Adopt The Solheim Three Ball Concept Now!
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Long time readers know I'm a connoisseur of the increasingly bizarre suggestions by the manufacturing industry to protect an imaginary growth market, all under their insistence that golf's well-being relies on the hope of distance boosting equipment.
Now that they've had their way with distance advances and the regulatory bodies have cowered over the last 15 years, the game has seen no appreciable gains and plenty of downside.
We learned Monday of John Solheim's suggestion for three regulated balls--one flying 30 yards shorter, one carrying the same as today's pills fly, and one that goes 30 yards longer, as reported by Mike Stachura and Mike Johnson.
They write:
The three balls in Solheim's proposal include one that is the same as today's current standard, a second ball that would be as much as 30 yards longer and a third ball that would produce distances 30 yards shorter than current balls. Courses, tournaments, tours and even individual players could choose their ball based on the course they're playing or the skill level of the players in the event.
Of course I'm entirely in favor of this concept because it would usher in a ball that flies about 30 yards shorter, a new standard the governing bodies sought from manufacturers as part of the never-ending ball study and one which would return lost elements of skill, shot values for elite golfers and improved safety to most established golf courses. As that epic USGA ball research winds up, it's quietly leaking that they have found a performing ball spec to their liking, prompting Solheim's attempt to cut them off the pass.
I wholeheartedly support his concept because the 30-yard LONGER ball will never see its way to golf courses unless a golfer is sneaking it onto the property. No golf facility with access to counsel, a conscious golf professional or remotely-intelligent management would allow golfers to use a ball advertised as going longer that also happens to introduce numerous new safety and liability issues which come with a ball flying places no architect envisioned.
Even as desperate as the golf course industry may appear for new blood, it will not allow a piece of equipment to be introduced to its fairways that has the potential to draw blood.
