[Charlie Goerges]

Play at 95%+ of clubs in the UK and you’ll be without almost all of these.

This is good information for typical American golfers to have; goes toward what's essential.

[Jay Mickle]

While I routinely play with 8 clubs I wouldn't be in favour of a rule requiring handicap golfers to do so. How does 14 clubs max hurt the game? I would love it as part of bifurcation that pros/elite ams were restricted to 8 clubs max, but that would be for entertainment reasons.
Ciao

Miguel Ángel Jimenez has advocated for a 10 club limit for pros. Not surprising that a Spaniard would favor a system where it was necessary to be creative.

[Jim Sherma]

I realized that I replied earlier and spoke to things that I didn't like that I was more than happy to give up. To answer along the lines of the OP and pick something that I like that I'd be willing to give up: I like playing out of bunkers when they are consistently maintained. It's less important whether they are gritty and firm (my preference) or softer, as long as they are consistent. I also like bunkers visually and used as a crux of strategy. If increasing maintenance costs mean that a club/course can't maintain their bunkers in a reasonably consistent manner I would be willing to have enough filled in and converted to grass hazards so that the remaining ones could be maintained appropriately.


This was harder than I thought. I really don't want to give up anything that I like about golf. This is the one that I would give up first. Better manicured tee boxes next. Probably some green speed as long as they remain reasonably smooth, firm, and consistent.

I would happily give up tight and soggy turf; fairways, greens and/or surrounds. If you need to keep it wet in order to keep it healthy than the desired maintenance meld is all wrong. The worst of all worlds are greens that are fast and cut-up/bumpy from soft spikes as well as "chipping" areas that are mushy and essentially require a putter or hybrid because wedges will just dig with any downward stroke.


Will also second Tommy's willingness to give up green speeds over 10. Once you get up to 8.5-9 the greens roll well enough that you are not feeling like your bludgeoning the ball all day. Also speeds up play since you don't have to watch the group in front of you grind over 5-footers all day to save bogey.

[Bruce Katona]

The customer has always preferred grass on the tees, smooth approaches (to run shots up onto the green) and good greens that roll true and aren't bumpy......mats on par 3's a great practically since short par 3's especially require big teeing grounds so the divots can heel.


Wall to wall cart paths aren't really necessary, though in high traffic areas, tees, greens, etc. they are or the turf will suffer.


Archie Struthers  & I can agree that just natural cart paths take more weekly maintenance they one would imagine, which is a cost. 

[Charlie Goerges]

I realized that I replied earlier and spoke to things that I didn't like that I was more than happy to give up. To answer along the lines of the OP and pick something that I like that I'd be willing to give up: I like playing out of bunkers when they are consistently maintained. It's less important whether they are gritty and firm (my preference) or softer, as long as they are consistent. I also like bunkers visually and used as a crux of strategy. If increasing maintenance costs mean that a club/course can't maintain their bunkers in a reasonably consistent manner I would be willing to have enough filled in and converted to grass hazards so that the remaining ones could be maintained appropriately.


This was harder than I thought. I really don't want to give up anything that I like about golf. This is the one that I would give up first. Better manicured tee boxes next. Probably some green speed as long as they remain reasonably smooth, firm, and consistent.

It's good that it's hard, thoughts about the essence of the game should be difficult conclusions to come to.


It is interesting that you'd rather lose bunkers than have their maintenance curtailed by much. First grassy hollows are a legitimate feature, that said, I wonder how many others would agree with your overall point. In fact, perhaps others will chime in on the point.

[Steve Lang]

   Ahhhh wintertime musings...


I like the Black and Blue tees (tips and one in respectively at my WCC), they're full of memories, but alas they're history, other than for April Fool's Day tournaments and I'm willing to give em up.  I wish a lot of other folks would too, but then I'd probably find fewer balls from those big hitters, when scrounging around..

[Tom Bacsanyi]

Low heights of cut on fairways. Furthermore, happy to give up bentgrass fairways altogether. Would like to see experiments with coarser fairway grasses (bluegrass/rye) at higher HOC (half inch, .600) kept as dry and lean as possible.


Also happy to give up irrigated/fertilized rough (apart from green surrounds that would probably be bad). But everywhere else.

[David Cronan]

It's interesting that "slowing down the golf ball" is such a hot topic, yet to my knowledge, nobody on this thread has mentioned it yet......so.......I will.


And it really has nothing to do with professional golfers and accomplished amateurs reducing courses, particularly "classics", to pitch and putts.


It's probably because I play so seldom, and when I do it's certainly not in tournaments, and I don't give a shit what number I shoot, for the most part. Granted, it was pretty expensive playing balatas because I cut them all the time, but it was fun backing it up on the green, moving the ball on full shots and having no idea how far off line they would go on a violent missed hit. It was also fun to see how long you could play a balata, before it was rendered completely useless.

[Rich Thomas]

Conditioning was mentioned multiple times. I think Pinehurst got it right when Coore and Crenshaw did their work on No. 2. Centerline irrigation and then the fairways merge into the native scrub areas. No need to have oversaturated thick rough where you spend too much time looking for your ball. I could definitely do with less watering and keeping just the minimum to keep the intended playing area.

[archie_struthers]

 


I'm fine with outlawing big, new incredibly long drivers....of course I don't hit them much better than the old ones

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