USGA is once again out of touch

Not to beat a dead horse but, for some time I have been disgusted with them. They look at the Tours and top amateur players and make rules to curtail their length. The average golfer does not hit the ball 300+ yards off the tee and I think most of them could easily play at no more than 65-6700 yards. A good portion SHOULD play at one of two tees forward then they currently do right now. I just hardly ever hear an average player say I hit the ball to far with all my clubs I wish they would shorten the ball some. Yet here we go again simply because a small percentage of players can destroy 7000 yard courses they want to make changes to stop them.

Ideally if they could make the ball fly straighter and go longer for the average golfer it would cut down on long rounds in most cases. One thing I hear is they want to make the ball more like the old balata balls that spin a lot and don't go as far. It might hurt the pros but a ball like that might just cause a bunch of golf quit immediately.

Could they not make a "competition" ball for pros and leave the amateur consumer market as is?

Then again, NBA guys don't play on a 12ft hoop. They just beat the shit out of a 10ft hoop.

Trick up the courses. Narrow the fairways. A course doesn't have to be 9,000 yards to be difficult for these guys.

A standard ball doesn't seem like a horrible idea, but it's not the only one that will solve the issue. The ball companies would be soaking themselves in tears over something like that, too.

I hit the ball too far very often. Usually, too far left or too far right, but too far nonetheless.

puttnfool Well, a quick thought is baseball. No aluminum bats in the pros but it is allowed at other levels.

HybridWood Good point. I think it's different in that aspect, though, because they didn't try to screw with the characteristics of a piece of equipment, they simply ruled one piece of equipment out.

Therefore, maybe we should just say the pros can't use clubs with any less loft than say 15° if the total club length is over 35" (to keep from having 15° putters).

USGA is caught up in the PGA/LPGA and has abandoned caring for the game.

It is possible to change the ball characteristics such as for the current long ball hitters the distance is reduced (swing speed) while the mere mortals might at most see a loss of a yard or less. The technology exists.

Game is hard cause we make it hard. Always looking for latest marketing lie to allow us to buy a game. Between our egos and our gullibility makes this game very challenging, frustrating and just down right difficult at times.

Weirfan
While I agree I doubt that the manufacturers are in favor of it. Plus then you are creating different equipment rules for the Tour and the average player. The USGA just refuses to do this as many have already said it would be nice if there were two separate rule books for the two groups. The only way that might happen is if the Tours come up with a tour ball that is USGA conforming. Plus would the ladies Tours go for that as well? I doubt the PGA would go for it since the Tour promotes bomb and gouge golf. Chicks love the long ball and so do guys.

You can thank Jack for this.... like the guy, but he needs to STFU re the ball.

There could be/ maybe should be a a rule for pros, that’s fine. For armatures, leave it the F alone. Distance isn’t an issue for me and I still suck, why make it harder for people who are already struggling to get to a green in regulation. Don’t say, just move up, what happens when there are no more tees?

Have a pro regulation and leave the rest of us alone. Kinda like baseball with bats, football with size, etc. Fuck off if you want to make it harder.

The USGA made the .830 COR law, and that didn't seem to stop the turn-and-burn of new drivers. Why aren't we all crying for drivers that hit the ball farther? Why isn't it unfair that we have the same rules regarding equipment as the pros?

Doesn't seem like it'd be that big a deal to gimp the ball. It would change the game, but so what? Mortals already hit it less far than the pros. A limited ball wouldn't change that, and it'd probably be limited to recent tech so there wouldn't be a lot of adjustment. Just no future advancements for distance.

ode - what has Jack said about the ball? I can't recall him getting on a soap box and advocating for restricted golf balls with a bull horn.

But what IS interesting is Jack built a unique course on Grand Cayman and even had MacGregor design a restricted distance golf ball for use on the layout. Jack essentially took a tract of land suitable for a normal length championship 9 hole course and built a 9 hole course. He then carved a short executive length course inside/outside of the standard length 9 hole layout. The executive course was played with the restricted flight ball that flew about 60% of the normal distance, referred to as a Cayman ball, and it flew about 60% the distance of a traditional ball.

I played the course with a college buddy while on a cruise with wives. The front 9 was played on the executive course with the Cayman balls and not a lot of fun. The course was flat and windy. We then played the longer standard course with standard balls and it was not a lot of fun. The course was flat and windy. Duh.

The Cayman ball felt like the plastic balls used on a putt putt course and were as expensive for a sleeve as any other top of the line balls in the pro shop. But, I'm sure hicks visiting from Kansas jumped all over the overpriced sleeves to take home and show the boys at the Club after Wednesday night league. It was a great mental exercise, however, having to calculate how far the ball may fly on every full shot tee to green by dividing the distance to flag by .6. After a while, it got really old trying to fly a well struck golf shot100 yards with a 6 iron. (100 / .6 = 166 yards = 6 iron for me) The Red Stripes got me through a torturous round <grin>.

The USGA should have their next board meeting in the Caymans and play every hole of golf during their visit on Brittania using the Cayman ball. They'd come back enlightened. F the USGA.

sdandrea1
USGA is caught up in the PGA/LPGA and has abandoned caring for the game........and for the rank and file millions that play it for pure enjoyment. They are becoming like the (ahem) NCAA.

Sneakylong My guess is a very small percentage of golfers hit the ball too far.

The problem is that professionals have benefited from advancements in technology more than amateurs.

For grins I just checked out Brittania Golf on Cayman to see how it is doing. They have now ditched the short executive course using the Cayman Ball. I guess the ball is also discontinued now too. Do you hear us USGA?

Jack Nicklaus' gimmick of using restricted flight balls didn't even appeal to rank and file golfers even with limited other options to play this great game at that tropical island vacation destination.