Verdi: Can't Legislate Progress, Next Question

Bob Verdi asks and answers questions.

Did technology affect golf in 2005?

A tired theme, in our opinion. You can't legislate against progress. The big story in bowling, besides Asbaty, is the new scented ball. You can now collect the 7-10 split with an amaretto ball. In tennis, it was the introduction of a magnetic racket, which instantly returns to its original shape after you hit the ball and which doesn't smell like amaretto. Yet.

So, you're really not worried about emerging technology? 

I worry about technology when I call my bank two blocks away to find out whether a check has cleared and the person who picks up the phone is in New Delhi.

Here was Verdi last year writing about the issue.

Meanwhile, the piece inspired me to to offer a similar question and answer session to myself.

Did technology really impact golf in 2005, or is everyone from Jack Nicklaus to Arnold Palmer to Greg Norman to Tiger Woods suggesting this just to get attention?

A tired theme, in our opinion. You can't ask golf writers to do anything but cover stars on the PGA Tour. I mean, who wants to write about something that requires thought, historical perspective, curiousity, a grasp of science and a concern for ramifications beyond the PGA Tour?

So you're not worried about emerging technology?

Why, I'm a blogger? I'm not the one whose publication arrives in the mail three weeks after the publication date...during the non-holiday season. Or the one who calls customer service to get some Canadian telling me that postal works must be reading my issues.

The Power Struggle

Charles Happell of The Age writes about the distance debate and exposes more anti-technophobic troublemakers: Craig Parry, Greg Norman (well, he was exposed long ago) and Geoff Ogilvy.

Now 39 and in the twilight of a wonderful career, Parry, who stands 168 centimetres in his Niblicks, wonders where it will all end. How, he asks, will relative pipsqueaks such as himself remain relevant in golf's new leviathan age?

"I'm lucky I'm coming to the end of my career because I wouldn't like to be going out there now with all these strong young guys and trying to match them," Parry told The Age. "Anyone who's 5'6" and coming out on the tour now, they're going to struggle."

And that old anti-capitalist himself, Greg Norman, weighed in. 

Greg Norman told The Age last week it was time the rule-makers at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf Association put a stop to the nonsense and applied the brakes to this runaway train.

"For someone like Craig Parry, it's tough. I really think it's time we woke up and put restrictions on the equipment being used by the pros," Norman said.

The former world No. 1, who now spends much of his time designing courses, said each year, his new designs have to be altered to take into account increasingly sophisticated technology.

"It affects our design work each year," he said. "Now we've got the landing areas at 300 yards (274 metres), and carries over bunkers are now something like 310 (283 metres). Back in the

old days, it was something like 265 yards (242 metres); that's how much it's changed."

And finally, guys named Geoff clearly just don't get it.

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy is a child of the 1980s, and someone who has known nothing but metal-headed drivers, graphite shafts and these new multi-layer, soft-core balls.

Two weeks ago, at Royal Melbourne, playing with Bob Shearer and Mike Clayton, the group used a number of clubs that were made before Ogilvy was born: among them a persimmon driver, three wood and Slazenger one iron with a blade not much thicker than a letter opener.

Ogilvy found the experience fascinating. The shots he hit in the sweet spot went virtually as far as his modern clubs; the ones hit slightly off-centre sounded clunky and went a fraction of the distance.

At the end of the round, he decided it was not the new clubs that were the problem but the ball. "I realise now that the problems lie mostly with the ball," Ogilvy said.

"I feel very strongly that the balls should be backed off, certainly for the pros. It's a shame to change all these classic courses such as Augusta and St Andrews. We need a uniform professional ball."

It's The Shoes

First there were tees to supplement all of that improved athleticism allowing for distance increases, now we have shoes to add to the list of reasons guys are hitting it longer.

According to T.J. Tomasi, Padraig Harrington says of his Hi-Tec shoes:

The shoes have increased my ball speed from 166 mph to 173 mph. Each mile per hour is equivalent to about 2 1/2 yards, so that's an additional 15 yards on my drives. This has taken me from the top 100 in driving distance in Europe to being in the top 10 in the space of a year, which is amazing.

They've also taken his voice down two octaves and made his blond highlights almost look natural.

Unfortunately, his memory might not be so "amazing" since Padraig finished 13th in 2004 European driving distance, 30th in 2005.

Thanks to reader Tuco for this.

Barona Had Just One Obstacle...

Five-year-old Barona Creek (No. 78 in Golfweek's Top 100 Modern) has overcome its dated back tee yardage to earn the right to host two Nationwide Tour Championships. Tod Leonard writes:

With a hotel/casino on site and plenty of room for corporate hospitality and the expected 5,000 spectators, Barona's only obstacle to getting a top-level event was its length. At 7,088 yards from the championship tees, it was deemed short for today's big hitters with high-tech clubs. In October's Collegiate Cup, for example, Denver's James Love shot a 10-under-par 62 in the first round and went on to card 15-under in three rounds.

But the club has made extensive renovations this fall, adding 12 new tees to lengthen the course to about 7,500 yards. Several jagged-edged bunkers – among the course's standout design traits – were added. 

Where's the R.I.P. Ball?

This summer Lawrence Donegan wrote about a rolled back ball that a manufacturer distributed to certain people. As you may recall, it was stamped "R.I.P. Distance" on one side and "This is the ball Jack wants you to hit" on the other.

Now, the manufacturers haven't submitted the requested rolled balls to the USGA for their ball study, but one of them was able to make this ball and stamp it facetiously? Go figure.

Arjun Atwal: Another Anti-technology Anarchist

From one of my favorites, the Sunday Indian Express:

Q: Let’s talk a little bit about what’s changing with your game. Is technology doing something to your game like it’s doing to tennis, or with cricket — what’s happening with golf?

ARJUN ATWAL: Well, with golf, you know, they’re actually going a little overboard with the distance. Distance meaning the golf ball is going a lot longer when you hit it than it did 20 years ago, or maybe even 10 years ago. What that does is make old-style golf courses like the RCGC obsolete. They’ve become too short, not challenging enough. Anyway, today’s players work out a lot; they’re much, much stronger than players before. And you’ve got equipment which is far superior. But they can only go so far with the golf ball. I think Jack Nicklaus, who is the greatest player that ever played, has put up a point to the USGA and the RNA, which are the governing boards of golf around the world, that you must now put a limit. And I think he’s right. Otherwise they’ll be building 8,000 yard golf-courses and only the long hitters will survive. Shot-making ability will go from the game.

2,059 and Counting

2,059. That's how many PGA Tour drives finished over 350 yards in 2005 according to the Tour's stat gurus.

You may recall that last week the longest drive stat was looked at here, and it was pointed out that ShotLink was now tallying all long drives hit this year (unlike in past years where only drives hit on the pair of measuring holes counted toward the longest drive stat).

However, the 2005 list ended at 978 drives of 357 yards or more. 2,059. I had 1,500 in the pool.

Architects, change those turning points! 300 is out, bring on 340!

Shoot, might as well go with 350 just in case the guys really start hitting the weights this winter. 

Tiger On A Rollback

Kelly Tilghman interviewed Tiger Woods September 28th. Because a transcript was slow to appear and I was more interested in his surprising comments that he'll be getting in the course design business soon than expected, I missed this bit where he says there is "no doubt" that Hootie, the USGA and R&A want to roll the ball back. Thanks to reader Tom for the reminder.

And credit Tilghman for asking some fine questions in a tough environment (Nike plugfest). The entire interview is much more interesting than Tiger's usual game of press room Dodgeball. (Not that I blame him.)

Anyway, here's what should have made headlines:

Tiger Woods: Here's the deal, I have talked to Hootie and talked to the heads of USGA, also to Peter Dawson, they want to roll the ball back, no doubt about that. They want to put a speed limit and there is one now but they are making golf courses so long that you can't play some of the old championship venues. That's what they are afraid of. They are trying to protect the integrity of some of these major championship venues and the great golf courses, where they can still provide a great championship but not have us shoot 20 under par. But also to have it so that the average golfer can enjoy a round of golf. Well, that's the dilemma. New technology has helped the average golfer hitting balls slightly further and slightly more accurate. But for professionals, we have made leaps and bounds because our proficiency and to be able to make contact and launch the ball correctly each and every time. If you take the average consumer and they hit a driver, they have probably got old equipment five years ago to now maybe 10 yards, 12 yards carry, and we're carrying it to 25, 30 yards further than some of the guys. The further you hit, the more technology is going to help you. That's what they are looking at. They have got all these lists of numbers especially at Augusta, where we're landing the golf ball versus three years ago, and three years ago guys are hitting it 12 to 15 further in the air easily, everybody. That's what they are afraid of. That's one of the reasons why Augusta made some changes each and every year and are probably a leader in that.

I am sure there will come a point in time where they will have to slow it down because we can't play Merion anymore. You can play U.S. Amateur but a professional I think would probably shoot a little lower scores than they did. St. Andrews, if they have to change the course there to accommodate us, then you know things are changing. Hey, I am one of the guys that if they did roll the ball back, it would help me out a little bit. I would have an advantage. Any long guy who hits the ball long and high would have more of an advantage because now we're having to hit longer irons in the greens, other guys are having to hit hybrids and woods, so you have an advantage.

From a personal standpoint and competitive standpoint, I won't mind them rolling the ball back because I would have an advantage.

"Great Game's Long Goodbye"

It took way too long for John Huggan to weigh in on the Tour's '07 concept and the state of the game.

Oh but it was worth the wait.

A season-long points series will lead to a play-off-style Fed-Ex Cup involving leading qualifiers that will, it is hoped, identify the biggest draws in the game. Otherwise, America's ever-diminishing attention span, and its desire to satisfy an out-of-control gambling habit, may switch from fades to football even earlier than it does now.

Ah he was just warming up.

As always when the PGA Tour is involved, this proposed change to a long-established status quo has nothing to do with what may or may not be good for the game. To the surprise of no-one, this is all to do with money. Instead of taking a long, hard look at an increasingly one-dimensional product involving the use of driver, wedge and putter, Finchem and his army of sycophantic minions have gone for what appears to be a short-term fix: dazzling disgruntled networks with big names and numbers in advance of imminent negotiations for the renewal of television contracts.

Oh heck, why am I interrupting?

Such a move, you won't be shocked to hear, is shortsighted, and pays no attention to recent history and the demise of tennis as a participation/spectator sport in the US. As bigger racquets and hi-tech materials removed entertaining 'feel' players, such as John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase, from the upper echelons, tennis became more and more a power game dominated by big-serving behemoths. And not surprisingly, the public rejected that tedium. From a peak of 34 million in 1975, it is estimated that only 13 million Americans play tennis and only rarely does it make it onto network TV.

Golf is going the same way. The numbers are not pretty, yet administrators on both sides of the Atlantic do nothing to stop the game becoming more about grunts than guile.

Oh I'll stop here because he goes into that tedious USGA/R&A Statement of Principles stuff which you know all too well from the last week. And the various stats also thrown in your face here and here this week.

Demo Day at East Lake

An interesting item I missed (thanks to reader Peter for alerting me), came from Doug Ferguson's Tour Championship notes:

GLORY DAYS: For those who believe the golf ball is solely responsible for distance gains, the pro-am at the Chrysler Championship showed other factors at work. The wooden driver, for example.

As the PGA Tour reached a conclusion to its "Drive to a Billion" charity campaign, it had five persimmons drivers available on the first tee and asked players to give it a crack, then use their titanium drivers for the shot that counted on their pro-am scorecard.

Adam Scott hit it pure, a majestic ball flight with a slight draw to the middle of the fairway. Out came his Titleist titanium driver - same golf ball, by the way - and another beautiful swing. Stepping it off, it was 32 yards longer.

Davis Love III also ripped the wooden driver. His modern driver sent the ball 40 yards longer.

Guess the ball is overrated? Might as well just buy some run-of-the-mill Callaways since the clubs are doing all the work, eh?

Or maybe there is a unique ball-club synergy that allows players to exceed the Overall Distance Standard, and someone ought to test for that?

Tour's Longest Drive Stat

Not a big fan here of the PGA Tour's "longest drive" stat since Kapalua, Colorado and cart paths skew the numbers. Still, I found these numbers interesting in light of the USGA/R&A's 2002 "any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable" benchmark:

1992 PGA Tour Longest Drive Stat
0 drives over 400 yards
3 at 350 yards or higher

1993
0 drives over 400 yards
18 over 350 yards

1994
0 drives over 400 yards
4 over 350 yards

1995
0 drives over 400 yards
22 over 350 yards

1996
0 drives over 400 yards
13 over 350 yards

Bored yet? Hang in there.

1997
0 drives over 400 yards
28 over 350 yards

1998
5 drives over 400 yards
46 over 350 yards

1999
1 drives over 400 yards
112 over 350 yards

2000
0 drives over 400 yards
42 over 350 yards

2001
1 over 400 yards
79 over 350 yards

2002
1 over 400 yards
80 over 350 yards

2003
1 over 400 yards
118 over 350 yards

2004
32 over 400 yards
210 over 350 yards

2005
19 over 400 yards
978 over 350 (but list stops at 357!)

Okay, before you go what the $%*& (like I did), consider this: in 2005, the Tour apparently started using ShotLink for the longest drive stat. So instead of taking the long drives from the two measuring holes, 2005 encompasses all of the drives hit. Still, you are probably talking about a significant number of drives over 350 yards hit in 2005. (I've asked for the number from the Tour, as well as the possibility of finding out the tally from the two measuring holes only.)

For another comparison that shows just how much those work out programs and brick hard fairways are compensating for the lousy clubs and balls, the Nationwide numbers still just worked off of two measuring holes in 2005:

2002
3 drives over 400 yards
125 over 350 yards

2003
9 drives over 400 yards
199 over 350 yards

2004
4 drives over 400 yards
138 over 350 yards

2005
4 drives over 400 yards
303 over 350 yards

Nearly double the number of tee shots over 350 yards since 2002 when the line was drawn?  

Something's going on. Either we're talking about optimization of launch conditions, better workout programs, widespread use of performance enhancing drugs, really firm fairways, or, did I mention optimization launch conditions?

Tiger On?

Not sure what to make of this from Tiger's pre-tournament press conference:

Q. You mentioned that you feel a 300 yard drive that you didn't feel in your 20s. What are the things you see later in your career that you might change in your game? We know MJ went to the fade away later in his career. What are some of the things you may incorporate into your game later on?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. Certainly that's dependent on equipment changes, whether or not we're going to make any equipment changes, whether I can roll the ball back or not, reduce the club face or whatever we're going to do. You're going to have to adjust. I think that's the great thing about this game. You have to keep it fluid. Things always have to adjust. I have plenty on my plate to work on, all the changes I'm trying to incorporate in my game. That will keep me busy for a long time.

Why The Focus On The Top Drivers?

Reader Greg asked why the great interest here in the jumps at the top of each Tour's driving distance stats.

On May 9, 2002, the USGA and R&A issued a "Joint Statement of Principles" regarding the improvement of golf clubs and balls. The key line says: "any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable."

PGA TOUR:

• 2002: 18 players averaged over 290 yards, 1 player averaged over 300 yards
  

• 2005: 83 players averaging over 290 yards,  25 players averaging over 300 yards
  

Nationwide Tour:

• 2002: 63 players averaged over 290 yards, 15 players averaged over 300 yards

• 2005: 95 players averaged over 290 yards, 42 averaged players over 300 yards
  

So while the average Tour drive has climbed at a pace that the USGA could easily shrug off as not necessarily "significant," the huge leaps at the top would seem to indicate that manufacturers have been able to design a ball that passes the USGA overall distance standard under the stipulated launch conditions, but under different launch conditions, allows the players to exceed the distance standard. Thus, creating a situation where some are able to work around the intent of the rules.

Or the guys have just really been working out a lot since 2002.

But it doesn't matter how they've managed to increase their distance since the governing bodies say "any further significant increases in hitting distances at the highest level are undesirable."

Not much grey area in that statement, nor in the "highest level" driving distance increases since 2002.

Azinger On Disney Telecast

Mike Tirico wrapped up the Funai Classic telecast by noting the low scores despite the lengthening of Disney World's Magnolia course and asked for Paul Azinger's final thoughts.

PAUL AZINGER: Well it was lift, clean and place all week and that made it a lot easier. But I'm always a fan of David being able to beat Goliath. You know, Corey Pavin could beat Greg Norman and Gary Player could beat Jack Nicklaus. And if we keep getting longer and longer every week it's going to be a one dimensional show.

IAN BAKER-FINCH: That's right. 

Lengthening In Response to Technology

In advance of this week's Funai Classic, Steve Elling explores the trend of lengthening Tour courses. Warning, I'm quoted.

Highlights:

With a record tour 25 players averaging over 300 yards per drive -- that's 10 more guys than last year's all-time high -- courses are going long, too. Next year at the Bob Hope Classic, a new layout called the Classic Course at NorthStar will be added to the four-course rotation. It'll be 7,536 yards.

Driving distances have grown so quickly that there has been talk of using a standardized tour ball, the golf equivalent of NASCAR's restrictor-plate racing. For years, the equipment makers operated with relative impunity, making clubheads the size of toasters, graphite shafts as long as fishing poles and balls so hot that the world's plutonium supply probably dwindled. Before golf's governing bodies, the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient Golf Club, finally put some limitations on club performance characteristics, setting actual limits three years ago, the horsepower was out of the barn.

And for the first time, Frank Thomas is more direct on his final years as USGA testing director, with a direct reference to his interest in curbing optimization while at the USGA.

"They failed to act for legal reasons, not for the best interests of golf," said Orlando's Frank Thomas, the USGA's chief technical director from 1974-2000. "I warned them, but nobody wanted to face a potential lawsuit [from manufacturers]."

More Elling:

Of the 39 primary courses in continual use on tour over the past decade, Disney became the 16th to add at least 100 yards; another dropped its par by two strokes to keep pace. In the same 10-year period, driving distance -- the average of all tour players -- has risen 25 yards, to 289 yards. Disney simply counter-punched.

This from Tiger, who tries to dispel the myth that longer players would be unfairly targeted by a rollback or increase in ball spin:

"The further you hit, the more technology is going to help you," Woods said last month. "Hey, I am one of the guys that if they did roll the ball back, it would help me out a little bit. Any long guy who hits the ball long and high would have more of an advantage because now we're having to hit longer irons into the greens, while other guys are having to hit hybrids and woods."

And just as you might have been praising Thomas for bold and direct comments, he offered this to Elling:

Thomas argues that changing the ball is "rewriting the whole rulebook for perhaps the top 400 people in the world, or the top one-thousandth of 1 percent of the golfing population, which is insane." Instead, he favors pinching the width of fairways and growing the rough, which would make players think twice before mindlessly bashing a driver.

Because that has worked so well and will do so much to enhance enjoyment of the sport.

What Thomas doesn't say is that the equipment rulebook could be re-written to deal with those top 400 in a way that would slow down the madness of lengthening and narrowing courses, without significantly impacting 99% of the golfing population. His proposed optimization testing would have done just this.

He's [Thomas] also pushing a semi-heretical notion -- trimming the number of clubs a pro can carry from 14 to 10.

Now that is one anti-corporate, technophobic cure that is guranteed to effect 99% of the golfing population.