Making golf an offensive game

[Scott Macpherson]

Niall,


Yes, Cypress Point is perhaps the classic example. Do you that that by pulling away from being a Tour venue, it helped the course preserve some of it's integrity and charm?




Back to the point of the thread. Making golf a more offensive game is a no brainer. Putting golfers in a situation on the tee or in the fairway where they have to ask themselves 'should I try this shot' and the answer is 'yes' because the reward is high, then that's fun and exciting.

[jeffwarne]

So here's an idea...


The NBA has primarily become an offensive game. Defence is important and we all like to see big blocks etc, but fans love the slams, dunks, 3-pointers and high powered assists. World Cricket has done the same with T20 a huge hit worldwide with viewers wanting to see big 6s every over.


What if we did that for golf? How would it look? So apart from the Majors, primarily the Tours (US and European) set up the courses shorter, and encouraged more dynamism with par 3's measuring 140-180y, short par 4's with 'speed slots', areas of the greens that funnel the ball to key pin locations. Par 5s would be reachable in 2 shots like the 13th at Augusta. High Risk High Reward golf but courses closer to 6000y than 7000y. Forget about par (and especially protecting it), the focus is excitement because, after all, golf is only entertainment.


Could this be the future for our game?


Scott

If the majors are playing courses over 7000 yards, and the tours were playing the rest of the events at 6000 yards with the offensive features you promote...


how long before someone breaks ranks....
and wants to be more like a major?


Isn't that how we got here in the first place?


Perhaps a thought for a another thread but...
When does a classic course go from being outdated to charming? or from charming to outdated?


Presumably most such courses were not ever designed to be "charming" but rather were considered beasts in their day-and they only now are considered charming by the less skilled because they can actually play them.

[Tim_Weiman]

Hasn't anybody noticed that except for the initial blip when Arnie showed up, golf has gotten less and less popular since the Tour went on TV. 

The best thing for golf would be for the Tour to disappear.

David,


On another recent thread I suggested golf should be banned from television and someone responded that I was a few days late for April Fools.


The other poster may have been joking, but I wasn't. I fell in love with the game long before I ever saw it on TV.


What does the Tour really add?

[Mark Pearce]

Scott, I'd be really interested to hear how that dialogue with the tour goes.  I never imagined CH as a tour venue and imagine there would be some serious logistical issues.  I'd love to see the pros play some of those holes, though!