Add Rory To The List Of Those Keeping Up "With The Way It's Going"

Distance deniers have long found excuses for why golf’s governing bodies should not do their job by taking some dimples off the ball or reducing driver head sizes for elites. So they’ve blamed everything from agronomic influences to silly assertions about the crossover athletic abilities of modern golfers. But the message is always the same: tweaking the existing equipment rules to ensure courses and skill remain relevant would be unfathomable.

Typically, the contrarians are motivated by pure dollars and (ad) cents. Lately even more casual golfers are invested in the notion of athleticism as a life style that makes them, as average golfers, athletes too. Yikes.

Long ago we were told the equipment rules had drawn a line in the sand and anything more would prompt action. That was May, 2002. Now carry distances are absurd, Bryson DeChambeau has proven that speed and good putting can be everything, and even Rory McIlroy admits to making moves in an effort to maintain relevance.

From his pre-CJ Cup press conference at Shadow Creek, as reported by Rex Hoggard:

McIlroy also addressed the issue of whether the distance craze has reached a tipping point.

“It's the way the game's going,” he said. “I got sent a really good article last weekend, it was in the Wall Street Journal just about every single sport becoming faster, longer, stronger and I don't think golf's any different. I'm just trying to keep up with the way it's going.”

Again, this is his right as a grown man and probably the right way to think about the future of the game barring rules tweaks that discourage Happy Gilmore golf.

But just imagine the kids out there who don’t have power, don’t have a body that will let them add muscle, and who are watching this. What a shame.

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Bryson: Einstein And Newton Were Called Crazy, Too

The U.S. Open champion gave an interview on Sirius/XM and was asked again about last week’s “mockery” comments from Matthew Fitzpatrick. Like Einstein and Newton, Bryson’s approach will be better understood by future generations.

“You Look at Einstein, you look at Newton, you look at all these big-time names in the science field there’s been a lot of people that have been called crazy. Decades later they’re like, wow, that person was actually pretty interesting, he did a lot of amazing things. I’m not saying that’s what I’m going to do but, shoot, I hope so one day. That’d be fun.”

That would be fun.

If the governing bodies cared about this distance stuff and the amazing cascade of events we’ve witnessed this year, they’d be alarmed by other DeChambeau suggestions of “no end game” to the distance pursuit and this on long drivers:

”They’re still 25 mph faster than me. I mean, there’s so much room for improvement, I feel like.”

And with a U.S. Open trophy on his mantel, who is to argue with him?

Thanks to Brendan Porath for flagging this on and posting full remarks:

In an interview with SiriusXM last night, Bryson DeChambeau dropped Einstein, Newton, and “Fast Eddie” as comps and models for what he’s doing. pic.twitter.com/NKo3AYvoxg

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) October 14, 2020

"The Murder of the Par 5" (And Now The Par 4)

Jerry Tarde’s “Last Call” column in the pre-November Masters issue makes a terrific case for what’s been lost with the end of true three-shot holes.

There’s something about the symphony of a par 5 that makes it greater than the sum of its shots. It requires more forward thinking, more self-restraint and sufferance, risk and reward at once. It can be cataclysmic like Sam Snead’s triple-bogey 8 when all he needed was a par on the last hole in the 1939 U.S. Open, or heroic like a 5 on the 18th at Pebble Beach any day of the week.

I was standing on the green of Pine Valley’s behemoth uphill 15th hole, measuring over 600 yards, about 15 years ago, when the second shot of the club’s pro, David Clark, bounded onto the putting surface, stopped and glacially rolled back off the fringe. David is a good player, but not Bryson DeChambeau. I remember thinking, Have I just witnessed the death of par 5s?

He eventually includes Tom Doak’s views on how to roll things back to restore relevancy and you’re feeling really good about the case Tarde’s making.

There used to be a list of what Tom Doak called in 1982 “the untouchables”—par 5s that had never been reached in two. In researching Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses today, we’ve found only one untouchable left—the 675-yard 16th at Olympic’s Lake Course.

**Blogger’s note because the fact checkers are gone: even that 675 tee is gone, only used for the 2012 U.S. Open. Go on…

On all of the PGA Tour last year, ShotLink data shows one par 5 wasn’t reached in two (the 623-yard fourth at Sea Island Resort’s Plantation course)—that’s 0.6 percent of all the par 5s played—and on two-thirds of the par 5s, at least half the field “went for the green.” The longest hole in tournament golf today is TPC Colorado’s 773-yard 13th hole on the Korn Ferry Tour, which even at Denver-area elevation has not been reached. Yet.

In the late 1970s, I remember playing the longest golf course in the United States, The International in Bolton, Mass., which measured over 8,000 yards. I was on Sam Snead’s team in a scramble. He liked to hit last from the fairway, so he could place his ball at the end of his partners’ divot hole and slam a driver off the deck. Pure distance leads to contrivances, not good golf.

Good news right? Tarde and Golf Digest are going to end decades of rewarding longer, more expensive courses that only rich white males can join, and even better, stop cow-towing to companies that stopped advertising years ago?

Eh, baby steps.

My advice would be to change the par, not lengthen the holes and incur all sorts of land, design and maintenance expense. I certainly don’t want to see a universal distance rollback that would shorten my already short drives—every hole over 400 yards seems to be a par 5 for my non-elite game.

I know what you’re thinking, it’s “all about me” is very 2010, as is suggesting changing par-5’s to par-4’s. We distantistas have been hearing that nonsense since the late 90s. Shoot, Hannigan and I had some fierce email exchanges around then about the “just change the par” idea.

But in 2020 here’s the not-so-funny part: we have almost no real par-5’s where risk and reward has meaning for golfers and spectators. And now we are starting to get a lot of par-4s that play as one-shotters. So add par-4’s to the victim list, all in the name of stuff that does not make the game better.

It's Official: Hoodies Are The New Cargo Shorts

While cargo shorts are no longer the scourge they once were in the eyes of stylistas, they are a staple of certain rallies where cut-off sleeve shirts and bald eagle-adorned golf shirts dominate.

I’ve never fully grasped the offense taken by golf clubs toward cargos. Maybe it’s the overall “working class” vibe that makes Thurston uncomfortable. Perhaps those extra pockets are just too convenient of a place to hide stolen silverware or, gasp, a mobile phone!

The offensiveness of hoodies also confounds as much as the perceived functional benefit of golfing in one. They are the millennial’s quarter-zip. If wearing one makes them more comfortable playing golf, then have at them. Or, apparently not.

After Tyrrell Hatton’s BMW PGA win in an Adidas hoodie, we have evidence of clubs taking a cargo-like stance against this sinister fashion trend. From The Club:

Sunday : One of the world's best golfers won a big tournament wearing a hoodie. Maybe golf will progress and trust people to dress themselves?

Tuesday : pic.twitter.com/5xpMX2qOtE

— The Club (@TheClub) October 13, 2020

GolfDigest.com’s Alex Myers visited the Wearside Golf Club’s website to learn of other fashion restrictions and while they might seem more extreme than most, the hoodies restriction carries and addendum vibe. But at least the H is capitalized and the space before the period confirms the importance of this policy.

So move over cargos, etiquette committees have a new nemesis.

"Cobbs Creek Golf Course to close for renovations until 2023"

Cobbs Creek may be the best public course in America just waiting to be restored. Now, after years of efforts by locals and financial contributors, this gem may once again recapture its unlimited potential.

Thanks to reader AF for Julie Coleman’s Philadelphia Inquirer story on Cobbs closing this fall to undergo a $20 million renovation of Hugh Wilson’s design.

The renovations, which will be funded by the nonprofit Cobbs Creek Restoration & Community Foundation, aim to replace the clubhouse, fix the floodplains, and create wetlands around the creek to prevent flooding, according to Chris Maguire, who chairs the foundation’s board of directors. The revamp will also add an educational program for young golfers.

But for Philadelphians who love the public course’s tight-knit community, affordability, and convenient location, the renovation is a double-edged sword.

“It is kind of a rarity to have a challenging public golf course like [Cobbs Creek] that is close enough to the city to be able to be used by people in Philadelphia,” said Paul Nowyj, who has been playing there for five years and made friends with many of the older players.

Gary Player: "All golf balls go the same distance now..."

It can be scary to lean on Gary Player’s views as he’s been known to advocate for some unusual ideas, but while visiting the KPMG LPGA he offered this on the golf ball:

However, he added: “What perturbs me is the golf manufacturers, particularly the golf balls, they're reluctant to change. All golf balls go the same distance now. No one golf ball goes further than the other. I've tried them all. They're not allowed to go further.”

Farther, but we know what you meant. Go on…

“So if we cut the balls back further, 50 yards, it's not going to affect their sales. Whoever is No.1 now will be No.1 then because the reason you're No.1 is because of your advertising and your marketing. That's the only reason you spend more money and you have more players using it and endorsing it. That's the reason. Not because it's a better ball.

“So we must cut the ball back, and it will happen. As sure as I'm standing here, it will happen, otherwise they're going to make a mockery of these golf courses, and we cannot make them longer because we're running out of water.”

I’m not certain an across-the-board rollback can be sold on the public, but as Player notes, ball supremacy has mostly been nullified and the major differences are slight. So why dance around the perceived differences at the expense of the game? Oh, right, the governing bodies favor the needs of a few capitalists over the game. Silly me.

Wolff Shoots 61 Despite Missing Eight Birdie Putts From 16 Feet And Under

Bryson DeChambeau has faded at this year’s Shriner’s Hospital For Children in Las Vegas, but another bomber moved to within striking distance of the lead.

Matthew Wolff posted a 61 Saturday and yet, it was slightly underwhelming if you dive deeper in this stats. As GolfDigest.com’s Christopher Powers notes, Wolff’s 61 came on the back of three eagles in five holes, including a hole-out form 115 yards.

But…

The only problem, if we had to nitpick, was his putter, a common theme in this early portion of his career. Incredibly, he shot 61 despite gaining only 0.2 strokes on the greens. He missed eight birdie putts of 16 feet or less, including on his final two holes, lipping out both times and watching 59 slip away. In reality, he could have shot 56 or 57.

Not that there is anything wrong with that!

However, a 61 without a special day on the greens might indicate a course overwhelmed by the modern game.

Bryson Offers To Help Matthew Fitzpatrick With A Diet And Training Program So He Too Can Make A "Mockery" Of The Game

BMW PGA 36-hole leader Matthew Fitzpatrick declared Bryson DeChambeau’s approach to Winged Foot a mockery of the game after he studied some of the tracker data. From Ryan Lavner’s GolfChannel.com story:

“I just looked at Shot Tracker (Thursday), some of the places he hit it and how he’s cutting corners,” Fitzpatrick told reporters. “When he’s on, there’s no point. It doesn’t matter if I play my best; he’s going to be 50 yards in front of me off the tee. The only thing I can compete with him is putting. Which is just ridiculous.”

Fitzpatrick also lamented the idea of length overtaking the game.

“I really hope they do,” Fitzpatrick told reporters. “It’s not a skill to hit the ball a long way, in my opinion. I could put on 40 pounds. I could go and see a bio-mechanist and I could gain 40 yards; that’s actually a fact. I could put another two inches on my driver. I could gain that, but the skill in my opinion is to hit the ball straight. That’s the skill. He’s just taking the skill out of it, in my opinion. I’m sure lots will disagree. It’s just daft.”

Daft!

Well, Bryson is here to help, Matthew. After his second round at the Shriner’s Hospital For Children, DeChambeau responded and being the kind soul that he is, offered to lay out a program for the lanky Englishman.

From Daniel Rapaport at GolfDigest.com:

“You know, I actually appreciate it, because I would love to have a conversation with him about it and say, 'Hey, man, I would love to help out. Why couldn't you do it, too?' You see Rory and DJ doing the same thing, too. They're seeing that distinct advantage, and I feel like it's great for the game of golf. I don't think it takes less skill.”

Definitely not less skill. Just a different skill. And at some point, one that involves going to see doctors and to have shoulders repaired and arteries unclogged.

Great job governing bodies, great job!

"The speed and distance craze? Atop the women’s game, there are few signs of it"

Plenty of perspectives from Michael Bamberger at the KPMG Women’s PGA where he chats with a nice range of players about chasing distance.

Check it out here at Golf.com. And this:

The rejuvenated Lydia Ko is No. 54 on the LPGA driving distance list, with a 256-yard average. She’s 5-5 in extra-long spikes. She shot a first-round 68 here in this grand women’s major, run by the PGA of America.      

This has been said 999,999 times and here comes the millionth: women’s professional golf is, by far, a better example for nearly any of us — man, woman or child; 105-shooter or 68-shooter — who are looking for swing models. Lewis noted on Thursday that she plays in pro-ams every week with men who it the same distance that she does, yet she’s a plus-five and her gentlemen playing partners will typically break 90 only when Jupiter aligns with Mars.   

Bryson Scraps It Around Vegas In 62, A Day After Pro-Am 59

The Bryson DeChambeau show carried on in Las Vegas with a 62, a day after having a putt for 58 on his own pro-am ball.

At least in this case, as Steve DiMeglio’s Onionesque account of the Shriner’s Hospital For Children score shredding, DeChambeau was joined by four players posting 63 and five shooting 64.

[Pausing here for a response from those who say scoring hasn’t changed due to the de-skilling of the pro game.]

Still, good laughs should be had at the absurd state of the skill/distance balance, a real tribute to the total loss of control by the authorities going on two decades.

It wasn’t a fair fight on a windless, sun-drenched day as DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Open at rugged Winged Foot in his last start, hit nine tee shots past the 300-yard barrier, including a 365-yard blast that reached the green on the par-4 7th. He is the first player in the ShotLink Era that began in 2003 to drive the green.

The No. 6 player in the world also drove the 315-yard par-4 15th – with a 3-wood. The longest iron he used for an approach was a 6-iron – and that was for his second shot on the 583-yard par-5 13th. Seven of his nine birdies came from within six feet and he was equally satisfied with two 10-foot putts he made for par.

All you can do is tip a cap to DeChambeau and friends. They’ve outworked, outsmarted and outmaneuvered the rulemakers. Even if their efforts makes a mockery of the game and render the meaning of a birdie or eagle fairly mundane, there is something to respect in the dominating performances.

Oh and there was this from DeChambeau after scrapping it around on a day the ballstriking wasn’t there (62):

“It’s amazing to see the power that’s out here now,” DeChambeau said. “I think that’s a testament to the new generation that’s coming up and what it’s going to be like in the future.”

Bryson Show Arrives In Vegas Talking Happy Gilmore, Drivable Fours And 48-Inch Drivers For Augusta

Another range parking lot was inundated by Bryson DeChambeau drives before he was asked to move back, begging two questions: why does the ball need to go so far and who keeps putting parking near a range.

Anyway, check out Steve DiMeglio’s entertaining compendium of clips from Bryson’s pre-Shriner’s Hospital For Children press conference, as the U.S. Open champion returns to PGA Tour action for the first time since Winged Foot.

Four par-4’s figure to get a crack, and the iron distances are befitting the desert air and elevation. And the incredible distances DeChambeau hits the ball.

“There will be holes where I’m going to try and drive them, get it up as close to the green as possible,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just fun having a 7-iron go 220. That’s unique. And 4-iron, 265. There will be holes where I had to hit 3-wood and now I’m hitting 4-iron off the tees.”

I believe this was said in a serious tone:

“I watched ‘Happy Gilmore’ a little while ago and just re-inspired me to try and hit it as far as possible,” DeChambeau said.

Bryson also provided an update on 48-inch driver testing for Augusta National and the Masters.

“I’m looking forward to trying to put in a 48-inch driver and see what that can do to the golf course and what opportunities it will present for me,” he said. “It’s going well. I think there is a lot of, I don’t know, I guess you could say advantages to having a 48-inch driver and being able to put it in play and keep it in play.

“Still need to get some things worked out, but so far it’s been pretty amazing.”

It is amazing.

Players To Get Boost Of Ahleticism As New Pro V’s Turn Up In Vegas (Again)

Because they aren’t hitting it long enough and the air isn’t thin enough to make 400 yards an expected thing, new Titleist’s are turning up at their favorite testing grounds: TPC Summerlin.

Twenty years after the first Pro V’s showed up in Vegas and instantly turned most Titleist staffers into decathletes, it’s that time of year. Sources close to absolutely no one predict the new new Pro V1’s and Pro V1x’s will be longer and, wait for it, I swear, really, like, really straighter.

Golfweek’s David Dusek reviews and previews the Pro V’s history at the Shriner’s and what can be expected as the conforming ball is put into play.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the first Titleist Pro V1 at the 2000 Invensys Classic. That week, 47 players in the field switched into the new multi-layer, urethane-covered ball, including Billy Andrade, who went on to win.

Historically, Titleist brings prototypes of the three-piece Pro V1 and the four-piece Pro V1x balls to Las Vegas to get feedback from players, then makes the balls available to consumers in late January of the following year.

The company is not providing any details regarding modifications it has made to the balls at this time, but it is likely that the balls are receiving refinements instead of significant overhauls. Why? According to Titleist, about 73 percent of all the players on the PGA Tour last season used either a Pro V1 or a Pro V1x. That number jumps to 75 percent on the European Tour and 83 percent on the LPGA Tour.

Which means, when we take 12 dimples off it and make it a few millimeters larger, it’ll still be the most popular! Right Wally?

Today In Swell Ideas: Bryson-Proofing With Progressively Scaled Rough Density

Since we apparently can’t roll back athleticism or change equipment rules to maintain the relevancy of tournament courses, cockamamie ideas surface from time to time in the name of protecting imaginary bottom lines.

Though I have to say, in twenty years of hearing what efforts golf courses must go to not to act, this falls into the extra-kooky category. Not reptiles-in-the-rough-crazy, but close.

From Rex Hoggard, reporting on a Golf Central podcast conversation with Mike Schy, Bryson DeChambeau’s longtime swing-coach, when asked how you Bryson-proof a course.

“I’ve thought through this and I think I have the answer,” Schy explained on this week’s Golf Central Podcast. “I believe the rough should be scaled so that the closer you get to the green the thicker the rough becomes. Let’s say 60 yards out the rough is 7 inches deep and as you go back [toward the tee] the rough is scaled [shorter].

So, an inch lower every 20 yards? Do you paint a line at each stage, maybe go all grid-like?

Rossie, did he just find six inch or is he still in the five inch patch? That could be huge for his chances to his this lob wedge close!

Sorry, continue…

“You could actually narrow the fairway just a little bit, scale the rough and that brings back all the old golf courses. The courses that are potentially becoming obsolete [to Tour players], like Pebble Beach.”

Takers? Anyone? Just send the bill for new mowers, fertilizer and manpower to the USGA or R&A, attention Distance Impact Fund.

Only In 2020: Push Cart Manufacturers Cautiously Optimistic About Ending Shortage

Picture a shady character opening up a trunk to reveal the loot. “I’ve got Sun Mountain, I’ve got Tour Trek, and I know a guy with some Stewart X9’s at cost.”

Yes, there is a lively second-hand market for push carts. Hello 2020!

Jonathan Wall at Golf.com reports on the end in sight for manufacturers who’ve been unable to meet the push cart demand that has led to sell-outs, silly second-hand prices and supply shortages:

Dynamic Brands, along with Hansen’s ProActive Sports Groups, the distributor of Clicgear and Rovic brands for USA and Mexico, have been in the same boat as nearly every other manufacturer in the golf equipment industry. Business has been good — really good. But a double-edged sword exists.

At the end of August, Golf Datatech, an independent market research firm, reported a record-breaking month for U.S. golf equipment sales in July, as total sales (on and off the course) soared to $388.6 million. It was the highest total since the company started tracking data in 1997.

Clicgear was already forecasting an increase in sales with the release of its Model 4.0 push-cart — its first new model in several years. What the company didn’t expect was how the pandemic would shape their business. With more golfers requesting push carts than ever before, Clicgear blew through its current supply of Model 4.0’s, along with the rest of its stock. They’ve been playing catch-up ever since with a deep backlog of orders.

Acushnet Job Fair: Golf's (Social) Distance Popularity Prompts Hiring Frenzy!

South Coast Today’s Kiernan Dunlop reports on Acushnet’s need to make around 200 hires to handle the surge in golf thanks to distance. That’s…social distance, not actual distance increases. Go figure!

Dunlop writes:

The open houses will continue into October and the company plans to hire over 200 people when all is said and done, according to Laurie Herbert, director of talent acquisition.

Golf has been a positive activity for people to partake in during the coronavirus pandemic, Chief People Officer for Titleist Brendan Reidy said, since it’s outdoors and allows for social distancing.

“We continued to see incredible demand for our products as we came out of the heart of the initial part of the pandemic,” Reidy said, “It has really effectively forced us to look at how we respond to that demand.”

During a time where unemployment and layoffs are rampant, mass hirings by companies seem to be a rarity.

“We’re privileged to be in a position where our business has turned around where we can continue to make these investments,” Reidy said, “To see that Acushnet [Company] is doing well and has come through 2020 in a positive way has really left a positive mark on people.”

Just think Wally, all that money spent on patents and Global Golf Post propaganda pieces to lobby against distance when it was another form of distance that spurring demand.

Either way, love the investment in American jobs and in the company. What a refreshing contrast to so many golf organizations and businesses slashing and burning their way into the future.