Even An 11-Year-Old Can Explain Why We Need A Ball Rollback

Lucy Li was a Drive, Chip and Putt winner last year at Augusta National and played the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

And as the 11-year-old shows in her Golf Digest My Shot with Guy Yocom, she understands the benefits of a ball rollback better than most golfers three, four, five, six, and in the case of a majority of the R&A members, seven times her age.

Jack Nicklaus has talked about making courses shorter, rolling back the golf ball and other ideas to make golf faster, easier and more fun. I agree with him. A big concern for me is the environment. If courses were shorter, they wouldn't need as much water.

And her vision for where golf is headed should give some idea how post-millennials will think.

One day, I could see golf being played in a large stadium, with a single hole changing into a different hole after the last one was complete. You'd actually hit the ball and watch it fly the whole distance, but after that a simulator would take over and change the landscape for the next shot. Mounds, covered with artificial turf, would grow or shrink. A green would rise. Giant fans would change the direction of the wind. You could play a whole round in an hour. And it would be a blast.