When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Rod Morri, Michael Clayton and I discuss the recent events related to the state of the game and Clayts also fills us in on Gil Hanse's visit to the sandbelt. Vijay, slow play and all of the bifurcation talk make appearances.
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Jason Sobel reports on the PGA of America's "State of the Game" panel discussion and it sounds like the topics were relevant. That is, if bifurcation is your thing.
Tim Finchem continues to make some intriguing comments suggesting he and the PGA Tour see no problem with situational rules for the pro game and amateur play.
"As I said the other day in San Diego, generally it's nice to think that the Rules of Golf can be the same for everybody," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "You like to think that the participants in the sport can appreciate when they look at the elite players, because they are playing by the same rules; they have an affinity to the elite players. But I don't think that gets eroded from time to time if you were to bifurcate in certain situations.
"College football is the same. Even though you only have to have one foot in, it's still the same game."
Taylor Made CEO Mark King reiterated his belief that we already have bifurcation, so why not expand it in the name of growing the game, but as several prominent voices are quoted as saying in this week's Golf World, there is no data suggesting technology has grown the game.
"It's not coming; it's here," TaylorMade CEO Mark King reiterated. "We already live in bifurcation. We already do. Nobody plays by the exact Rules of Golf on Friday afternoon with their buddies. So I think it's about time that we realize what we have, we have elite players that need a set of rules and we need to create an environment where people want to come in and enjoy this great game, whether it's one foot in the end zone or two feet, we need to create that environment for people."
Dottie Pepper wins the prize for bringing up the topic that gets most people thinking about certain equipment restrictions for professionals.
" I think one of the saddest things I've seen in the time that I've been at this level," said newly appointed PGA of America board member Dottie Pepper, "is that we are seeing places like Merion become really in the rearview mirror of championship golf and places where the game has been born and where American golf and golf worldwide have such great tradition and such great history really become that history."
Knowing how Executive Director Mike Davis feels about the negative influence of faster green speeds on cost, pace of play and even in driving people to anchor putters, today's announcement of a USGA-logoed. $110 Stimpmeter won't go down as one of the best days in the organization's history. While they advocate the Stimpmeter for consistency, superintendents will tell you that the Stimp ends up encouraging faster greens.
Especially when they say this:
While different layouts present distinct challenges, each course needs to offer competitors consistent conditions in order to provide a fair test. And one of the most important aspects of course maintenance is uniform putting surfaces.
Not only do variations in speed from green to green negate a player’s skill, they also greatly decrease enjoyment of a round.
Remember when it was a skill to scout out a course and note the slight variations in speed?
Even for golfers playing a recreational round, a course with greens of varying speeds can be a bewildering, frustrating experience.
Millions of golfers, from U.S. Open contestants to beginners, have benefited from the Stimpmeter, a simple tool offered by the United States Golf Association that allows superintendents, agronomists and course officials to accurately measure the speed of greens and provide consistent playing conditions.
You can order it for $110 according to this link, but get this slab of plastic for just $75 if you trade in your old Stimpmeter. While supplies last! And let's hope for the sake of the superintendents of the world, they last and last and last.
**John Paul Newport reports on the new Stimpmeter and the history of the device. He says they are not for sale to anyone who wants one. I'm still looking for that fine print here:
As exciting as this new Stimpmeter is, you and I won't be able to get our hands on one, even if we come up with the USGA's $110 asking price. That's because the rules-making body won't sell Stimpmeters to ordinary golfers, only to clubs, golf-course superintendents and tournament setup officials.
I'm not seeing that restriction here:
Rex Hoggard, talking to PGA of America president Ted Bishop about Tim Finchem's bifurcation comments regarding the golf ball on Wednesday at Torrey Pines.
“(Finchem’s comments) are pretty interesting and powerful words from somebody of his stature,” Bishop said.
“Maybe we are at a point where we need to consider what impact bifurcation would have and if that's an answer or a potential answer to this situation, so that we can avoid some sticky issues like we are currently involved in with banning a long putter and anchoring or even some of the issues that possibly come up in the future.”
I spoke to Bishop for my bifurcation story in Golf World and at the time he was a bit more on the fence.
Finchem and Bishop are on a "state of the game" panel Friday at the PGA Show.
Two big features appear in this week's Golf World: Jaime Diaz's look at the state of the USGA and my story on the delicate topic of bifurcation.
Here they are from the Golf World digital edition: Diaz/USGA Shackelford/bifurcation
Richard Gillis files an interesting WSJ piece (thanks reader John) about distance where Nike's Cindy Davis preaches the joys of pursuing longer drives and selling the next great driver.
Thankfully, my colleague Gil Hanse brought some sanity to the discussion.
"We're at a point where something has to be done," Hanse said. "We're talking about a tiny proportion of golfers where distance is an issue, a small handful of tour players and accomplished amateurs. Whether its bifurcation or rolling the ball back I don't know what the answer is, but the environmental question is really the one that is difficult for the manufacturers to refute."
The new normal in golf course design is the 8,000-yard layout.
"Two hundred acres is the new standard for a golf course compared to 150 acres a few years ago," Hanse said. "And 120 of those acres have to be maintained and watered as opposed to 80. You really are going down an unsustainable path. From a manufacturers standpoint, how can you argue against that? They can talk a lot about marketing, about player endorsements and how there's always been the same set of rules, etc., but the environmental argument is the winning one."
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
