State of Scottish Golf

[Kris Shreiner]

It's the poor premise it sets that's the real problem. When other young players who look up to those talented players ahead of them as folks to emulate... they see the motorized pull carts and assume that as the way to play. BAD! The game quickly becomes some motorized enterprise, and sorry, they look terrible and are now approaching aircraft carrier size. Look at them.

What happened to the hardy Scottish golfer? When you are older or have physical issues, fine. But for a younger player in good health...really?

K

[Niall C]

It's the poor premise it sets that's the real problem. When other young players who look up to those talented players ahead of them as folks to emulate... they see the motorized pull carts and assume that as the way to play. BAD! The game quickly becomes some motorized enterprise, and sorry, they look terrible and are now approaching aircraft carrier size. Look at them.

What happened to the hardy Scottish golfer? When you are older or have physical issues, fine. But for a younger player in good health...really?

K

Quite astonishing that someone who goes out of his way to advocate that golfers get someone to carry their clubs for them, then slates boys/juniors for making their own lives easier by not carrying. Perhaps if they'd pitched up and hired a caddy everything would have been OK 

Niall

[Niall C]

Brian,

I think the biggest question on the state of Scottish golf must be why are so few of the juniors capable of carrying?

Jon

Jon

I remember playing us a wee boy and still recall the strap of the bag digging into the shoulder and that was with only a couple of cut down mashie niblicks, putter and persimmon driver. Looking at the clobber these guys have its no wonder they don't carry. In fact any parent who allowed them to carry should be reported to social services. Anyway, are we judging them on their golfing ability or how much weight they can shift ?

Niall

[Jon Wiggett]

Niall,

this is just personal preference. I do not think that fit and able people should carry. It is better for the turf, reduces the playing time on most courses and would reduce the amount of clobber that is carried. Still each to his own.

Jon

[Thomas Dai]

I generally go along with the approach that fit and able people should not use powered trolleys/push carts etc. However, I'd be inclined to add an age factor into this as well, for both the old and the young plus there's also the ability of boys-vrs-girls to carry weighted objects for prolonged times, although that's another debate (and I'm not going there!).

My understanding is that the human body is still growing until about age 22-ish and therefore there is the possibility for prolonged carrying of heavy golf bags to cause a long-term injury to the body, which may not even become apparent until the individual becomes older. And these days many juniors start much younger than previous generations. Certainly there seems to be a large amount of 'clobber', as Jon so beautifully phrases it, carried these days, not sure it's all necessary though and a good point was made earlier about the size of bags and the size of manufactures names and logos. Personally I've always found that if the bag is reasonably slim it's the umbrella and the number of balls you carry that makes the biggest weight difference rather than purely the number of clubs you carried, but these days full 14-club sets are commonplace even amongst younger juniors.

Are there any physiotherapist or osteopaths etc who would like to comment on this aspect?

On a 'lighter' note (groan/yawn!), maybe powered trolleys are needed to carry all the waters bottles and snacks folk seem to take around with them these days, not surprising mind you, you probably need a snack or two or three, if not a whole tray of soup and sandwiches, given that 4-5 hr rounds are becoming regrettably more frequent. Maybe it's not a 'lighter' note though, ho, ho, ho (I'm not allowed to say 'tee hee', I've been told off for that, although not by the normal user I should point out!).

Furthermore, is it just the state of Scottish golf that's not what is it once was? What about soccer? I was going to say rugby union as well, but that improved during this years Six Nations. Any more sports suffering?

All the best.

[Wayne_Kozun]

What about kids acting as caddies and carrying bags?  You guys are making it sound like cruel and unusual punishment to make any kid under 22 carry a golf bag.  Kids have been carrying heavy leather bags with heavier wooden shafts for well over a century and pretty much all of them are better off for it.  And the 14 club limit is a relatively recent rule.

[David_Tepper]

I certainly did not expect this discussion to devolve into the general merits of teenagers carrying or not carrying their own bags. I was simply referencing the two young men who played a 36-hole final for a national championship after playing 7 rounds of golf in the prior 5 days.

The fact that they chose use use a trolley, motorized or otherwise, did not bother me in the least. In fact, it made a whole lot of sense to me. Yes, they probably carried a water bottle and some snacks along, which also makes a whole lot of sense when playing 36-holes. What's the big deal?  

[Kris Shreiner]

Do ya think they'd have those monster bags if they had to carry them? If you'll notice other players that carried their bags in that event, they were NOT the steamer trunks seen on the power carts. They were modest-sized carry stand bags. You know, what kids that age should have.

I applaud the talent and junior golf competition. It is the insidious nature of the techno-creep that complicity by those that are clueless or lining their pockets are allowing...that's the problem. Remember, we are in an age when you see younger folks,  both friends and couples alike,  regularly walking down the street with their eyes riveted to some phone screen, often pounding away on the phone keys texting...with ZERO personal communication or interaction going on. Very healthy behavior, wouldn't you say? Observe almost ANY social setting today...that lack of direct discourse, and Pavlovian preoccupation with the "gadgets"- is rampant. No thanks.

Cheers,
Kris

[David_Tepper]

Kris -

As the saying goes, "if the music's too loud, you're to old!"

DT

[Tom Kelly]

I am not sure of the rules for this particular competition but I know most junior events in England do not permit the use of a caddy and the few that do don't allow coaches or family members to caddy for the players. I would assume SGU events would have similar rules.

You have to remember that this competition may well be the biggest competition of the player's lives so far and a good finish or especially winning it may have a great effect on how their golfing future pans out due to invitations/eligibility to future events and teams etc., it's a serious deal to them. If I was in their shoes I would want to be in the best physical shape I can be in for every shot. If that means a powerkaddy would help then surely it is a sensible option? I am not a fan of every kid going out playing a knockabout with theirs friends in full tour bag/powakaddy/range finder gear even if they can hardly hit a ball, but for big 36+ hole events I see no problem with them at all.

[Tony_Muldoon]

The daughter of a friend of mine is a fine player and coached within the system as a Young England Cadet  (cadette?).  From the age of 12 they were driving her round the country to events and training sessions that included classroom lectures on nutrition, psychology and fitness.  It is part of the culture that they believe they will perform better with a power trolley.

[Paul Gray]

Rich,

I know for a fact that Mr. Westwood carries his own clubs during his recreational golf. Rich, the problem of juniors using trolleys has more to do with their clubs and the golfing authorities than the professional players.

Ally, when you are carrying for two (player/caddy) you need a certain amount of storage but the main reason for such big bags is the size of the adverts you can get on them. I guess you never watch golf on TV then

Jon

I've started a campaign of abuse towards the seventeen year old (who might well be reading this) in our pro shop that regularly plays with full tour bag and electric trolley. I'm playing with him tomorrow and expect to see him carrying! 

Good on you Paul. I suppose you have told him he has to carry?

Jon

He arrived as suggested with lightweight carry bag and, giving him four shots, the match ended all square. Afterwards I pointed out that carrying hadn't seemed to hinder his golf swing! 

[Jon Wiggett]

Paul,

did he take hit shots with his bag on his back or did he wimp out and put it down to hit swing the club

Jon