Does playing metal woods make it harder

[Patrick_Mucci]

to play the 13th hole ?

Has the need to hit a low running draw/hook on the tee on
# 13 and the need to hit a high fade off a hook lie in the fairway been made far more difficult with the advent of metal woods ?

Is this one hole where hi-tech has been somewhat muted ?

[Jim_Kennedy]

Pat,
I saw a goodly number of metalwood shots get bent around trees and corners all week. I don't think they are any harder to maneuver for the Pros. What might be harder is getting the ball to move from right to left when you are swinging full tilt, as they all seem to be doing now.

[DMoriarty]

Patrick,

Didn't they shift the back tee when they lengthened the hole within the past few years?  I seem to recall that they effectively made the dogleg sharper, but the changes come so fast it is hard to keep track.

This year it seemed that, generally, the golfers who were long enough to hit a controlled three-wood could turn it around the corner nicely, while those who had to flail with driver often ended up well right.

[TEPaul]

I don't know if playing metal woods makes shot making harder or easier on ANGC's back nine par 5s but I believe if anyone analyzes the "scoring spectrum" numbers on both #13 and #15 during this Masters they will see those two holes are still doing what they were designed to do and they're doing it as well as ever---eg eagles to triples.  

[tonyt]

I think the difficulty in shaping the ball is a lot more ball related than it is clubhead related.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Pat, I agree it is harder to shape the ball with Metal woods but not  enough to impact this hole for these players.

[Jon Wiggett]

Pat,

working the ball was much easier with wooden headed clubs and the modern ball does fly much straighter than 20 years ago. Having said that a modern tournement pro does not experience the extremes in course condition that were experienced by players in the past. The quality of the courses and there setup is so controlled that the only thing that really changes is the name of the tournament and the venue. Also there are very few holes in modern professional golf that require you to bend the ball off the tee. The tour has been chasing the ideals of straight = good to such an extreme that what made the game so popular for spectators has been lost. What or who caused the big interrest in golf and professional tournaments? In the USA it was probably Arnie and in Europe Seve. Neither of these were straight or consistant in their styles of play but they were very exciting to watch. Such players have little chance on the tour these days

[Sean Leary]

It seems like it is the larger heads that make it more difficult to turn the ball over rather than the fact that they are metal.  When these guys need to hook it, they can still do it easily with a  metal three wood.....

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