PGA tour is a mess

[VitaMan]

The PGA tour and USGA have let the pro tour turn into a long driving contest. Now some players average 350 yards off the tee. And why ?..........they could never stand up to the golf ball manufacturers and equipment makers to limit distance.


Golf was never meant for a drive and wedge. It was meant for an accurately placed drive, with usually a middle iron remaining. Now even the US Open can't stop it. The current USGA director is leaving. Many golf courses have become obsolete.


Pro golf is not what it used to be.....and not for the better.

[Chung Tran]

Too bad this thread, and your Chuck Norris thread will be met with a big yawn. They are both great topics.

I agree, golf is undermined by the equipment. also by the huge money paid out, which encourages guys to work out and hit range balls 4 hours a day! I miss the days, when a Billy Casper could win.. Hit his drives 240 yards, weighed 250, and looked like he was 65, when he was just 45 years old. I miss Julius Boros, who chain-smoked on the Course, but was still the oldest to win a tournament.

even John Daley, in the 1990's, was fat, and smoked constantly, he was inconsistent, but managed to win a couple of Majors. But Daley quickly became a relic. Someone like him.. Fat, smoker, shaggy hair, could not make it on Tour, today.

I remember when Colonial golf course, in Fort Worth, was considered to be ''long''. Now it is for short hitters, that can negotiate doglegs. The best players, longest hitters don't play it anymore. They would have to tee off with 5 irons on many par 4's. I remember when 460 yards was a par 5, virtually every time. Now new courses have 530 yard par 4's.

[boardman]

I still blame Tiger

[VitaMan]

Actually it was Jack Nicklaus that started the whole problem. He was the only 1 that could reach the par 5s in two shots in his day. It is no coincidence that he and Tiger have the most major championships.....all because of this.

[boardman]

Arnold Palmer had his army. Nicklaus was a fantastic golfer, probably the best ever, but h never could hold the attention of an audience the way Arnie could. Call it charisma I guess.

Tiger took the scene by storm and he captured the imagination of anyone who had ever swung a club and plenty who previously had no interest. Hell, he was a legend before he played his first match as a pro and a few months later he solidified the legend by absolutely destroying Augusta and the rest of the field.

I bet if you look at the amount of money spent on equipment and the amount of money spent on R & D prior to 97 and after 97 the difference would be staggering.

I say I blame it on Tiger because he is the one that started a wave like no other when it came to equipment because anyone who played wanted a game like Tiger and the manufacturers sold the promise of it.

Probably the single biggest advance was the Titleist Pro V 1. I read somewhere that the year it came out pros added 10 -20 yards to every club in their bag. That was all driven by Tiger exploding on the scene.

[VitaMan]

What are the chances for Bryson DeChambeau to create the same wave. Can average 350 yards off the tee.
And all his irons are the same length......all standard 7 iron length. So strange.....but working for him.

[Chung Tran]

Originally Posted by VitaMan

What are the chances for Bryson DeChambeau to create the same wave. Can average 350 yards off the tee.
And all his irons are the same length......all standard 7 iron length. So strange.....but working for him.

That post US Open win chat he had with his family, who were displayed on a big screen, bugged the Hell out of me. Bryson's Mom kept calling him ''Buddy''. 28 year old Son, and you call him ''Buddy''? How God Damn cold and unemotional.

I don't think he will create a wave. Too many other Sluggers, and he doesn't have Caublanasian heritage.

[boardman]

Originally Posted by Chung Tran

That post US Open win chat he had with his family, who were displayed on a big screen, bugged the Hell out of me. Bryson's Mom kept calling him ''Buddy''. 28 year old Son, and you call him ''Buddy''? How God Damn cold and unemotional.

I don't think he will create a wave. Too many other Sluggers, and he doesn't have Caublanasian heritage.

Maybe Buddy is a knickname??? I didn't see the chat so I don't know the full context.
Patrick Swayze's Aunt used to live a couple doors down from me. I know pretty much the whole family called him "Buddy".

It will be a long time, if ever, before another young golfer creates the same kind of excitement that Tiger did. He was the right guy at the right time. Being Cablanasian, and owning it, certainly had something to do with it. While I don't think he has never been as charismatic as Arnie was he did have a certain presence. Those fist pumps and the emotion he would display on the course, good or bad, was something any golfer could relate to.

[Chung Tran]

I cringe when I hear ''Buddy''. It is so impersonal, and smacks of coldness and lack of emotion. I know it's not rare, but girls are never spoken of, so distant.

Tiger had 2 of the most extraordinary moments in sports. The 1997 Masters, and the 2009 US Open, when he could barely walk, beating Rocco Mediate in a 18 hole playoff.

I watched that US Open win in Vietnam, at 4:00 in the morning. I could barely stay awake, but I made myself. I knew history was being made.

[VitaMan]

This weeks golf tour stop in Las Vegas.....another mockery due to distance.
Some players are starting to speak out about it.