Golf, like all sports has evolved through the generations. As most things do.
But is it still the same game these days? And should it be the same?
Arnold Palmer once said the litmus test of a good functional swing was always the ability to hit a long iron. So many people hit many long irons any more?
Is that important? Should it be part of the game?
Matt
Golf has to keep changing and developing, like everything else. Staying the same is really not an option.
The only question is at what pace?
Of course we see long irons being played at Pro events, but they are usually at par 5’s or 230 yard par 3’s.
I think this is only true because golf is an industry. Things have to change so bigger profits can be made, in my opinion to the detriment of the game.
Should the game stay the same?
Hell no. Change is good. Without it, this game would die.
Things that stay the same ultimately die. Some changes are good, some changes are bad. Without specific examples, nobody could really render an overall decision.
Hybrids replacing long irons? Fine by me, though I still carry a 3-iron because most hybrids are tough to flight low when needed.
Isn’t this the second law of thermodynamics? Things have to change to stay ahead of entropy.
There are many faces of golf today.
The PGA Tour. 7500+ yard course, 330+ yard drives
The LPGA Tour. A game more relatable with modern equipment.
Golf course management company’s are ruining the game.
Inner city muni golf is terrible.
Country club golf is held as the pinnacle as long as you are at a top club.
Society golf. Dinners, drinking, smoking, foursomes, caddies, 2.5 hr rounds, friends & fun.
Then what I call the Anti-golf crowd popping up now. There motto is more or less; Golf is whatever you want to make it, fun courses, blades, persimmon, balata, walking, anti pga tour tour and corporate golf and all the like. Golf doesn’t have to be old and stuffy. How about fresh and hip? An ode to what golf was and is all about, camaraderie with a twist of coolness.
In general, golf has plenty of room for more great, boldly designed courses that are interesting. Tom Doak’s new courses, the loop and his future course at Sand Valley (par 68 6,000 yards) are a fresh breath to the landscape.
The PGA Tour brand is bad for the game of golf. That needs to change. The Match (or A Match as some might call it) was monumental, for showing us the potential of what the game of golf can look like going forward.
In large part Americans need to open their minds from how golf going forward should look, to how it can and probably needs to look to survive. The game is shrinking every year for a few simple reasons. Let’s change that and the direction of the game in all aspects.