Stuart "Mr. 59" Appleby
We have seen several professional golfers shoot scores below 60 in the last few weeks. We even saw a junior golfer break the 60 barrier. What’s going on here? Why has this happened so infrequently in the history of golf, and so often this year?
The factors that go into this equation are multiple, but they are identifiable. First of all, you need course conditions that support very low scoring. Flatter greens that are well maintained, receptive, and offer a true roll off the putter face is a start. After all, you need to make a lot of putts to break 60. Little wind also helps. These are issues that are always potentially available, but outside the control of the player himself.
Paul "Mr. 59" Goydos
What is within the players control is a combination of physical skill and equipment, both of which have been improving. I doubt anyone would challenge the fact that today’s golfer is much more physically fit than golfers in the past. Tiger Woods has changed the protocol for workout regimens for professional and top amateur golfers. Custom fit equipment that, through the use of launch monitors, can be statistically proven to improve ones game, allows highly skilled players to hit the ball longer and with greater accuracy than ever before. The closer you hit the ball to the hole, the lower your scores are going to be.
But one variable in the equation benefits the highly skilled player to a much greater degree than the average player. That variable happens to be the golf ball. The argument is that today’s golf balls offer a disproportionate incremental increase in distance as you get to higher swing speeds. Therefore the touring professional gets far more benefit out of today’s golf ball than the average golfer. I am not going to argue the science of it here. It is enough to say that the USGA believes that the golf ball may be the largest contributing factor to lower scores at the high end of the game, especially now that they have put the square grooves issue to bed.
David "Mr. 59" Duval
So what is likely to happen? The USGA has been testing limited flight balls already. We have read that a ‘test’ tournament with dialed back balls is going to take place shortly using Canadian tour players. If officials find a benefit that allows older courses to remain relevant, we could see an introduction of new rules limiting the flight of the golf ball go into permanent effect.
What worries me is that while current balls disproportionately benefit higher swing speeds, limited flight balls will probably negatively affect everyone. If the ruling bodies do not bifurcate the rules, recreational golfers will be hitting the ball shorter, and getting even less enjoyment out of the game. More people will quit the game. Manufacturers will have a difficult time differentiating one product from another. A homogenized golf ball could be a disaster.
Chip "Mr. 59" Beck
If the ruling bodies do bifurcate the rules, then manufacturers will have to retool to produce regular and limited flight balls at the same time, increasing costs in circumstances where manufacturers can ill afford to increase costs. Another potential disaster. Crawling into bifurcated rules just makes things more complicated and expensive, and more equipment companies will lose money and eventually leave the market.
We have argued for years that the USGA should bifurcate the rules. It is well documented that 70% of golfers do not have a handicap, and play purely for recreation. Let’s just go ahead and set one standard for professional and scratch amateur golf, and open the floodgates for the recreational golfer. The only way that the increased costs could be justifiable for manufacturers would be in the event that they could see an increase in business. The USGA simply cannot make any more rules that hurt the manufacturing companies for the sole purpose of controlling the best few hundred players in the game.
Frankly, when it comes to measuring handicaps in golf, the handicaps are a self adjusting mechanism after about 10 rounds. If I play with a Fred Flintstone driver and a super-ball, after about 10 rounds my handicap will adjust to my new found capabilities, and I can still play a match with anyone. But if the ruling bodies continue to create rules that impair the average golfers ability to have fun, and impair the equipment manufacturers ability to make a profit, then golf as a participation sport will continue the declines of the last decade.
Al Geiberger. the original "Mr. 59"
