Consumer Reports Test Golf Balls...

And some of the results may surprise you. Others may be crying media bias!

OGA Talked About In NZ

The New Zealand Herald's Peter Williams writes about the Ohio Golf Association's competition ball: 

The Ohio Golf Association (OGA) is boldly going where no golf body has gone before. It's ordering competitors in one of its tournaments to use a certain ball - although they haven't actually decided which one.

The OGA, which runs the game in the state where Jack Nicklaus was born and raised, says they are taking a stand against the eroding playability of our old courses due to the length of the modern golf ball.

So, when the OGA hosts the Champions Tournament in August, every player will be required to use a lower-compression ball chosen by the tournament committee.

The impact of the long-distance, modern golf ball is one of the hottest discussion points in American golf.

And...

The R&A and USGA are the only bodies which can legislate against the manufacturers to stop the ball going further. There are already many restrictions on equipment. A ball must be a certain size and weight, driver heads must be no larger than 460cc, while there has to be a certain angle between the club face on an iron and the grooves. So the game's rulers haven't been afraid to put restrictions on equipment, even if they've been sued by manufacturers as a consequence.

Well...

But the major reason elite players hit the ball further is the advance in ball technology. The revolution started in 1996 with Spalding's first high-performance two-piece ball, the Top Flite Strata. Manufacturers followed suit with two-piece technology and since equipment companies like Titleist and Callaway put their R&D efforts into ball technology, there's been no stopping increased performance.

But while the elite can hit the ball up to 100m more - 320m par fours on the PGA Tour are now considered driveable - average club players don't get the same advantage.

Enough Is Enough

That was actually a quote from Dick Rugge in this Gerry Dulac story about the USGA possibly curbing some technology, even as a "distance myth" memo is making the rounds.

There are several interesting quotes from manufacturers types in this piece, and it was nice to see Rugge getting to explain and defend some of the recent USGA moves on Moment of Inertia. 

Make no mistake, the USGA is intent on curbing the distance the ball travels. In addition to the cap of clubhead size, the USGA also is close to implementing a limit on clubhead moment of inertia (MOI), or the head's resistance to twisting. The less a clubhead twists, the greater the "forgiveness," giving players a greater chance to hit the ball straight.

For example, the USGA tested a wooden driver on its Iron Byron swing machine and deliberately set the machine to produce off-center hits (7/8-inch from the center of gravity). The result: The ball traveled 45 yards less than a ball hit "on the screws."

When the same test was performed with a new titanium driver, the ball traveled only 10 yards less.

"Enough," Rugge said, "is enough."

And again, here's another reason rules bifurcation may ultimately be the easiest solution to all of this madness:

Curiously, such a restriction likely would have a greater effect on amateur and weekend players who have trouble hitting the ball straight and need a high MOI. PGA Tour players don't necessarily need or want such a quality, though the USGA is concerned better players will be able to swing harder without fear of a poor result if the MOI isn't restricted.

According to Rugge, the MOI in a club has nearly tripled in the past 15 years.

"That's always our dilemma with any of our equipment rules," Rugge said. "What's good for me [as a player] isn't necessarily good for what's on tour. We don't want to make it so you can't play anymore, but we have to be careful what's going on on tour. It's always a juggling act."

USGA Issues Distance "Myth" Talking Points

Adam Van Brimmer of the Morris News Service reports on a USGA release apparently handed out at the Masters.

The USGA recently released a list of eight myths about golf equipment and performance. The scientific findings, at the least, cast doubt on whether something significant should be done to rein in the equipment advances many say are changing the way the game is played.

"We thought that people who are avid golfers would be interested in actual facts and measurements with respect to the performance of golfers in today's world with new technology," said Walter Driver, USGA's president and an Augusta National member. "We want to give people access to some of the facts and dispel some of the myths that develop around every golf era, and new golf technology in particular."

Note that Walter Driver was available for a quote on this document. The myths are not available on the USGA website. Here they are, according to the USGA:

MYTH 1: Golfers with faster swing speeds hit today's advanced golf balls farther than they did balls introduced before 2000.
MYTH 2: Golf-ball distance is not currently limited.
MYTH 3:Driving distance on the PGA Tour is rapidly increasing.
MYTH 4: The long hitters on the PGA Tour finish higher on the money list.
MYTH 5:Most PGA Tour players swing at 120 mph or more.
MYTH 6:The USGA ball test doesn't control ball distance well enough because pros' swings are different than the test method.
MYTH 7:The average distance for 5-irons on tour is more than 200 yards.
MYTH 8:You get more distance by putting topspin on a drive.

Van Brimmer offers these rebuttal points:

- Though the golf-ball distance is limited, the USGA's overall distance standard limit made a quantum leap from 296.8 yards to 320 yards in 2003 to account for advances in club technology. The swing speed used in the test increased from 109 mph to 120 mph to reflect these changes.

- Though driving distance has flattened out in recent years, as the USGA statistics show, it certainly grew unabated throughout the 1990s and earlier this decade. For example, 29-year-old John Daly led the PGA Tour in driving distance in 1995 with a 289-yard average. Seven years later, an older and heavier Daly led the tour at 306 yards off the tee - a whopping 17-yard increase.

- While fewer long hitters reign on the money list, most of the top players average 300 yards or better. Half of 2005's top 10 money winners, including the top 3 of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, crush the ball.

Top players rely more on length now than two decades ago. In 1985, none of the top 10 money leaders ranked among the top 10 in driving distance. In 1984, only three did.

The lengthening of Augusta National and other courses is an architect's way of keeping up. Augusta has added nearly 500 yards since 2002, about the same time the increase in driving distance leveled off.

Now, contrast this with the two speeches USGA's Jim Vernon has given (Annual Meeting and Arizona).

Talk about sending mixed messages.

WSJ: Golf's Digital Divide

Warning: more biased anti-technology agenda stuff from that cess pool of liberal anti-corporate journalism.

That's right, Reed Albergotti in the Wall Street Journal(.com) analyzes whether $50,000 simulators and $4,500 sensor vests "are driving a wedge between haves and have-nots."

Golf already has an elitist reputation, but a new generation of expensive high-tech tools is stoking a costly arms race among players looking for an edge. Pricey golf simulators can now be rigged to play matches over the Internet, while an increasing number of weekend duffers are investing in $3,000 "launch monitors" that use infrared beams to measure a ball's angle, speed and backspin. At the renowned David Leadbetter Golf Academy near Orlando, two-day courses in a new biometrics lab, where sensors attached to various muscles detect swing flaws, will cost $7,500 -- compared with the $3,000 tab for three days of old-fashioned instruction. And gearing up for tournaments from this weekend's Masters in Augusta, Ga., to the U.S. Amateur Championship, players are turning to laptop computers and digital video cameras to help hone their swings.

The result is a widening digital divide that's drawing new lines in the golf world. Traditional equipment makers are squaring off against upstart high-tech companies that hail from the world of Hollywood special effects. Courses are split on whether to take the high-tech route to woo new golfers or hew to more time-honored ways. And golfers who say the sport is founded on basics like practice and focus worry that turning golf into a kind of rocket science could ruin it.

And...

All of this poses some risk for an industry that has seen little growth in recent years: The number of golfers has stayed at about 28 million since 2001, according to the National Golf Foundation, a trade group. With more complicated tools flooding the market, newcomers may wind up feeling that the sport takes too much time to master even before they get on a course.

And...

But industry experts say much of this stuff tends to help experienced duffers far more than beginners. While overall spending on training and equipment hit $2.6 billion last year, up 73% from 1994, according to the National Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, a trade group, average scores and handicaps have remained fairly flat over the last decade. "A better club will help Tiger Woods more than it helps me," says Marty Parks, a spokesman for the U.S. Golf Association.

Frank Thomas: 10 Clubs and More Rough

I'm not sure what's more disappointing: that former USGA technical director is advocating more rough and 10 clubs, or that the New York Times continues to print his pieces, even putting the latest column on the main Op-Ed page. 

In an email sent out to his subscribers, the headline read "THOMAS PROPOSES TEN CLUB SOLUTION FOR TOUR," and the subheader said, "Limiting club selection and focus on course set up can help allay technology fears."

In "Golf's Power Failure," Thomas writes:

Now officers and elders of the golf association — which, along with the Royal and Ancient Golf Association of St. Andrews, Scotland, writes the game's rules — have asked manufacturers to study the feasibility of a ball that would travel on average 25 yards less than those used now.

This idea is wrongheaded in several ways. To begin with, mandating such a ball would affect all players, and the vast majority of golfers don't hit the ball too far. (Nor do we hit the ball nearly as far as we think we do; well-supported data indicates that the average golfer hits a driver 192 yards — while thinking that he hits it approximately 230.) It's safe to say that for most of us the great layouts created a century ago still provide plenty of challenge.

Which is why Thomas is advocating change, but not before questioning recent action taken by the USGA to mop up for many of the things that got by his watch:

Even before addressing the ball, the rule-making bodies took several foolish steps. They instituted limits that allowed some spring-like effect from the club faces of high-tech titanium drivers (a phenomenon that let the club itself enhance the ball speed at impact for the first time), while restricting both the length of a driver (which will affect few players) and the permissible height of a tee (which is downright silly). They have also explored limits on how much a club can resist twisting at impact; such a change, like the reduced-distance ball, would have a much greater effect on the average golfer than on those who play for prize money.

Ah, so since this debate has always been part of the game and we should relax a bit, Thomas suggests doing something about it:

The goal should be to keep professionals from mindlessly bombing away while not unnecessarily hurting the average player. I have two suggestions. First, tournament courses should be set up to punish long but wayward hitters by narrowing fairways and growing higher rough (the longer grass along the margins of the hole).

Yes, it's worked so well and cures many sleep disorders. And really, when you consider that fairways are now 20-25 yars, they have so much room to get narrower. I saw the width of a ball would be fair.

The other major change would address the imbalance that today seems to favor power so strongly over touch and finesse. To place greater emphasis on the old skills required to work the ball and to hit less-than-full shots, professional players should be restricted to 10 clubs in their bags instead of the current 14.

What do you think manufacturers would hate more, a ball rollback that doesn't impact anyone under 110 mph, or Tour pros only uh, "branding" 10 clubs instead of 14?

And they say I'm anti-technology!

Monty: If The Ball Doesn't Change, The Courses Have To

Monty at the Masters...

The one big change is 11, that's the big change that I find. That's become a very, very difficult hole. If it was hard before, now it's become very difficult. But the rest of the course, I agree with the changes. I think we have to keep going, provided that if we never change the golf ball, we have to keep changing the course and if we change the golf ball, we'll have to change courses. Wish we had done this 15 years ago in 1990 that you found a ball that was good but you can't go backward in this world, you have go forward. If the golf ball doesn't change, the courses have to.

Q. Specifically, what's the difficulty on 11 for you?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Generally holes that start with a 5 and it says par 4, are generally the problem, yeah. (Laughter) So that tends to be that one.

And...

Q. Phil Mickelson is using two drivers in his bag this week.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, he is, yes.

Q. What's your reaction to that?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, I think with the manufacturers now being able to do that, I think it's sensible. He's sort of caught everybody on the hot, really, I think and good luck to him. He tried it last week as an experiment and it certainly worked. Won by, what was it 14 or something crazy. I think you'll find, and not just on this course, you'll find a lot of people using two drivers now. Why try and change one swing to accommodate a hole. Why not if the club is designed to go left or right or whatever, why not use that? We have a number of courses that you can think of immediately that would favor both and certainly used more than a 3 iron or 4 iron in a round of golf. There's no reason why that can't be the same. It will give him an advantage of hitting the fairways around here which we all know is crucial. The rough isn't long, but we need control from the fairways and distance.

Phil and Skill?

Is anyone else intrigued by the notion that Phil Mickelson is using two drivers, one to shape the ball right to left (the "gamer"), and another for the opposite shot shape?

Golf World's E. Michael Johnson has the details in this story.

In the "skill" debate, I wonder if this will come up as an example where equipment is supplementing skill? 

More power to Mickelson for doing what he has to do to win within the rules, but I guess this brings me back to Max Behr's quote about the role of equipment:

I do not think we will go far wrong if we define a true sportsman as one who endeavors to adjust his implements down to a point where they will just sustain his skill, in order that upon skill, and skill alone, must depend the decision of the contest.

A strong case could be made that good players used to use drivers with slightly open or closed faces to create a certain ball flight or to offset a swing flaw.

And I suppose you could say there is skill in determining that you get different reactions from different clubs. But it seems that the real skill in this case was in the club fitting?

It was this Telegraph story quoting Colin Montgomerie that left me wondering:

Montgomerie then considered how useful the two clubs would be at, say, the 17th and 18th at Wentworth and, again, at the last two holes at the Belfry. "The best thing about the idea," he continued, "is the way you can do away with the need to come up with two different swings."

Thoughts?

Kroichik On Distance, Masters Ball Possibility

Ron Kroichik looks at the possiblity of a ball rollback, a "Masters ball" and offers all sorts of interesting tidbits about a distance rollback:

Sandy Tatum barely hesitates before answering in the affirmative. Tatum, the former United States Golf Association president and patriarch of Harding Park's renovation, joins Jack Nicklaus in suggesting the USGA "roll back" the distance the ball can travel. Woods and his big-hitting colleagues on the PGA Tour routinely smack drives more than 300 yards, taking golf into once-unimaginable frontiers.

It's either a thrilling joyride (many fans), a fundamental affront to the game (traditionalists such as Tatum) or an unwelcome threat to booming business (elite players and golf-ball manufacturers).

Tatum begins his sermon with this premise: The ball goes too far. The faster a player swings, the greater the benefit from technology. Drivers with club heads triple the size they were 15 years ago collide with balls specifically designed to soar into the stratosphere.

"It puts the game seriously out of balance," Tatum recently said. "You get more emphasis on power and less on shot-making. The stats will tell you, accuracy is no longer anywhere near as important as distance."

And...

These kind of numbers help explain why Chairman Hootie Johnson felt compelled to try to keep Augusta National "current with the times." He lengthened the course for the second time in five years, but only after hinting club officials might force players to use a "uniform ball" in the Masters, one unlikely to travel such prodigious distances.

That option still exists for Johnson and his colleagues in Augusta, but even then it would apply only to the Masters. The USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the game's governing bodies and rules makers, do not favor the idea of a uniform ball.

"That's not in the cards, for the same reason a baseball player doesn't have the same bat as any other player," said Dick Rugge, the USGA's senior technical director. "It's personal equipment suited to each player."

Rugge nonetheless elevated this long-simmering debate into another realm in April 2005, on the day after Woods won the Masters. Rugge sent an e-mail to manufacturers, inviting them to participate in a research project by making balls that travel 15 and 25 yards shorter than current models.

This would not be a uniform ball, because players still could arrange their own specifications (launch angle, spin rate, etc.). But the ball would not fly as far, exactly the kind of rollback Nicklaus and Tatum are advocating.

Rugge, in a phone interview last week, said the USGA expects to receive prototype, reduced-distance balls from manufacturers "very soon." Rugge and his staff -- 18 people in all, including six engineers -- will then embark on extensive research to determine how those balls would affect the game.

"To some people, it's as simple as a shorter ball," Rugge said. "I can tell you from our research, it's a much more complex issue than that."

 And...

Top players, not surprisingly, are cool to the idea of limits on technology. Woods, asked earlier this year about the ongoing chatter about a uniform ball, practically scoffed, saying, "I don't think it's realistic at all. Do you realize what that would do to the golf-ball industry?"

Gee, think he has a lucrative endorsement contract?

Mickelson similarly downplayed the possibility of a uniform ball. As for rolling back the ball, he said, "I don't think we'll ever get to that point," though the USGA's impending research project suggests it's possible. Woods, interestingly, seems open to rolling back the ball.

For now, technology rolls forward on several fronts. The USGA recently proposed a "liberal limit" on so-called moment of inertia, to address the modern drivers that create good shots even with imperfect contact. Rugge said a final decision will be made in the coming months.

In the coming days, all eyes will turn to Augusta and the stretched-out course awaiting Woods, Mickelson and their brethren. They will arrive armed with the finest equipment available, ready to tackle the beast. There will be much talk about those 4-plus miles of Georgia landscape -- and not as much talk about the little white balls at the center of the action.

They Juice The Equipment!

From the March 31 "Real Time with Bill Maher," talking about the latest steroid controversy in baseball and how America's favorite pasttime should emulate golf:

ROBERT WUHL:  In golf, the players are straight but they juice the equipment!

BILL MAHER:  That's actually very true! [Laughing]

I guess they didn't get the memo that agronomy is the cause of 350-yard drives! 

Huffman on Vernon Speech

Bill Huffman in the East Valley Tribune:

Like you, I enjoy driving the ball as far as I can. But I was bothered by comments from USGA official James Vernon, who was the guest speaker at last week’s Arizona Golf Association awards dinner at Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix.

Vernon is the 2006 chairman of the Equipment Standards Committee. He also is in his first year as vice president of the USGA after serving as a member of the Executive Committee for the past three years.

In other words, Vernon knows golf. And what he said about the high-tech ball in relation to how far it’s traveling these days deserves our attention.

For instance, Vernon mentioned how all of this bombing of the ball has led to a “de-skilling of the golf swing.’’ And he’s right, as Tiger Woods doesn’t resemble Bobby Jones or Ben Hogan in any way, shape or form.

And face it, everybody wants to be like Tiger. If that means hitting it a mile and then searching for it, so be it. That Woods ranks No. 9 in distance (302.9 yards per drive), No. 140 in accuracy and No. 3 in money ($2.16 million) says it all.

According to Vernon, higher swing speeds are “more about athleticism’’ and less about rhythm and tempo.

“Today, there is no correlation — none — between driving accuracy and winning on the PGA Tour,’’ Vernon said. “But there is a clear increase (in money won) for players who drive it over 300 yards.’’

Vernon said it’s gotten to the point where the Tour’s motto — “These guys are good!” — is debatable.

“Maybe,’’ he said of the Tour’s claim. “But more and more, they’re hitting it off-center and getting away with it.’’

And...

Vernon sees the impact of the high-tech ball on the “No Fear” generation, and it troubles him. He said unless the ball gets brought back by 20 yards or so, we’ll be forced to bulldoze our way into the future.

“The lengthening of golf courses is costly, and in many cases, impossible,’’ Vernon said. “That’s why we need everyone’s cooperation on this (issue).’’

The textbook case is Augusta National, which this year has been lengthened — for the third time in five years — to 7,445 yards for the Masters. And it’s a crying shame, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus told Golf Digest.

Trust me, it’s not like Arnie and Jack are old fuddy-duddies lashing out at change. It’s more like golf has become “Star Trek,” with Captain Tiger and his crew powering the ball at warp speed to destinations unknown.

So Huffman wasn't bothered by Vernon, but by theme of his speech.

Here's the lowdown on Vernon's speech to the USGA Annual Meeting earlier this year spelling out what was likely talked about in Arizona.

I must say it's most encouraging to hear that the USGA is letting Vernon speak to groups like this to explain its findings.  Not only does it restore some balance to the argument, but enlightens those are curious about the ramifications, but were afraid to ask.

It also demonstrates that the Executive Committee is not paying much attention to the position put forth by David Fay earlier this year: that the USGA really governs more for the average man than the elite player. 

The Big Bang

For over a year now flogging (or Tigerball) has been a much-debated topic on this site and written about on Golfobserver.com, so it was nice to see the Golf World cover story on this radical new approach that younger players are taking.

Ryan Herrington and Tim Rosaforte explore the concept with excellent sidebar support from Dave Shedloski, Matthew Rudy and E. Michael Johnson, focusing on the how the players are able to power the ball via equipment and improved physical conditioning (though in lumping J.B. Holmes in here, they appeared to ignore his comments earlier this year that suggest physical conditioning has little to do with his prodigious length).

The main story is a solid overview with several interesting anecdotes. Though I was disappointed that they didn't explore the role that course setup may be playing in all of this. (The narrower they get, the more pointless it becomes to worry about hitting it in the short grass...).

Loved this from Bubba Watson:

My goal is to hit it inside the white stakes. No matter where it is, fairway, in the trees, as long as I have a swing [I'm happy].

More worth your time is Herrington's blog post on the story. He looks at who in college golf will be the next wave of floggers ("big bangers" just doesn't quite work).

He includes more comments from a coach quoted in the story who talks about the mindset of younger players:  

 “A lot of people look around and say, ‘that’s really different,’ ” says Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “Well, not to [them] it’s not. It’s second nature. [They've] done it [their] whole life.

“It’s just crank it on down there and deal with it,” he continued. “Because I think they feel like short shots, no matter how hard they are, they’re really not that hard any more. You heard growing up ‘Don’t get that in between yardage. Don’t get that finesse shot.’ Well they laugh at that now. There are no hard shots if you know what you’re doing. They’ve figured out how to get it up and down and how to hit the flop and how much better the wedge is. How much more spin … now you’re reading you can get too much spin. So there are no hard shots if you know what you’re doing. So it just becomes an absolute birdie fest.”

“I think it’s a culture. Guys just play different. I mean I can go up and down my team and it’s little guys and it’s big guys. To see where we play from … that’s one thing about being at a place where you play the same place all the time. We’ve been at Golf Club [of Georgia] for eight years, nine years now. I can’t tell you how different it is. There were par 5s initially they didn’t go for. And longer par 4s now that they just try to knock it on, shorter ones now. Or just get it up there around the green and get it out of the bunker rather than with a wedge.”

And Herrington ends his post with this:

One last point … this philosophy of play in many respects is much like baseball catering to home runs and basketball evolving into dunk contests. Yet while people dig the long ball, that doesn’t mean it’s good for the game. Just as each of the coaches said that the Big Bang theory is practiced in college golf, they all each lamented this fact, longing for the time when shot-making was still important. I have to say I agree with them. By becoming infatuated with distance, players aren’t necessarily better, just longer.

Oh boy, another one to the add to the converted list. This media bias is contagious! 

Kaufman On OGA

In the March 25 issue, Golfweek's assistant managing editor and business writer Martin Kaufman felt compelled to comment on colleague Jim Achenbach's original Ohio Golf Association ball story, citing this quote:

"We are leaning to one that optimizes (distance efficiency off the tee) between 100 and 105 miles per hour (driver swing speed),"  said Alan Fadel, chairman of the OGA ball committee. "The ball is not going to benefit somebody at 120 (mph) the way the current ball does. We are trying to achieve a little more equality, that's all."

Kaufman appears to not understand that Fadel is referring to the impact of optimization (where properly matched players in the 115 mph-and-up range are getting excessive turbo boosts that effectively work around the USGA's Overall Distance Standard).

So there you have it: Golf's honchos officially have begun to embrace mediocrity rather than celebrating excellence. Years from now, the OGA's foolhardy decision might be remembered as a beachhead for the establishment of a welfare state for mediocre Tour players.

First, this "foolhardy decision" amounts to a 2-day, totally optional state golf association event where the ball is provided free of charge. This is not The Players Championship THE PLAYERS.

Those of us who have followed the issue know that one of the underlying issues with recent distance increases is that of skill, and the blurring of lines between the very good player and the super-elite.

Players of supreme skill like Tiger Woods or Ernie Els would be even better in an event using a ball like the one the OGA has selected. Their games would not be brought down by such a ball. They'd be even better. Tiger has even hinted that he's well aware of this possibility, which is one reason he can't campaign too hard for a change in the ball spec that introduces more spin or one that impacts the role of optimization.

Kaufman sees it the other way, and brings up the issue of equality. He believes the governing bodies have a desire to bring everyone down to the same level.

Any effort to legislate equality, whether in sports or broader society, is inherently problematic, if not doomed to failure. It sends a perverse message that top performers will be penalized for excellence, while laggards can count on benevolent rulers to shield them from superior performers.

And...

Players who swing the driver 120 mph and can control the ball's flight should hold an advantage over players who swing 105 mph. Swinging a golf club abnormally fast reflects superior athletic ability and training. And yes, it reflects superior skill. You remember skill, don't you. Golf used to celebrate it.

I seriously doubt any governing body wants to bring everyone together via an equipment change. (Course setup, that's another story.) Those swinging 120 m.p.h. would regain the proper edge that they deserve with a properly handled rollback.

Groups like the OGA want to eliminate the 350-yard drive born out of the optimization of launch conditions.  Groups like the USGA--assuming the Joint Statement is to be believed--want to reward the player who is physically strong and who can swing the club "abnormally fast," but also reward those who are genuinely precise with their ball striking.

Modern equipment has blurred distinctions in these two areas. 

Tom Kite In The Forecaddie, Debut of The List

Courtesy of reader Stan, who kindly typed this from the current Golfweek (since I'm still waiting on an issue with a March dateline to reach the apparently hard-to-reach home of the homeless):

Hall of Famer Tom Kite never won a Masters, but he had a splendid record there, racking up 11 top-6 finishes, including three seconds. He knows a thing or two about what it takes to excel at Augusta National. When the Man Out Front asked Kite whether a medium-length hitter could contend routinely as he did given the course changes, the topic stirred some passion.

"I can understand making the golf course stand up to technology," Kite said. "Unfortunately they're responding to what's happening with just a top few players. From what I've heard has been done, I don't know if Arnold (Palmer) could've won there. (He won there four times) He made such good recovery shots, but if you hit a 3-iron, you're not going to hit the green. It takes that ability away."

Palmer and Jack Nicklaus got Kite's attention when they expressed concern over the latest National changes. Kite says he understands why courses have to be lengthened. And he gets fired up talking about it.

"If the manufacturers continue to run the game, I think the game is in for a long, tough road," he said. "The rule-making body (USGA) is not making rules for the game. The manufacturers are, and their No. 1 goal is to sell product. The game has changed so dramatically in the last six, eight years. What's happened is a joke. It's mind-boggling, compared to how much change there was over the last 100 years. Everything is based on speed. It's not based on ball-striking. If you want a good game, you can go buy it."

And with these comments, I guess it's time to debut a still-very-much-under-construction page on this site, called simply "The List."

The List features comments and links from just a few noted names in the golf world who have expressed concern about the distance issue, and their suggested remedies.

I have yet to go back into my archives of stories to post pre-2005 statements, but for now, The List should give you an idea where just some of golf's bigger names stand on the distance issue. Naturally, I welcome reader submissions to help make the list more definitive.

Funk: "they've lost control of the game. I'll swear to that."

Reuters ran with a condensced version of the Fred Funk's comments at the Players. But if you have the time, it's worth reading exactly what he said:

Q. We've seen so much of a tug o'war going on in the game about the power game and bombs away versus skill and precision. Do you feel like it's evolved to a point where power is going to be a requisite skill?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, I feel bad right now. My son loves the game of golf. He's a little guy. He's obviously not going to be physically very big. Not that little guys don't hit the ball a long way, but most little guys don't hit the ball a long way. There's always the exception.

I don't feel with where the game has gone that he will ever have a chance to play on the PGA Tour because he doesn't hit the ball far enough. The kids coming up now are hitting the ball miles. With today's equipment, you just have to it's so forgiving, the driver, I don't think it's the driver so much that's allowing you to hit it a long way; it's the more golf swing givability of the driver that allows you to swing at it. If you're blessed with that swing speed, the ball takes off for you and doesn't come down. Guys are flying it 330, 340 yards right now, which is a joke. It's made designing golf courses a nightmare. It's changed the whole philosophy of the game.

I met with [Arnold] Palmer's group a couple weeks ago, and talking to them about how they design a golf course that's fair for a guy that can hit it 330 and a guy that hits it 270 and where they have to place their corners and place the bunkers and everything else. You can't make it fair.

I really believe, and I know I'm one of the short guys barking with the guys hitting it a long way, so it doesn't get much attention; he's just jealous that he doesn't hit it that far. I truly believe if you're blessed with that kind of ability that you get the benefit of the golf ball, you don't need as much talent as the old players did because you can hit it so far. Just bomb it over all the trouble and you have a wedge or 9 iron into the green, and you're going to hit a lot of greens. I don't care how deep the rough is. And they're strong already, they're going to get it on the green out of the rough, or somewhere around it. I just don't see the skill level, other than just clubhead speed being a big factor in the future.

Q. Some people argue it would be a good thing to have bigger, better athletes, maybe the next wave you'll see a Tour full of 6'4", 240-pounders.

FRED FUNK: That's naturally going to happen because for one, the game of golf has become a great game to play as a kid. Now it's looked upon as a sport; I blame Tiger Woods for it because he's made the game cool. It's a cool game to play as a kid.

The kids are seeing the money we're playing for, they're seeing the personalities we have out here, especially with well, when Tiger came out and was No. 1, but right now our rookie class with Camilo [Villegas] and J. B. Holmes and Bubba [Watson] and numerous others, but those three guys are remarkable guys, unbelievable talent. They hit the ball miles, and they see that, and how can a kid that has a lot of athletic ability and he's fortunate enough to get introduced to the game of golf and doesn't pursue it? He ends up with a linebacker's body and he's playing golf. It's going to happen.

And why it's going to happen it is because it's a cool sport and we're going to have more and more kids playing it at a young age and they're going to develop into some big kids and they're going to be really powerful players. The ball already goes a long way, so the sky is the limit for how far the ball may go in the future with the future golfer.

But it's sad because I think they've lost control of the game. I'll swear to that. I mean, I'll argue that until nobody can prove me different. I'll argue that with every USGA guy that tests every equipment and everything else. They can throw the ShotLink stats out, they can throw everything at me and they cannot change my mind on that. I'm just adamant about the way the game has gone really since 2002, since this last generation of golf ball.

All they really have to do, they don't have to do anything, bring one golf ball back that's talked about or bring the golf ball back, just go back to the golf ball we had before this last change, and it would narrow down that gap between the long and the short.

I don't mind being the shortest guy. I never minded being one of the shortest guys on Tour and competing with a guy that could on the stats he was 295, 300, but when you have guys at 320, 330, 335, I mean, those guys that are averaging that can actually hit it 350; that's a long way. You can't beat that on a lot of golf courses now, and the design guys have no idea what to do.

So they do one thing, they jack the tees back and they don't change the greens. They say, okay, we've got to jack the tees back to protect the golf course from the long guys. You just took all the short guys completely out of it, so now all the long guys are up at the top, unless you have a great putting week, chipping week. I'll get in trouble for that, but that's all right.

Q. I hate to stop you. You skipped the Zurich Classic [in New Orleans] last year, and I understand you're going back this year. How much did the impact of [Hurricane] Katrina have on your decision?

Hey, at least he was an admitted Rally Killer.