Tour Pros Say The Funniest Things: "Proposed Equipment Standards Changes" Edition
/Some genuine beauties here.
Not that it’s a surprise, but the first two submissions to this week’s edition of Tour Pros Say The Funniest Things happen to wear Titleist hats. Not sure if you know, but the Tour editions come with industry-leading moisture and common sense wicking. I cannot confirm, however that the lids contain a small frontal lobe zapper every time a player wonders if there might be something to this whole distance thing.
Webb Simpson, defending Waste Management Open champion with that amazing dry wit.
Wait you said there is video evidence? Oh.
Brace for Onionesque tree planting ideas…
Q. Today the USGA and R&A released some proposals regarding distance down the road, maybe limiting driver shaft lengths, maybe some ball testing things. Just wondering where you stand on the whole distance debate, and also how big a player should the PGA TOUR be in this whole discussion?
WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, it's a great question. My first problem I have with the driver length is if a 6'10" really good golfer comes out, like are we really going to tell him he can't use anything longer than 46? So that's my only problem with the length of the driver.
Somewhere a seven-footer is thanking you for saving him from a career in basketball.
But I've been kind of saying for the last few years, I don't think equipment is the problem. I do think -- Jack Nicklaus hit it a lot further than Bobby Jones, and then the guys after Jack are going to hit it further than Jack. Distance was never really that big of an issue when Jack was playing and hitting it 300 yards.
I just think the issue comes down to golf course architecture. We need more doglegs. We need tighter fairways. We need longer rough. We need smaller greens. We need more firm greens. All those things I just named save money, saves water, saves land that you have to build a golf course.
To my superintendent readers, I’m sorry I didn’t give you a warning that you’d be subjected to first-year green committee-level ignorance. I’ll do better.
We know that 8,000-yard golf courses are not the answer. Books Koepka shot 16-under at Erin Hills. I believe that's what he shot. Lengthening courses is not the issue. Bunker placements, dog begs, tree placements. I even think at Augusta on 13 we don't need that tee 40 yards back. What they need is a mid-sized tree 20 yards in front of the tee box and five feet left of the tee box because the issue right now is guys can tee it up on the right and they can even cut it, some of these guys, over the tree. Well, if you put a tree there guys can't do that.
See, this is where Clifford Roberts would actually follow that advice and put a $200,000 bill in Webb’s locker this year. Kind of miss those dictators on days like this.
It's just like the 4th hole this year at Winged Foot; it's a dogleg left par-4 but there's a tree there with branches so the bombers can't hit their cut over that bunker, so a lot of the bombers just hit 3-wood.
Now, attaching branches, trickier task. Great golf architectural ploy though. Yikes.
So I really think the attention does not need to be on equipment or the golf ball. Billy Horschel had a great comment a couple years ago.
There’s something you almost never hear.
He said the golf ball is not an issue; I hit a 7-iron in college 180 yards and now I hit it 180 yards, so it can't really be the golf ball is the problem.
Can’t be the golf ball, says another Titleist guy!
Now, the driver, the face is a lot thinner. They're bigger. I understand that. But I don't think an equipment rollback does anybody any good when we can change the way golf courses are designed and it's better for amateurs, it's better for pros, and there are plenty of golf courses on the PGA TOUR that have stood the test of time because of the way they're designed.
Yeah amateurs love rough, trees and tiny greens that are bumpy because they can’t handle the traffic.
Equipment advances don't really pay off or pay a dividend on those courses, and I just feel like these tweaks we could make are really not that hard and they're cost effective.
He’s run the numbers has he?
Your last point about the PGA TOUR, I think their voice should be very loud. I respect the USGA and R&A a great deal, and I know that their intentions are great, but I don't think an equipment rollback is what we need. I think we need different -- I think we need to tweak our golf courses.
And you have, and other than the TPC’s, you send the bill to others. Such consideration!
Justin Thomas returned from a few weeks off to gather his thoughts after microphones caught him uttering a homophobic slur and not to worry Wally, he appreciated the Acushnet support through trying times and stuck to the party line.
Q. I'm sure you've probably heard the USGA and the R&A today announced some proposals regarding distance, things like possibility of limited driver lengths or maybe regulations on the ball. Just curious your kind of overall thoughts on distance and the whole distance debate and maybe where you stand there.
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I didn't know that. I mean, I think that they -- I think distance is what it is right now because of us, and I think because of a lot of the players are taking the training and becoming more athletes and becoming stronger and more optimal in their distance. It is what it is.
It sure is.
I mean, if you give us different stuff we're still going to try to find a way to hit it as far as we possibly can. I don't think there's any reason or it's not necessary at all to change the golf ball.
Why of course not!
I am fine with them maybe not going any farther with it, but I think Tiger said it a while ago that they missed that opportunity probably 20 or so years ago.
Yes back when Uncle Wally and friends were totally open to the idea! Damn, those missed openings.
Strap in, it’s about to get silly.
Companies have put billions of dollars I would say -- I mean, I don't know that, so I'll say millions of dollars into the construction of golf balls and equipment, and to be perfectly honest, I think it would be extremely selfish of the USGA and the R&A to do that because of all the hard work that they've put in to make their equipment and golf balls as great as they possibly can and maybe just take a step back and realize that we're doing some pretty awesome things with the golf ball and the golf clubs, and also look at your everyday golfer and go up to him and tell him that you want him to hit it shorter because just the top .001 percent of all golfers are hitting it too far, if you will.
So much in one sentence but we’ll just go with “extremely selfish” for non-profit organizations to make people obey their totally voluntary rules.
I think it's not a very good decision, but you know, I'm not sitting in the boardrooms and making those decisions. But hopefully the right thing will be done.
Agreed. Roll it back!
Kind of all makes this Tweet from Wesley Bryan look dignified if it too wasn’t so 1998.
