"The fact is, we are coming off the most activist 10-year period in the history of golf ball and golf club regulation, and a bold and rigid line in the sand has been effectively drawn by the game's regulatory bodies."

Thanks to Chuck Stogel at CBSSports.com for highlighting Wally Uihlein's latest essay on the sheer hopelessness of modern technology progress. Since the Titleist "News and Technology" propaganda page had been quiet for so long, I deleted it from my RSS feed reader.  And look at the giggles I missed!

As the march to the Masters gets closer, the drumbeat of anti-technology activists will inevitably get louder over the next week.

Activists! Bet Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus never thought they'd be considered activists.

The fact is, we are coming off the most activist 10-year period in the history of golf ball and golf club regulation, and a bold and rigid line in the sand has been effectively drawn by the game's regulatory bodies. The statistics speak for themselves. Driving distance has flatlined, and actually has decreased in each of the past two years. The USGA and R&A have effectively fenced in the driver and golf ball, so that there is little or no more distance to be had from equipment under the current rules and regulations.

Shut down those R&D departments, send the Tour vans to the junk yard and throw in the towel! Hope as we know it is gone and it's all the big, bad USGA/R&A's fault!

In fact, I bet Dick Rugge and the boys are probably brushing up their resumes as we speak, now that the door to progress is locked and shut!

The size, weight, initial velocity and overall distance of the golf ball are controlled. Optimization of the aerodynamics package of a golf ball is near complete. Higher compression golf balls might provide more ball speed, but will also have more spin, which will reduce distance. Spin and launch angle are coupled, so if you change one, the other will change as well. The bottom line is that when you attempt to tweak a golf ball parameter for more distance, other parameters are affected that limit the distance opportunity.

Based on our internal testing against the golf ball ODS limit under the current specified launch conditions, we are already 98 percent downfield towards reaching that absolute ODS limit (including the tolerance), and that is with our longest tour-played product. That translates into a maximum additional distance availability of approximately 5-7 yards.

You know I hate to sound like a broken record here, but...oh wait, one more jab...

The facts are the facts, and any suggestion of dramatic yardage spikes going forward is either disingenuous or propagandist. Take your pick.

I can't think of a single example in the last year when someone has suggested distance spikes have occurred again. Anyone, anyone? Bueller?

Was there any pre-Masters talk about the golf ball? Seems to me the focus was on the lousy course changes, which were a byproduct of the ball but more obviously now to a sizeable audience, the clumsy work of some fellows who shouldn't be tinkering with great courses.

So I'll say again: this transcendent moment of agreement is the perfect time to agree that distance peaks have been reached. So to do everyone justice and pay our respects to all of the great athleticism no longer cited for its role in spiking distance, let's roll back the ball just a smidgen to help courses with safety issues, make architecture more meaningful and motivate the kids to put in even more time at the gym.

What I don't understand is, why this strategy for Titleist? They've clearly mapped out this change of course and I think it's super. But it's starkly different from their previous stance of trying to present various reasons for distance spikes that were in no way bad for the game.

What do they hope to gain from waving the white flag?

Naturally, my hope is that they realize a majority of their customers who admire the high quality of their products (I used to be one!) support the USGA and R&A's efforts to protect the integrity of the sport. What do you think?

Comments

[sir real]

Since when did the game or the folks that play have to ensure a profit center for the industry. It's total nonsense to have to expand the playing acreage to "accommodate" those that manufacture equipment. We in golf need to be heading in the other direction... smaller footprint, responsible environmental practices that conserve resources, living and playing as respectful souls of the planet we ALL must share. No wonder the government won't even entertain a dollar going to golf...they fear the backlash! The administrative and industry leaders need to get their heads out of their golf bags an understand that those outside of golf can't be counted on to embrace a game that shows arrogance and stupidity with regular frequency. Wake up you boneheads!

[Pickworth]

The Titleist line here is pretty obvious to me. It's called "make the other guys argument for him". Then you get to trunp it with your argument which just so happens to be a better argument.

The funny thing is that the R&A and USGA have not (to my knowledge, which is almost excusively derived via this blog) put their case so succinctly. Mr Titleist has done it on their behalf. How nice of him.

[Chuck]

Its a funny thing -- as we have (unhappily, sometimes) discovered as various agencies, investigative reporters, etc., have dug into the reasoning and basis behind corporate sponsorship of tournaments and quasi-tournament events (the CVS-Faxon-Andrade thing comes to mind), we have been finding that there is very little that is evil or corrupt about the arrangments, but that indeed the sponsorships seem to be generally driven by the ego gratification and the desire to hang with PGA Tour stars, on the part of the CEO's who make those sponsorship decisions.

So it seems with Wally Uihlein. One could, I suppose, argue that he's protecting his number one product and money-maker, the Pro V1. But really, has anyone ever once suggested that a ball rollback will result in the sales of fewer golf balls? Fewer Pro V1's in particular? Heck, they change the formulation of Pro V's all the time. Titleist has, probably rightfully, a nice deal going with the brand identification of the Pro V1 "franchise." Why would a rollback, for all balls, interrupt that?

I do think there is a weird thing going on, with Wally Uihlein's curous mix of talking points pulled out of Republican politics (nothing wrong with that, I'd be the first to say) and techno-jargon from the USGA. I think it's his own deal, to a great extent. A CEO-ego thing. Because we don't see Callaway, Nike, Bridgestone or Srixon playing golf ball politics. To be fair to Uihlein, he's Numero Uno in golf balls. Ping has a franchise in their irons, and John Solheim has formally protested the groove rules. Callaway had a franchise in drivers (an aspirational farnchise, perhaps) and Ely Callaway made a stink about CoR rules. So maybe it is a case of the big kid on the block protecting his turf.

But really, is there a serious case to be made that rollbacks on equipment causes the equipment industry to suffer?

[Mark Holthoff]

Hmmm... I wonder how "rigid" a line in the sand can be...

[thusgone]

mark: beat me to it.

[Lynn S.]

This may be off topic a bit, but Wally mentioned it. If distances have actually dropped the last two years, what would be the reason? More 3 woods used on measuring holes? Stiffer shafts so straightness is emphasized? Or, maybe the testing of Tour drives is not an accurate way to measure how far the ball is going?

[OWGR Fan]

Doesn't the PGA Tour actually measure every drive on every hole (minus par 3's) for every player in every tour (non majors) event with ShotLink? I recall reading somewhere that they did but the tour does not make this information available to the general public. Is this information available in the PGA Tour distributed media guide?

If they do measure all drives it would be interesting to see the players averages for all drives versus the two measuring holes that are used for the driving distance average that is displayed and promoted for public consumption.

[Ryan]

I think they measure every non par 3 now with ShotLink. But, with tighter fairways and pin locations, that may be a partial cause of the drop in average distance. Also, more players than ever average 300 yds off of the tee though the average may have dropped.

[MF]

That new Pro V1 X sure is awesome

[jw]

Chuck -

I would expect a roll-back to slightly decrease golf ball prices for the top of the line balls. I can't imagine that a roll-back could affect the quantity sold.

Right now, one plays Pro-V's at $45 a box because he/she is convinced that the ball performs better than a Srixon at $39 a box. If there was a set maximum for performance of preimum golf balls, and all manufacturers took a step backwards in performance to meet that standard, prosepective purchasers would expect that ALL manufacturers are at the absolute max for performance. The conforming balls made by Titleist, Callaway, Srixon, Bridgestone and Nike would all presumably peform about the same (just as they do now, but still, that doesn't stop me from shelling out my extra $6 bucks to play a box of Pro-V's). Therefore, Titleist would have a harder time charging for that extra $6 premium it's getting right now.

So I think Titleist has a monetary incentive to oppose a roll-back. Titleist also generates excitement with advertisements along the lines of "we're improving the ball." Take that away that pitch, and they'll have to recreate their marketing in the short term. Their adds would be limited to "play the #1 ball on tour" instead of "play the new and improved Pro-V."

Golf club sales, on the other hand, will certainly suffer if the USGA truly holds the line on distance/MOI on new clubs. People will have to turn to - gasp - lessons!!!! and, oh no, practice!!!! to improve their games. Plus, the 2011 Hot List issue will be a bit less exciting. Try the new Super Extreme Taylor Made RXX10,000 - it's exactly like last year's model, but with new colors!!"

[chico]

A roll back or a tournament ball would have absolutely no detrimental effect on ball sales so lets do it!Nearly all the new courses being built to accommodate modern clubs and balls are inferior to the originals.Kingsbarns is the best new links in Scotland but it isnt and never will be a patch on Turnberry,Carnoustie and Muirfield etc and few if any new inland courses can hold a candle to Sunningdale,Woodhall Spa and Rosemount etc-and I'd bet its the same with you guys in the States.One more thing-do golfers playing championship courses who look back and see the championship tee some 60 yards back from their own tee really think they are 'playing the same course as the pros?'

[Joey]

The ironic part of this whole conversation is the pros generally select their ball for how it performs around the green, not how far it flies.

[F. X.]

I'll say it again, with golf rounds going down the tubes the very best thing for the equipment manufacturers would be a ball rollback and further equipment restrictions: it would create demand. Come on USGA and R&A, do your part to stimulate the economy!