[JohnV]

Gary Galyean's Golf Letter
P.O. Box 644393
Vero Beach, FL 32964
772/492-0016

Thanks Kelly, I've printed their three pdfs that they have on line and sent in my subscription info.

[A.G._Crockett]

A.G. -

You are making things unnecessarily complicated.

If the problem is the non-linearity of the pros' performance, the solution is that only pros would be required to play a rolled back ball.

No other rules change.

Sort of like wooden bats in the bigs v. aluminum bats in the minors.

Bob

Bob,
I've never liked the baseball analogy because the baseball industry doesn't depend on adult participation for survival; it depends on spectators.  The golf industry depends on adult participation, and there is a perception (however erroneous) that pros and the rest of us are "playing the same game" that is worth maintaining.  In other words, bifurcation is a last resort, not a solution to be quickly set upon.

[ForkaB]

AG

You are right.  The perception is erroneous.  Bifurcation is here and has been here for some time.  You (and the USGA) need to get over this fantasy that we all play the same game.

Slainte

Rich

[BCrosby]

AG -

Bifurcation is real, is here and is not going away on its own.

Bob

[JESII]

A.G. and Rich {edit} and Bob,

Do you really think the perception of playing the same game is erroneous?

Are the top players in golf any more segregated from normal golfers as the tops in any other sport of significant participation?

[BCrosby]

JES II -

They play a radically different game. They inhabit a different golfing universe.

It did not hit home with me until I saw Mickelson and Couples play Athens CC  several years ago during one of their off days.

I was stunned. They hit drives to places I thought impossible for a human to hit it to. And I've seen great amateus play Athens on a regular basis. It has hosted a number of important college and amateur tournaments. Did I say stunned?

Bob

[JESII]

Bob,

Could you ever manage to beat one of them on a hole?

Could you ever score a point against Michael Jordan?

Could you ever get a hit off of Roger Clemens?

Could you tackle Barry Sanders?


My point is, golf gives you the chance to compare what you can do versus those guys so much better than any other big-time sport. Granted, most of us have no business even attempting to make that comparison, but you could. Bifurcate the rules and that is gone. It will not hurt professional or non-professional golf one bit IMO, but that one aspect of uniqueness (is that a word?) will be gone.

My opinion is very strong in that the problem with the game is the reaction we the public have to the distances these guys hit the ball. When a 6500 yard course is ideal for me, why woud I think I have to lengthen my back tees to get them to 7200. How many people that play my course need 7200 yards to feel the challenge. Now that I've lengthened my course to 7200 yards and people that should not play from that length are doing so and find the greens too severe, I decide it's time to flatten some of the contours so as to make them "fair".

It starts with us, we are buying these balls and clubs, that's why they keep making them.

[TEPaul]

Once again this is a good example of how if GOLFCLUBATLASers use a word or phrase often enough that word or phrase takes on its own meaning on here.

If the R&A/USGA say they want everyone to play the same game all they're saying is they want everyone to play under a single set of I&B rules and regulations (and they most definitely stress that point in their 2002 "Joint Statement of Principles").

But most on here seem to think "playing the same game" means that some of the rest of us should be as good as professional goflers, most particularly touring professional golfers.

The R&A/USGA never said anything like that---ever--not once in their 100 plus year histories.

Bifurcation has nothing to do with whether or not tour pros and such play better than the rest of us or how much better they play than the rest of us. Professional, particularly touring ones have always played a lot better than most of the rest of us. Bifurcation only means two sets of I&B rules and regulations and standards. The R&A/USGA are apparently not going to do that, perhaps ever.

So when you talk about "Bifurcation" at least understand what it means in the context of golf. Before the R&A/USGA gets into two distinct I&B rules and regulations standards I'm convinced they, along with the manufacturers, will probably attempt to go down some "weird science" road with particularly golf balls. God knows it appears the technology to do that is either here now or very close. What will the effect of that be? I think it might be an attempt on their part to actually distort the "in-line" MPH effect on distance to try to help less skilled golfers.

If you want to talk about "in effect" bifurcation with balls that's basically something golf went through for probably 25 years or from the time the low spinning two piece ball was invented and co-existed with the high spinning three piece soft ball. The fact is that two piece ball was low-spinning and it was played by most every less than highly-skilled golfer in the world while almost every single professional and very skilled golfer played a soft three piece ball.

The difference in distance of those two types of balls for so many years was perhaps remarkable but we never saw it due to different use patterns of golf balls by the skilled golfer (3-peice soft) compared to the not so skilled (2-peice hard).

All that decades long use patterns in balls finally came to an end within the last ten years. Another way of looking at this is if highly skilled golfers began using two-piece hard balls when they were invented maybe 35-40 years ago there probably would've been a real distance spike back then. But the fact is they never used those balls because they didn't like them for other reasons.

[BCrosby]

JES -

I'm not sure why it matters that you or I might beat Tiger on a hole.

That sort of fan connection with the pro game may be a nice thing at a metaphysical level, but it has not done much for the popularity of golf over the last decade. To the contrary, rounds played are bascially flat, TV viewership is down and equipment sales are going nowhere.

OTOH, the other sports you mentioned where a fan/player gap exists are growing quite nicely.

[JESII]

Well then Bob, why would we need to give them a separate set of rules?

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