On a recent episode of Kick Point, our golf gear show (available on all good podcast platforms), Joe Ferguson raised the question of why golfers are allowed to begin each hole by teeing their ball up. Referring specifically to those competing on tour, he said: “The problem is drivers have become, relatively speaking, too easy to hit.”
A few days after hearing Joe speak, I was at home with my family, watching the figure skating at the Winter Olympics. Each skater started their four-minute routine knowing one small slip would put paid to their medal chances. Some stayed on their feet, many fell. It was sporting drama at its best.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It is hard to argue with the idea that tour golf has lost any real sense of jeopardy off the tee. From the X-factor rotation of the body to the dynamic launch conditions at impact, the players have mastered the art of driving to such a degree that even a tight hole with danger on both sides is breezed past with a robotic predictability.
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Take the recent Players Championship for example. In a tie for the lead and under just about as much pressure as you’ll get, Cameron Young split the fairway on the 72nd hole with a 370-yard monster. In doing this, he reduced one of the best-designed, best-defended holes on the PGA Tour to a drive and a wedge.
What’s more, this isn’t an isolated incident. I’m often left scratching my head as I watch the crescendo of Tour events, wondering how a potentially mouth watering finale ended with so little drama. Courses that most of us would find incredibly hard are made to look like a walk in the park.
The beauty of Joe’s tee peg proposal is that it doesn’t involve rolling back equipment or lengthening courses. Instead, if we restricted the height of the tee (or lost it altogether) for those at the top level, we’d change the dynamics of driving entirely. Inventive shot shaping and pure ball striking would become the skills rewarded, and more importantly, it would reinstate the difficulty and drama of competing under pressure.
Crucially, we would find out just how good these guys are.
Perhaps I’m missing something here (if so, let me know in the comments box below) but while the best players would use a…
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