Recently Nick Faldo and another talking head were discussing the state of technology and professional golf. They both agreed that equipment and ball technology have almost mandated that courses hosting PGA events need to be in the range of 7400+ yards (such as the Atlanta Athletic Club is). They both suggested reducing either of the technologies to return distance to a relatively normal number.
I say, hogwash. As a viewer, I am fascinated and envious of how far pro golfers can hit a golf ball. As a golfer whose youth is well in the rear-view mirror, I greatly appreciate the fact that I can still drive a golf ball 250+ yards and I can still hit an 8 iron 150 yards or so. Thank you, technology.
Adding distance to a course really only affects the handful of pro golfers playing on various pro tours. The vast majority of the 4.5 million recreational golfers ususally play from tee box that suit their game or their expectations.
Now some will argue that some courses do not have the space to lengthen their courses thus rendering them incapable of hosting tour events. I say these venues should step aside and let other courses with more available real estate host tour events or they could make the penalties for wayward shots so severe that players will swap accuracy for distance. Either way, again, it won’t affect most recreational golfers.
Golf is hard enough to play with the best of equipment, so to go back to the ‘old days’ of less forgiving clubs or less distance favoring club materials would only drive more people from the game; a statistic that I’m sure no golf course operators want to see.
