guess the West Coast Swing my be a touch different due to the rainy season.

[Mike Benham]

Perhaps a side-question to Pat's topic is that with the eventual discontinuing of analog broadcast TV (some stations switched off their analog as of last night) will the continued expansion of high definition TV have an effect on the maintenance objectives of the Tour?

[David_Tepper]

Does anyone seriously think the "maintenance meld" at Augusta National and Muirfield Village (as presented for their tournaments) will be impacted by the economy? I seriously doubt whether ANY golf course will present "maintenance minimum" conditions on their course while hosting a professional tournament. 

The AGNC-syndrome will remain.

[Greg Chambers]

What most people don't realize is that the courses presented on Tour are dealing with HUGE maintenance budgets.  I mean HUGE.  Even when budgets are cut on these courses they are still more than enough to present the courses the way they are presented now.  I don't see anything changing in terms of conditioning.  The PGA Tour and the USGA have been a thorn in the side of small budget courses for a long time now, with golfers expectations being way too high based on what they see on TV.

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