"They were trying to bring the long hitters back to the field."

Thanks to reader Scott S for this Times-Reporter of New Philadelphia story on the Ohio Golf Assn. event winner Blake Sattler.

 “I looked at it as an experiment,” the New Philadelphia High graduate said. “The OGA wanted to try it so they had a company develop a new ball.

“It was totally different from the balls we normally play. I think they did it because Tiger (Woods) and the other guys that hit it a mile are making a lot of the old courses obsolete. This ball doesn’t travel as far, so normally where you’d be hitting a wedge into the green, you’d hit an 8-iron. They were trying to bring the long hitters back to the field.

“It was different, but I don’t see how it could ever happen on the Tour.”

I agree with the comments of JohnV on this GolfClubAtlas.com thread that it sounds like, at least from early feedback, that the OGA ball is discriminating a bit too much against those with higher clubhead speeds. Any kind of successful rollback will have to take a little something from everyone at the top level to be accepted and to work from a course design perspective.