Larry Gude
Strung Out
...Augusta National and the lengthening of the course.
If you're a golfer and reading this, you don't need more background on Augusta National and the issue of modern length off the tee and the impact on the game.
My concern here is opinions on not only this latest change but how, and why, they, Boss Hootie Johnson & the secret rulers of the world, went about it.
Gene Sarazen double eagled 15 way back in 1935. His second shot was with a four wood. When Bernhard Langer won his second green jacket in 1993, his playing partner, Chip Beck, laid up on Sunday on 15. He had about 250 to go; a full bore 3 wood. Langer had about the same and got on in two.
Neither guy was a noted bomber but it has been very common over the years for people to lay up or have a wood or long iron to get home in two.
Over the years, the last 15 or so, this has changed. In 1992, Freddy Couples, a big hitter in his prime, was hitting 7 to the green.
Tiger and Phil and Ernie and Vijay and the other bombers of today are hitting driver/9 iron.
The concern is over what club guys are hitting into greens, not scoring itself. Tiger holds the scoring record, by one, of 270, over the previous holder, Jack in 1965, and Ray Floyd in 1976. 1965 and 1976. That's the elites. Enough said there.
The cut has averaged 147.4 since 1990. 149 from 1975 to 1989 or 1.6
strokes. That's .8 per round. It was 145 in 1979. It was 145 in 92, 95 and 2001. It was 150 in 1998 and 148 last year. That covers the rest of the field.
So, what club into greens, NOT scoring.
Has baseball moved the fences for Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire? If anything, newer parks are MORE hitter friendly. No, they don't allow aluminum bats but they do monkey with the ball. The field, the common denominator between Bonds and Ruth is essentially the same.
Did basketball raise the rim? Dr. J, Akeem, Dawkins, etc. No.
Did Roger Bannister make them increase the mile? No.
Does football lengthen the field for Reggie Bush or Mike Vick?
Has hockey made the net bigger or smaller? No, but they do limit the stick.
Now, on to the humans themselves. How would the 1970 Lakers fare against the 2006 Lakers? The 78 Steelers vs. the 2006? What's the mile down to now?
In every sport, in every case, the athletes of today would, if transported in time machines, kick the snot out of their ancestral peers. Bigger, stronger, faster, better trained, better schooled and fed.
So, where is the case to change the most fundamental element of golf, the course? Yes, greens keeping is far superior today so no, Hogan did not putt on the same 13th that Tiger is this week, but it's the same ground, it was the same T shot. They faced the same go/no go choice for their second. Ben was hitting from what is now the whites while Tiger and company are backed up against the property fence.
Golf has allowed itself to be driven by ball and club manufacturers, not by the game and the courses.
Can you imagine if bat designers were allowed to compete on performance? Pitchers would be getting killed. How about baseballs, the barn door being opened? We'd have both unhittable leather wiffle balls and balls that fly 600 feet. On what should have been a pop up.
How about a better performing football? They'd turn thre NFL into arena ball, every pass reaches the end zone.
Hockey? The net would be who knows what dimension?
Runners would have actual springs and shock absorbers for shoes. Track and field athletes would have poles and shots and discus' and javelins performing to unheard of levels.
In the quest to somehow force the bombers to hit a certain club, the keepers of the game are ruining it. They are cutting the tie to the past.
In the mean time, is Tiger hitting EVERY fairway? Is he setting a new scoring record every round? No, not even close. Augusta is and was and should always be about the greens.
Tigers nine iron is no more like Hogans 9 than your car is like your grandfathers in his day, so, even the basic point is moot and unattainable.
Again, does Tiger eagle 15 every time? He doesn't even birdie it every time. Hitting a short iron to those greens brings into play their own problems of too much spin.
Greg Norman this past year or two ago hit a low, running hooded 4 iron from behind a tree on 14, the elephant burial ground, and it landed halfway to the green and ran the rest, following the contours to within a few feet of the pin. Phil hit 9 the year or two before from the middle of the fairway and it sucked back off the green onto the fairway. Norman birdied. Phil doubled.
It is not practical to make everyone play the same clubs or same ball; that horse left the barn a long time ago. What's in your bag is an integral part of the game BUT everyone has the opportunity to put the same thing as anyone else in their bag if they choose. Nick Price cannot choose to be 6' 2" and hit a 9 iron 170. He can't choose to hit driver 330 nor can he choose to be 21 again.
He can, however, or could, hone his skills over time, to his best ability and maximize his performance on a level playing field. Constantly lengthening courses not only vaporizes the ties to the past, the history and traditions of golf but it penalizes the field and actually helps those it was meant to hinder.
Tiger and the bombers might have to go driver 8 or 7 now on 15. Jack Nicklaus quipped that for him #1 is now a driver, 3 wood and a good 7 iron.
#1 is a par four. Exaggeration? Only slightly. If Hootie wants Tiger to hit 4 wood, like Sarazen, into 15, he's gonna have to take Gene's 500 yard test and make it 600 yards. In the process, one of the little guys and not big hitters of his day, Sarazen, would have ZERO chance of getting home in two today and that will be the case for the shorter guys of today.
On top of all that, once again, the long players are NOT scoring any better! A 1.6 cut line shrink can be attributed to increased skill level alone, never mind better, more consistent conditioning. Hell, out of bunkers alone, modern players are getting up and down more often than not. That's probably a stroke a round right there.
Furthermore, the long guys get into some messed up situations with their 300 plus yard drives which have tendency when miss hit to go farther astray as well as being longer. Sometimes, they have no shot.
So, add some more trees and bunkers where the guys are taking advantage of length a bit too much. That's how the game was designed, put hazards where the majority of players are likely to miss if they take too much chance.
Some players then choose course management that dictates hitting the fairway farther back, play 3 wood or a long iron, rather than risk the hazard and be longer.
Now? The Hootie way? Forget it. Everyone is hitting driver on every hole.
#4, a brutal 200 yard par three is now 240 yards. Mark O'Meara, says Tiger, had to hit driver . #7, the skinny, tree lined par 4 that was supposed to be a short iron approach is now 440 yards!!!
In closing I offer these words:
That sums up my opinions written here but, those are not my words.
They belong to Jack William Nicklaus.
If you're a golfer and reading this, you don't need more background on Augusta National and the issue of modern length off the tee and the impact on the game.
My concern here is opinions on not only this latest change but how, and why, they, Boss Hootie Johnson & the secret rulers of the world, went about it.
Gene Sarazen double eagled 15 way back in 1935. His second shot was with a four wood. When Bernhard Langer won his second green jacket in 1993, his playing partner, Chip Beck, laid up on Sunday on 15. He had about 250 to go; a full bore 3 wood. Langer had about the same and got on in two.
Neither guy was a noted bomber but it has been very common over the years for people to lay up or have a wood or long iron to get home in two.
Over the years, the last 15 or so, this has changed. In 1992, Freddy Couples, a big hitter in his prime, was hitting 7 to the green.
Tiger and Phil and Ernie and Vijay and the other bombers of today are hitting driver/9 iron.
The concern is over what club guys are hitting into greens, not scoring itself. Tiger holds the scoring record, by one, of 270, over the previous holder, Jack in 1965, and Ray Floyd in 1976. 1965 and 1976. That's the elites. Enough said there.
The cut has averaged 147.4 since 1990. 149 from 1975 to 1989 or 1.6
strokes. That's .8 per round. It was 145 in 1979. It was 145 in 92, 95 and 2001. It was 150 in 1998 and 148 last year. That covers the rest of the field.
So, what club into greens, NOT scoring.
Has baseball moved the fences for Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire? If anything, newer parks are MORE hitter friendly. No, they don't allow aluminum bats but they do monkey with the ball. The field, the common denominator between Bonds and Ruth is essentially the same.
Did basketball raise the rim? Dr. J, Akeem, Dawkins, etc. No.
Did Roger Bannister make them increase the mile? No.
Does football lengthen the field for Reggie Bush or Mike Vick?
Has hockey made the net bigger or smaller? No, but they do limit the stick.
Now, on to the humans themselves. How would the 1970 Lakers fare against the 2006 Lakers? The 78 Steelers vs. the 2006? What's the mile down to now?
In every sport, in every case, the athletes of today would, if transported in time machines, kick the snot out of their ancestral peers. Bigger, stronger, faster, better trained, better schooled and fed.
So, where is the case to change the most fundamental element of golf, the course? Yes, greens keeping is far superior today so no, Hogan did not putt on the same 13th that Tiger is this week, but it's the same ground, it was the same T shot. They faced the same go/no go choice for their second. Ben was hitting from what is now the whites while Tiger and company are backed up against the property fence.
Golf has allowed itself to be driven by ball and club manufacturers, not by the game and the courses.
Can you imagine if bat designers were allowed to compete on performance? Pitchers would be getting killed. How about baseballs, the barn door being opened? We'd have both unhittable leather wiffle balls and balls that fly 600 feet. On what should have been a pop up.
How about a better performing football? They'd turn thre NFL into arena ball, every pass reaches the end zone.
Hockey? The net would be who knows what dimension?
Runners would have actual springs and shock absorbers for shoes. Track and field athletes would have poles and shots and discus' and javelins performing to unheard of levels.
In the quest to somehow force the bombers to hit a certain club, the keepers of the game are ruining it. They are cutting the tie to the past.
In the mean time, is Tiger hitting EVERY fairway? Is he setting a new scoring record every round? No, not even close. Augusta is and was and should always be about the greens.
Tigers nine iron is no more like Hogans 9 than your car is like your grandfathers in his day, so, even the basic point is moot and unattainable.
Again, does Tiger eagle 15 every time? He doesn't even birdie it every time. Hitting a short iron to those greens brings into play their own problems of too much spin.
Greg Norman this past year or two ago hit a low, running hooded 4 iron from behind a tree on 14, the elephant burial ground, and it landed halfway to the green and ran the rest, following the contours to within a few feet of the pin. Phil hit 9 the year or two before from the middle of the fairway and it sucked back off the green onto the fairway. Norman birdied. Phil doubled.
It is not practical to make everyone play the same clubs or same ball; that horse left the barn a long time ago. What's in your bag is an integral part of the game BUT everyone has the opportunity to put the same thing as anyone else in their bag if they choose. Nick Price cannot choose to be 6' 2" and hit a 9 iron 170. He can't choose to hit driver 330 nor can he choose to be 21 again.
He can, however, or could, hone his skills over time, to his best ability and maximize his performance on a level playing field. Constantly lengthening courses not only vaporizes the ties to the past, the history and traditions of golf but it penalizes the field and actually helps those it was meant to hinder.
Tiger and the bombers might have to go driver 8 or 7 now on 15. Jack Nicklaus quipped that for him #1 is now a driver, 3 wood and a good 7 iron.
#1 is a par four. Exaggeration? Only slightly. If Hootie wants Tiger to hit 4 wood, like Sarazen, into 15, he's gonna have to take Gene's 500 yard test and make it 600 yards. In the process, one of the little guys and not big hitters of his day, Sarazen, would have ZERO chance of getting home in two today and that will be the case for the shorter guys of today.
On top of all that, once again, the long players are NOT scoring any better! A 1.6 cut line shrink can be attributed to increased skill level alone, never mind better, more consistent conditioning. Hell, out of bunkers alone, modern players are getting up and down more often than not. That's probably a stroke a round right there.
Furthermore, the long guys get into some messed up situations with their 300 plus yard drives which have tendency when miss hit to go farther astray as well as being longer. Sometimes, they have no shot.
So, add some more trees and bunkers where the guys are taking advantage of length a bit too much. That's how the game was designed, put hazards where the majority of players are likely to miss if they take too much chance.
Some players then choose course management that dictates hitting the fairway farther back, play 3 wood or a long iron, rather than risk the hazard and be longer.
Now? The Hootie way? Forget it. Everyone is hitting driver on every hole.
#4, a brutal 200 yard par three is now 240 yards. Mark O'Meara, says Tiger, had to hit driver . #7, the skinny, tree lined par 4 that was supposed to be a short iron approach is now 440 yards!!!
In closing I offer these words:
That sums up my opinions written here but, those are not my words.
They belong to Jack William Nicklaus.
Very good post Larry.