Palmer Not Happy With The Golf Ball

Arnold Palmer in the L.A. Times:

"If I were playing the tour today, I would be doing what these young guys are doing: hitting the ball 320, 30, 40 yards and doing the things I would have to do to be competitive," he said at an event for Los Valles Golf Club, which is scheduled to open in 2008.

Those very distances he rattles off rankle him, though. The long-distance ball and new-age equipment, he laments, may be making some venerable old courses obsolete.

"I am not happy [with the golf ball]," he says. "The major things I would do [to change today's game] would be to slow the golf ball down right now, yes sir." By mandating a retro-ball that does not travel as far, golf's powers would not have to keep lengthening courses to keep up with today's power hitters.

"They wouldn't have to take such drastic measures to make courses like Oakmont and Winged Foot competitive," Palmer says of the layouts that play host to majors.

"You don't need to make that many big changes, but make it so the ball doesn't fly 400 yards. These kids that are playing [now] are going to hit whatever you make a long ways."

Notice the lack of journalistic balance in this L.A. Times story. Joel Greenberg should have gotten an alternative view to Mr. Palmer's anti-golf ball technology agenda. 

But I can only suspect he didn't because he appeared at this groundbreaking with an anti-technophobic agenda and convinced Mr. Palmer to endorse that agenda. Where's the balance? ;)