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Clearly back to the future - 10 years ago balls were 15-25 shorter but now the USGA has to re-invent them

10 years ago a lot of things in professional golf were different, not just the ball. The answers to today's problems clearly won't be found by going "Back to the Future." Playing a 10 year old wound, balata, ball makes no more sense that returning to hickory shafts and featheries. The USGA is researching ways of using the latest technology to rein in equipment before 8000 yard courses are necessary to prevent the Driver/Wedge/Putter tournaments that are prevalent around the world today.

I don't think anyone wants to to see players hitting wedges to Augusta National's Par 4's, or short irons to the Par 5's, any more than we want to see the 4-5 driveable Par 4's at St. Andrews. Something needs to be done or this will be the face of professional golf. The ball may not be the only answer but at least the USGA has finally recognized that there is a problem and they're taking steps to find a solution.

It may be a case of to little, too late, but it beats doing nothing.

I think the PGA doesn't care what players hit to the greens. The motto seems to be, people pay to see birdies, make it as easy as possible.

In the UK we used to use the 1.62 ball, the US used a 1.68, this became standard. How about now using a 1.74 ball, that would make things interesting.
For the very young, these refer to the diameter of a golf ball in inches.

The PGA has nothing to do with the equipment players use today. Certainly there are "birdie-fest" tournaments on every tour around the world but the best tournaments are those that test all the player's skills. Not just their Driver/Wedge/Putter play.

Man, I've been trying to tell you folks this for years, but here goes again. The answer is, always has been, and will continue to be the lengthening of courses.

As I've stated in the past, if you go back to 1905, championship golf was played on courses which measured around 5,300 yards. By the '20s these courses had grown to the 6,000 yard mark. By the '30s we began to see 6,300 and 6,500 yard courses. I think the 7,000 barrier was cracked around 1935 or 1937. That was absolutely huge back then. Ben Hogan referred to a 7,000 yard course as a "Monster."

Players will always seek more distance. Whether its the equipment, balls, technology or the food they eat, guys will always be attempting to outdrive their opponents. The only way to stay a step ahead is by doing what has always been done....lengthen the courses.

On a side note, here. Today I read that the state of California may be in line for two new PGA TOUR events sometime in the next couple of years. One of those tournaments might be held on a private course near Fresno, I believe. I read that the course measures in at 7,900 yards. And time marches on.

I don't doubt we will see an 8000 yard course hold a professional tournament within the next decade. The young players today learn how to play by killing it, finding it, and killing it again. That, coupled with the advances in materials and technology, is changing the face of golf right before our very eyes. It wasn't that long ago that the 300 yard average drive barrier was broken and look at how many players averaged over 300 yards last year. It's only going to get better/worse, depending on your point of view.

I laugh at those that say distance is overrated. Distance is how the game is played today.....and tomorrow.

Quite obviously the answer is to demolish the houses round Merion, reclaim the land and lengthen the course by 2000 yards for the 2020 Open, to accommodate the new breed of golfers:) Last I heard they weren't making anymore vacant land.

Surely it's up to the R&A and USGA simply to chnage the rules relating to the speed at which the ball accelerates - isn't it a maximum of 250' per second now?

Give the ball manufacturers 5 years to get there - shouldn't be a problem. The COR decision also made sense.

With respect to distance being how the game is played - it's relative distance, not absolute distance, otherwise George Bayer, John Daly and others would have dominated the game.

This discussion is interesting. Have the scores on any of these tours changed dramatically? I mean every now and then, you have the occasional 20something under weekend. And yes course have been lengthened with good reason, but also within reason. I subscribe to the thought that the scores have to dramatically begin to fall before you really need to worry about lengthening courses. I do see the point some have - it's driver/ wedge all day for some of these guys. So why aren't they shooting 7 - 10 under every round? The game is still a challenge, even if you hit it 300+. I feel that the rough should be more penal, and designers should begin pinching fairways in that 300 yard area. Bunker them or hill them a bit. The more you lengthen a course, the fewer people that have a real chance to win. I know someone is going to bring up Fred Funk because he contended a few times last year and won the Players. But how many times did his length, or lack thereof, lead to a longer than usual putt? Also good ball stikers will always trump the bombers because they hit more greens, thereby giving themselves more opportunities for scores under par. Hitting out of the rough, even at 300 yds means less opportunity to hit greens and make birds. Distance doesn't make putts...

This is what I feel needs to be done, as well. Make players make a choice, 300 and trouble? or shorter and safety. But, this is what I think the PGA doesn't want. No one today (almost) wants to see the players hit it 250 into a safer zone and have to play a longer iron, possibly cutting the chances of getting close and making birdie. I still think it's all about the bomb drives and birdies. That's what people want to see and that's the thing the PGA is banking on to get people to watch. I also think that testosterone plays a part in this. Kind of a my truck is bigger than your truck mentality, but on the golf course.

The scores haven't changed dramatically because the length of the courses has. Compare the length of any tournament course today with the length it played to 10 years ago. There's your answer. If these courses played to the same lengths they did back then, you'd see 7-10 under par every round.

Most courses did that several years ago and now the young guns are bombing it well over 300 yards and past the newly created "trouble." Long and straight has alway dominated golf. It's the nature of the game. It's just that with modern equipment, and the athletes that play the game today, 250 yards and "safe" is a mundane Par 3. Now 300 yards and "safe" is the norm.

Can anyone remember "The World Match-Play" from Wentworth UK back in the 70's & 80's.

The West Course measures just over 7000 yards now and has not been lengthened too much over the years. In fact some holes have been shortened, like the 15th 495 yd par 5 to 470 yd par 4.

The way it used to play meant you only hit Driver 2 or 3 times a round, but hit a lot of mid and long irons for 2nd shots. Today its driver nearly all the way and short irons for 2nd's.
If you lengthen the course, you go back to the old 2nd shot clubings.
But is this the only solution?

The "drivers" of the 70's and 80's were often less than 300 cc's, with steel shafts, and the balls were like marshmallows. Today's 460 cc exotic shafted rocket launchers (sorry), the rocket balls they launch, and golf course maintenance procedures, have made the courses of that era obsolete for the professionals. Those that have added length or made other significant changes to the way the course is played have survived. Sadly, many have not.

That's not to mention the players themselves. The majority are considered athletes now and train and maintain their bodies as such. They're more fit, certainly stronger, and have equipment that is fine tuned specifically to enhance their own personal swing characteristics.

Another aspect, and quite possibly the most telling, of why length and the quest for it, dominates golf today.........Look at the Top 5 players in the World Golf Rankings. There's not an average length player in the group.

Review the winner's average scores at Wentworth from 1970-2005 and you'll see why Wentworth asked Ernie Els to "modernize" the course. The fact that long hitters (Els and VJ) have dominated the course and the competition says volumes as to why this event has withered to almost a nothing event. In my mind those two have "bombed" this event into oblivion.