Tom
Why do you think that the tee is so fundamental to the game of golf? It's a fairly recent invention, is it not? My instinct tells me that this concept proposed by Forrest and Dennis would be the easiest way by far to make our favo(u)rite courses both challenging to the elite player and accessible to the hackers like me and even the golfing studs like you. I wonder how (and how well) these pro guys would play off the tips of Cypress or Rye if they had to hit all their tee shots off the deck, after a drop and not a place. No change in equipment (implement) or ball.would be necessary to bring these venues back into the game of golf. Rather than the putative "two ball/competition ball" rule, why not a "to tee, or not to tee" rule? Let us hackers use a tee (or a pile of sand....) if we want to, but make competitors (however defind) hit it off the deck. As a bonus, this change would increase the employment prospects of the greenkeeping staff, who are the unsung heroes of both GCA and the game.......