Book Excerpt: How The Pro V1 Revolutionized Golf

I think I just checked off Chairman Payne on my Christmas shopping list!

Even though the Augusta National chairman suggests improved conditioning is the best explanation for today's pros hitting it longer on average than they did a little over a decade or so ago, Mark McClusky's new book excerpt posted at GolfDigest.com suggests otherwise. He looks at the Titleist ProV1's impact on golf and namely, the six yard increase in 2001 driving distance.

From Faster, Higher, Strong: How Sports Science Is Creating A New Generation of Super-Athletes And What We Can Learn From Them, you forget how quickly players made the switch:

The first week the new Pro V1 model ball was available for tournament play, in October 2000, forty-seven players switched from their previous ball. That sort of wholesale equipment change was unprecedented in the history of golf. How fast was the transition across the sport? At the 2000 Masters, fifty-nine of the ninety- five players used a wound golf ball. One year later, only four players used one. By the end of 2001, not a single tournament champion on any of the world’s major professional tours had won using a wound ball; the rout was so comprehensive that Titleist stopped making them at all.

How About Official Bifurcation...Some Of The Time?

In the latest Golf Digest, former USGA Executive Director David Fay explains the issues involved with changing equipment rules and eventually gets to the point on many minds: the golf ball.

If the USGA and R&A are really serious about rolling back the golf ball, the important constituents who had a vote on the grooves change will be at the decision-making table. And they'll have veto power, too, because they represent their constituents' interests. (Other than restoring approach-shot values on classic older courses at which his players seldom perform, I imagine Tim Finchem wondering what the upside would be for the PGA Tour, and not finding much.) But who will speak for the rest of us: the 99 percenters, who've already been encouraged to "tee it forward"?

Of course it was Fay who alerted us last year to the ability of rulesmakers to merely use a condition of competition to usher in a rolled back ball without fussing with the masses.

Tucked away near the back of the R&A/USGA Rules of Golf is a section titled Conditions of the Competition. The portion dealing with clubs and ball requirements begins: "The following conditions are recommended only for competitions involving expert players." Key word: only.

Which leads me to Missy Jones' GolfTraditions.com story wondering what all the fuss is over with the latest rules bifurcation talk.

Another argument for bifurcation that I hear is that the pros need to have a golf ball that doesn’t go as far and amateurs need a ball that goes farther. So? Why would you have to change the rules for that? Again, the Rules of Golf are flexible. Handle that in the Conditions of Competition or Notice to Players part of the championship. You know those sheets of paper that players rarely read?

Which got me thinking: tennis quietly alters the dynamics of tennis balls during the grand slam events, why not allow for this in golf? Bifurcation at times when it's necessary--when tournaments are played at places like Merion, Riviera, Olympic Club, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews--and today's ball in play at the Dove Mountain's and TPC San Antonio's of the world?

Yes, this adds another ball to the world and enforcement issues, but maybe we can satisfy all interests by using the Conditions of Competition to get the best out of all venues?

Bifurcation: The B Word Just Won't Go Away

Jaime Diaz takes the pulse of folks at recent industry shows and the bifurcation word just keeps coming up for golf, no matter the context whether it be rangefinders, equipment or putters.

Diaz makes the case for rules tweaks that impact the professional.

The professional tours, and especially major championship golf, would be better with a golf ball that underwent a distance rollback of 10 percent. Don't worry, a Dustin Johnson drive will still look awesome flying 290 yards instead of 325. But more importantly, a rolled-back ball would increase the premium on player skill, bring the driver out of the bag much more often, create more variety in the shape of approach shots, allow the best players to separate from the pack more easily, lead to more classic venues, stop the proliferation of extreme course setups that feature heavy rough and ultra-firm greens, and speed up play. This more interesting version of golf on the biggest stages would make the recreational game more popular and alluring.