Goofy Golf? Wish They Would Have Kept Playing!

[Ronald Montesano]

Quotes from golf.Com

"Rickie Fowler hit a solid drive that went only 215 yards. Carl Pettersson's 25-foot birdie putt on the second hole rolled up to the hole and then got blown 25 feet past it, and Scott Piercy, Pettersson's playing partner, threw up his arms.

"I knew it was going to happen, too," Pettersson said. "The group in front of us was having some issues on two, and we had to wait a good 10 minutes. I hit a nice putt. It looked like it would be two feet away and it ended up 25 feet away. Then it was just ridiculous. I saw [Tour rules official] Jon Brendle and said, 'Are we trying to identify the best player this week, or are we just trying to finish?"

It couldn't have been a less auspicious start for the 2013 season.

"It started off bad and got worse," said the Tour's senior rules official on site, Slugger White. "We aren't really looking for these gusts up to 40 mph."



Read more: http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/pga-tour-season-delayed-after-strange-start-kapalua#ixzz2H4GpE4zg

[Jeb Bearer]

. "We aren't really looking for these gusts up to 40 mph"

Then why are they playing at Kapalua?

[Sam Morrow]

Before the end of this century there will be a PGA Tour event in a dome.

[Ronald Montesano]

Wish Simpson could have finished. Would have loved to read "it's not his management nor ball-striking skills, but the anchored putter. solely the anchored putter." Those who bemoan the anchor are the extremist tea party of golf.

[Dan King]

Sam I've been arguing that for years. Move the pro game indoors where they can really control all the variables, and therefore better identify the best medal player of the week. They have no desire to test these guys mentally, just physically, so why are they still playing the outdoor game? Leave the old game to those of us that like the mental challenges.

Cheers,
Dan King

It is a test of temper, a trial of honour, a revealer of character. It means going into God's out of doors. getting close to nature, fresh air and exercise, a sweeping of mental cobwebs and a genuine relaxation of tired tissues.
  --David Forgan

[Sam Morrow]

Sam I've been arguing that for years. Move the pro game indoors where they can really control all the variables, and therefore better identify the best medal player of the week. They have no desire to test these guys mentally, just physically, so why are they still playing the outdoor game? Leave the old game to those of us that like the mental challenges.

Cheers,
Dan King

It is a test of temper, a trial of honour, a revealer of character. It means going into God's out of doors. getting close to nature, fresh air and exercise, a sweeping of mental cobwebs and a genuine relaxation of tired tissues.
  --David Forgan

They would find something to complain about playing indoors also. One thing golfers deserve credit for is being the whiniest bunch of candy asses around.

[Philippe Binette]

when somebody is 3-under thru 7 holes.... the course is playable. Period.

[Sam Morrow]

when somebody is 3-under thru 7 holes.... the course is playable. Period.

Exactly

[Jeb Bearer]

And when the wind blows your putt 25 feet past the hole...don't hit it so hard!

[Sam Morrow]

And when the wind blows your putt 25 feet past the hole...don't hit it so hard!

It used to be called rub of the green.

[Jeb Bearer]

Now, according to Petterson, it's called "a nice putt." 

[Matthew Essig]

when somebody is 3-under thru 7 holes.... the course is playable. Period.

Exactly

A course is not playable when a perfectly hit putt gets blown off a green, and when a marked ball continuously rolls off a green. Every ball that found a bunker plugged 3 inches down.

If you say that doesn't make a course unplayable, consider Webb's gauntlet he was about to indure: He had plugged the ball short of the bunker on 8, most likely resulting in at least a bogey (Pros always find a way to make bogey from down there). And 5-7 are the easiest holes on the course statistically. When shots of 10, 11, and 12 were shown, the completely exposed holes were being blown just as hard, if not harder than the completely unfair 2nd. If Webb had been out there for another 5 holes, he would be around E. No pro would have finished under par. It was completely unfair how hard the wind was blowing the ball on and around the greens.

[Jeb Bearer]

Matthew,

Okay, fair enough, but, since when is "around even" completely unfair? Isn't that the goal nowadays?

[Matthew Essig]

Matthew,

Okay, fair enough, but, since when is "around even" completely unfair?

As bad as the conditions were when Webb went through 2, as Slugger White and the commish said, the conditions became worse. So bad, that the course reached its breaking point.

[Sam Morrow]

Why does it matter if no pro finishes under par? Everyone was playing the same golf course.

[noonan]

I find it ironic that people who argue constantly about the fairness of architecture/design have issue with a ruling the course is unplayable.

[Matthew Essig]

Why does it matter if no pro finishes under par? Everyone was playing the same golf course.

Because when one group hit a ball within 3 feet of the hole, it isn't fair compared to a ball that was that close but is now off the green. As Carl Petterson said, "Are we trying to identify the best player of the week, or are we trying to finish?" This is directly talking about the problem with keeping the ball by the hole and indirectly talking about the issue with time. It took some groups 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish 3 holes!!!!!!

If you continue to push the issue, we will just have to agree to disagree.

[Sam Morrow]

1 Hour 45 minutes to play 3 holes? Sounds like the US Open.

[Philippe Binette]

The tour is stuck in those conditions and here's why:

http://www.binettegolfarchitecture.blogspot.ca/2013/01/stuck-in-storm-fate-of-tournament-golf.html

[Sam Morrow]

The tour is stuck in those conditions and here's why:

http://www.binettegolfarchitecture.blogspot.ca/2013/01/stuck-in-storm-fate-of-tournament-golf.html

Great stuff and all true!

[Sam Morrow]

If conditions were so bad that Rickie Fowler hit a 215 yard drive then shouldn't they stop play when Rickie Fowler hits a 415 yard drive?

[Matthew Essig]

Well, the last part about waiting for windy conditions until the Open is completely not true. The wind Saturday is supposed to be just as, if not, worse.

[Sam Morrow]

Then they should cancel play for tomorrow so the players don't have to get up early. I bet the beds at the Ritz in Maui are pretty nice.

[Matthew Essig]

Then they should cancel play for tomorrow so the players don't have to get up early. I bet the beds at the Ritz in Maui are pretty nice.

We all know that the Tour wouldn't do that....

We will have to agree to disagree.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Petterson's putt was ridiculous.  They had good reason to halt play for that reason alone.