I love and hate firm and fast.

[Kalen Braley]

It took us about 400 years to realize that greens can be made too fast.
(Yet it remains the go to comment for any amateur review or consideration  in choosing or revering  a course)

I'm sure eventually we will find a way to make courses too firm.


I recently played a high end course with zoysia fairways and super firm fast, greens employing multiple tucked pins.
A really unpleasant combination that foiled nearly every creative recovery attempt except the high spinner.
Amazed anyone would go to the time,effort and extreme expense to get worse conditions than can be had for a fraction of the price.
And think the golf was somehow better.

You see this one Jeff! 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/ncaa-criticized-for-brutal-error-at-women-s-golf-championship/ar-AA1b7IlH?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=016f0919f87a4ff49d4b14476b6de5f4&ei=17

[Thomas Dai]

Too fast, for sure. Too firm, not so sure.
atb

[Tommy Williamsen]

It took us about 400 years to realize that greens can be made too fast.
(Yet it remains the go to comment for any amateur review or consideration  in choosing or revering  a course)

I'm sure eventually we will find a way to make courses too firm.


I recently played a high end course with zoysia fairways and super firm fast, greens employing multiple tucked pins.
A really unpleasant combination that foiled nearly every creative recovery attempt except the high spinner.
Amazed anyone would go to the time,effort and extreme expense to get worse conditions than can be had for a fraction of the price.
And think the golf was somehow better.

You see this one Jeff! 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/ncaa-criticized-for-brutal-error-at-women-s-golf-championship/ar-AA1b7IlH?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=016f0919f87a4ff49d4b14476b6de5f4&ei=17

I played in a tournament a bunch of years ago when the pin was in the wrong place for the speed of the greens. Many of us four and five putted, but the officials did nothing.

[John Kavanaugh]

It took us about 400 years to realize that greens can be made too fast.
(Yet it remains the go to comment for any amateur review or consideration  in choosing or revering  a course)

I'm sure eventually we will find a way to make courses too firm.


I recently played a high end course with zoysia fairways and super firm fast, greens employing multiple tucked pins.
A really unpleasant combination that foiled nearly every creative recovery attempt except the high spinner.
Amazed anyone would go to the time,effort and extreme expense to get worse conditions than can be had for a fraction of the price.
And think the golf was somehow better.

You see this one Jeff! 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/golf/ncaa-criticized-for-brutal-error-at-women-s-golf-championship/ar-AA1b7IlH?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=016f0919f87a4ff49d4b14476b6de5f4&ei=17

I played in a tournament a bunch of years ago when the pin was in the wrong place for the speed of the greens. Many of us four and five putted, but the officials did nothing.

So, they get it right 99% of the time. I’ll always take a 1% chance of failure when living on the edge.

[Tommy Williamsen]

There is no way I could have played Augusta this past week. I don't hit the ball high enough. There are many holes where the player can run a ball onto the green, but I don't know what I could have done on 12 or 15. When is a course too fast and firm for every day play?

[Tim Gavrich]

When is a course too fast and firm for every day play?

When it makes it clear that the golf balls pros have become accustomed to do not spin enough.


If it is intentional (I suspect it might be), Augusta National's pursuit of firmer conditions for the Masters will help speed along golf ball regulations by pushing pros to use balls that spin more than the current models. I don't think anyone would have had a problem with this year's greens at the Masters if they had been using something like the old balata balls, which landed at a steeper angle because of their spin characteristics.


It's probably not extremely different in the short clubs, but the ball flies very differently with the longer clubs than it used to. It used to launch lower and spin more, which meant that the ball would land at a steeper angle. Remember those low, rising long irons and fairway woods players used to hit? That ballflight is not possible now, and the fact that balls land at a shallower angle means that greens play even firmer than they used to.


Amateur golfers have been sold distance and distance along for 20+ years. Millions of golfers play a ball that doesn't spin nearly enough, in part because OEMs just don't make spinny enough golf balls, because doing so would cause a loss in distance that golfers won't tolerate, even if it might be in their best interests.

[archie_struthers]

 


I'm in the firm and fast very good camp on this one. Hitting it high and far is often lost on youth. I'm also struggling with the too fast to play story as score isn't the only thing that matters. If you figure out how to make the best score given your abilities it still might get the job done in a match with players that can't embrace that decision.


Every year in club championships at most of our clubs the same people are in contention when the course is set up with a high degree of difficulty . Those players get it !   Sometimes you just have to play it to a spot to get a shot at par.  T


A steady diet of wickedly fast surfaces isn't a good idea in general but I'm pushing all in with Kavanaugh that it's a special kind of fun
when it occurs occasionally

[cary lichtenstein]

I used to hit the ball pretty high. I hated it when a green would not hold a well played shot, thought it was stupid architecture and over conditioning.

[Tim Gallant]

Reading this, I thought about Royal Troon. The first four or five holes usually get overlooked, but the prevailing wind is down and off the right. When the ground is firm, the bunkering makes approach play so difficult and complex as all of the trouble is at the front. A few of the greens even angle away from play, which complicates the questions asked. I hope we'll see that at this year's Open

[Grant Saunders]

I can’t decide if the course was too firm or if it was me. I’d like to know what it is like 300 days a year. I did play up at 6000 yards. It wasn’t too long.

Tommy--


I'd be interested to know what model of golf ball you play.


Late last year, I switched from the slightly longer Titleist Pro V1 to the firmer and slightly shorter but noticeably spinnier Titleist Pro V1x. It has made a significant difference to me on iron shots and wedges, including closer-in greenside shots. I've played better since I switched. The experience has suggested to me that the vast majority of golfers play a golf ball (or perhaps a combination of golf ball + irons and wedges) that does not spin nearly enough, and that that deficiency is really highlighted on very firm turf.


As average golf course conditions become firmer and faster - my sense is that this is happening, albeit very gradually and in fits and starts in different places - a golf ball that spins more on approaches and greenside shots will become more of an asset to the vast majority of golfers.


Distance has always been the feature that golf ball marketers have pushed, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. But as more golfers realize they can solve their distance issues by simply moving up a tee box, I think spin becomes a more important factor in choosing the right golf ball for them.

I have often thought that the Pro V has negatively impacted the amateur golfer.


High spinning balls used to be the domain of the elite player and the average golfer managed their game with low spin but durable offerings. Those low spin balls supported the bump and run and other shots which employed the release of the ball. Lower lofted irons such as a 7 or 8 iron were used because the ball was inherently geared towards shots that release.


I watch a lot of club golf and average golfers using pro v balls and similar seem to find themselves in almost no-mans land when chipping or pitching. They cant spin the ball enough to have it always hold on the green yet the ball spins too much for a predictable bump and run

[Thomas Dai]

I have often thought that the Pro V has negatively impacted the amateur golfer.
High spinning balls used to be the domain of the elite player and the average golfer managed their game with low spin but durable offerings. Those low spin balls supported the bump and run and other shots which employed the release of the ball. Lower lofted irons such as a 7 or 8 iron were used because the ball was inherently geared towards shots that release.
I watch a lot of club golf and average golfers using pro v balls and similar seem to find themselves in almost no-mans land when chipping or pitching. They cant spin the ball enough to have it always hold on the green yet the ball spins too much for a predictable bump and run

Very perceptive.
Atb

[Tim Gavrich]

I have often thought that the Pro V has negatively impacted the amateur golfer.


High spinning balls used to be the domain of the elite player and the average golfer managed their game with low spin but durable offerings. Those low spin balls supported the bump and run and other shots which employed the release of the ball. Lower lofted irons such as a 7 or 8 iron were used because the ball was inherently geared towards shots that release.


I watch a lot of club golf and average golfers using pro v balls and similar seem to find themselves in almost no-mans land when chipping or pitching. They cant spin the ball enough to have it always hold on the green yet the ball spins too much for a predictable bump and run

I think there's a lot of truth to this, and I suspect it's at least part of the reason why golf balls like the AVX exist - low-launch, lower-spin. But the issues with this that I see are more on approach shots, where the combination of spin and landing angle doesn't seem to be serving golfers well. Part of it is self-inflicted - they're playing too long a set of tees - but I think there's a gulf between the golf balls needed and the ones available, too.

[Matt MacIver]

Average golfers (I’m one) are in no-mans land because they can’t hit greens with any club or ball in regulation. 


F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.


My view is the ball doesn’t matter to us for backspin - but limiting sidespin matters a bunch. 


I play a softish ball mostly because I like to putt with them, eventually.

[Charlie Goerges]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

[archie_struthers]

 


Charlie G that is so good!  The optimal turf condition ...

[Brett Meyer]

Average golfers (I’m one) are in no-mans land because they can’t hit greens with any club or ball in regulation. 


F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

F&F is a great equalizer. The firmest and fastest course I've played in the US (maybe anywhere) is The Loop and I (usually shoots mid-70s) played it with my dad (struggles to break 100) last summer. We probably had our lowest-ever score differential; I shot 85 and he shot his best round of the year (96 or 97) as his drives and bad shots rolled out 50 yards further than usual, his bump-and-run game worked, and I struggled to hit greens and to figure out what are some very unusual demands on the short game (for an American course).

And he did equally well the second day when we played it in reverse. The key--which you mention Matt--is that weaker players get so much more out of their bad shots. It wouldn't be true for someone who's a bad golfer because they're really inaccurate, but it works great for someone who putters along, not hitting the ball too far and duffing it occasionally, but also not going too far offline.

[jeffwarne]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

A cushion under the ball-what a concept-definitely not  fashionable at the moment.


Billions are spent(mostly) in this country at high end clubs to produce firm and fast.
they always get the FAST, and only occasionally the firm.
And the golf suffers as chipping and pitching go away for all but the best wedge players, due to the impossibility of pitching with no cushion, compounded by the often wet conditions to keep the scalped/rolled turf alive.


Yet, at the mostly country courses I played for a month in New Zealand they got FIRM every-single-day, despite the constant negativity I heard from the tree police about how over treed their courses were.
The secret was as George points out, they weren't going overboard with the attempts at FAST, with a reasonable HOC on the fairways and greens allowing healthy, bouncy firm turf-usually with one greenkeeper on $9-20 course.


Oh and here's the ironic part-they don't have to "renovate' their greens every few years out of the sheer genius of maintaining them at a height that works with the original slopes/tilts.
Not that they could anyway...
I pretty much throw up in my mouth whenever I hear an "expert" tell me about a  course with with well contoured tilt/slop(not tiers) being renovated to accommodate "modern speeds" like they are an unavoidable disease like hoof in mouth...
as if the problem was the greens..

[Thomas Dai]

Worth a read - https://www.golfaustralia.com.au/feature/clayton-brown-is-good-514859
Atb

[Tim Gallant]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

[Sean_A]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

In the UK, I still reckon sheep nibbled height with no watering system is about as good as it gets. Those fairways will firm up in summer and make it relatively easy to match good green speeds (9ish is generally about right) and firmness. With very few exceptions, the best turf I play each year is grazed by sheep.

Ciao

[Mark Pearce]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

I reckon most second tier links courses in the UK come pretty close.

[Thomas Dai]

In the UK, I still reckon sheep nibbled height with no watering system is about as good as it gets. Those fairways will firm up in summer and make it relatively easy to match good green speeds (9ish is generally about right) and firmness. With very few exceptions, the best turf I play each year is grazed by sheep.
Ciao

Absolutely!
atb

[jeffwarne]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

In the UK, I still reckon sheep nibbled height with no watering system is about as good as it gets. Those fairways will firm up in summer and make it relatively easy to match good green speeds (9ish is generally about right) and firmness. With very few exceptions, the best turf I play each year is grazed by sheep.

Ciao

+1  such a great HOC, with the added benefit of finding one's ball in the rough.
the first place I really came to admire this was Mulranny.
Of course Ireland and UK have the climate where no irrigation (mostly-see summer of 2018) works, but here in the US we could certainly reduce USE of irrigation with a higher HOC, resulting in both the cushion AND the firmness.
Fast is vastly OVERRATED, and creates the need for reduced contour in both greens and now even fairways.

[Charlie Goerges]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

In the UK, I still reckon sheep nibbled height with no watering system is about as good as it gets. Those fairways will firm up in summer and make it relatively easy to match good green speeds (9ish is generally about right) and firmness. With very few exceptions, the best turf I play each year is grazed by sheep.

Ciao

+1  such a great HOC, with the added benefit of finding one's ball in the rough.
the first place I really came to admire this was Mulranny.
Of course Ireland and UK have the climate where no irrigation (mostly-see summer of 2018) works, but here in the US we could certainly reduce USE of irrigation with a higher HOC, resulting in both the cushion AND the firmness.
Fast is vastly OVERRATED, and creates the need for reduced contour in both greens and now even fairways.

Yes to all of this! I'm curious what anyone/everyone thinks would be be a good message/slogan around this to get the point across. This firmer and not-quite-so-fast conditioning with higher/dryer HOC. Supers can do it, but players need to be calling for it first.

[Sean_A]

F&F actually helps long duffed shots get near/on the green but they also create tight lies making it near impossible to clip a wedge (or bump a 7i) consistently.

That may be how firm and fast typically gets manifested in this day and age, but it isn't a requirement of firm and fast. It is possible to raise the height of cut, dry out the turf and give us firmer, faster, bouncier conditions while leaving a good cushion under the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be fashionable at the moment.

Charlie, a sound post! And a bit more height also may keep balls on side/up/down slopes, which creates more interesting shots. Is there a course/example where you have seen an optimal balance being struck between firmness and reasonable height cut? Jeff's post makes me think the answer is somewhere in New Zealand ! Can't wait to make my maiden voyage there in a few years.

In the UK, I still reckon sheep nibbled height with no watering system is about as good as it gets. Those fairways will firm up in summer and make it relatively easy to match good green speeds (9ish is generally about right) and firmness. With very few exceptions, the best turf I play each year is grazed by sheep.

Ciao

+1  such a great HOC, with the added benefit of finding one's ball in the rough.
the first place I really came to admire this was Mulranny.
Of course Ireland and UK have the climate where no irrigation (mostly-see summer of 2018) works, but here in the US we could certainly reduce USE of irrigation with a higher HOC, resulting in both the cushion AND the firmness.
Fast is vastly OVERRATED, and creates the need for reduced contour in both greens and now even fairways.

Yes to all of this! I'm curious what anyone/everyone thinks would be be a good message/slogan around this to get the point across. This firmer and not-quite-so-fast conditioning with higher/dryer HOC. Supers can do it, but players need to be calling for it first.

Speed comes with firmness. If conditions are softer the speed is reduced. That’s seasonal golf….and that makes sense.


Ciao