The lunacy of length

[Patrick_Mucci]

The December 15/22 edition of Golf Week contains an article by Jim Achenbach entitled, "The Lunacy of Length".

In addition, the year-end statistics are listed for the men's and women's tour.  The driving distances are eye opening.

How can the PGA, R&A, and USGA not set up their courses with additional length for their Major Championship ?  
We already know Augusta's response.

[ian andrew (Guest)]

Pat,

We have a new project in Calgary, there is a very realistic chance that the course would see a Canadian Open. When I looked at Dougs first routing, I couldn't help but notice that the holes seemed very long. The par was 72, and the yardage was 7500+. I asked Doug, why so long? He talked about average distances and elevation as a factor. I asked where the short 4 was, he pointed to the 390 yarder.

I still can't get that day out of my mind,I had often joked once we got to 7500 yards I would quit in protest.

Steve Smyers has explained that technology only assists the powerful and barely helps the weak. Is there not something that can be done to limit technology before this gets ridiculous. This comes back to the debate about a universal, distance limited, tournyment ball.

In general, the price of golf has doubled in Toronto in the last 5 years. The width of our safety margins are 50% larger than 5 years ago (due to length of misses). We require more land due to increased requirements for length and safety. Golf is getting to a point where the cost to develop a new golf course is so high, only an excessive green fee will cover the cost. At some point the basics of economic say that people will find a limit to how much they will pay. Golf will not continue to grow if the cost of the game continues to escalate at their present rate.

The R&A and USGA have to realize this issue is paramount.

[Matt_Ward]

Pat:

The day of the 500-yard par-4 is upon us -- especially at the world class level. It is unfortunate, but without added length the game becomes so compressed that ability with all of the clubs is becoming less so. Minus major wind conditions -- when do you see pros hitting long irons into par-4's anymore?

The only other option -- rein in the fairways to bowling alley width and import rough grass from the jungle! That to me is not the solution that is preferred.

The separation point between average play and world class play has accerlerated through technology. Clearly, some things can be done (to wit -- the ball), but the leading associations neither have the will or $$ to fight the honorable battle. The bigger question -- can golf continue with a "one size fits all" equipment standard or should there be different equipment standards for the world's best and everyone else???

In the long run sites for major events will have to be "created" to deal with the way the game is played at the highest level. I can't wait to see how Augusta plays for the 02 Masters. And, most of all, I can't wait to see what player and press reaction will be.

It is clear that future Open sites (Oakmont and Winged Foot, to name just two) are making adjustments to their respective courses to deal with this issue. I'm sure other will follow.

We shall see ...

[GolfCourseSuper]

It just seems reducing the liveliness of the golf ball would take care of the whole situation.... Unfortunately millions of dollars would be lost from competing ball manufacturers...

[TEPaul]

After all this time of reading and talking about the distance problem there seems that there are a number of solutions but all will have to realize that everything cannot stay the same or one should say get back to the way it once was.

Controlling or dialing back the ball would certainly be one solution but probably not that likely given all the obstacles with aggressive manufacturers and the apparent unwillingness or inability of the two rules making bodies to solve the problem that way.

The other solution would be to just let the pros shoot what they shoot and don't worry so much about par. The Tour seems to have let that gradually happen but the USGA and R&A seem to want to try every set-up trick in the book to prevent that.

Adding length to courses would certainly be another solution that we are seeing happen all the time but that has it's inherent problems for the classic course that can't manage that and all the other problems in that vein already cited here.

Narrowing down the fairways and growing the rough came into vogue a while ago and noone seems too keen on that either since it's so accuracy related and is frankly boring.

There is another way that we talk about on here a lot but hasn't been tried much at the highest level. That would be taking the fairways out to what they once were, maintaining the roughs like they once were and speed the course up much more than they have been in many years. And also make the greens a lot firmer than they have been in some time! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, make the bunkering have real meaning, unpredicatable meaning like it once did, so even the pro are going to get snared and lose more shots than they have in bunkering for about fifty years.

And if it rains, things might change and the pros might go low that day or that week--so what?

The one thing we may never see again is the pros hitting long irons into par 4s. But maybe the set-ups I just mentioned might make them think a lot more than they have been recently and maybe make them try to be a bit more cautious off the tees. Oh My God, that might take the driver out of their hands sometimes of their own choice? Oh well, you can't have everything.

The interesting thing is I saw a tournament in Australia last year with all the conditions and the set-up that I mentioned here and it was exciting golf--different golf from what we've been used to but very exciting and guess what they didn't massacre par either. And it surely was no walk in the park for those touring pros--it actually made them really think and try some very creative shots and shot selections!

If they're not going to control that ball then this is what I think they should do, and it would actually play right into some really good restoration too--with maybe a little added intensity!!

[Chris Kane]

Tom,

Can you recall tournament it was that you mention?  Aus.Open at Kingston Heath?

[TEPaul]

Chris:

I don't recall the course but I think it was the Australian Open and I think it was one of the very famous courses there. There was quite a bit of discussion about it on here last year because the greens were cut right to the greenside bunkers and we discussed on here exactly how that would be maintained. If one of the Australian contributors on here saw this he'd tell us which course it was--or Ran should know.

Anyway, my point was the way the course was set-up was different than the way we do it in America. The course was very firm and the greens were extremely firm making approach shots very tricky indeed and consequently the scores reflected that. This is just one possible way to manage the distances they hit it today--with firmness. The ball certainly doesn't go less far (farther actually) but the ability of the players to keep the ball where they want it changes a good deal!

[Chris Kane]

Tom,

It was the Accenture Matchplay Championship at Metropolitan.  I spent two days at the tournament.

Metro received widespead acclaim before and during that event, mostly for the conditioning.  The fairways were absolutely perfect, and this focused media on the club and course, every second person I spoke to spoke about how "Metro is definitely the best course in Australia now, no doubt, best course I've seen in my life".  Sadly, all the pros agreed.  No-one cared about design, shot values or anything else, it was all about fairways.  This has caused a version of 'Augusta-syndrome' in Australian, particularly the sandbelt, as Metro have set the standard unrealistically high.  The only thing that seems to matter to club members is having pure couch fairways: without a tournament budget.

The greens were very firm: would have been firmer except for being drowned the day before the event becuase it'd been so hot the greens were dying.  

The bunkers back onto the greens all year, and generally it presents few problems to my knowledge.

It was a good event becuase the course was presented in a format that maximised the features of the design, with the firm greens as you noted.  Players got frustrated, but there was little complaining, maybe becuase it was matchplay.