"It really is time that someone at the R&A started to do something about those alarm bells that have been ringing for way too long without any action being taken."
/Add The Scotsman's Martin Dempster to the list of fed up and not going to take it anymore about governing body regulatory malfeasance. In his case, he watched the lads rip apart his beloved Dunbar during the Scottish Boys' Championship.
While a strong wind certainly played its part, many of the holes on the front nine were playing very differently to how they once did due to a combination of the advancement in club technology and the failure of the game's ruling authorities to do something about the golf ball. The first, for instance, was reduced to a drive and mid-iron, they were driving the green at the 353-yard fourth and were almost doing the same at the 382-yard seventh and eighth, which is just 12 yards shorter. Don't get me wrong, these youngsters can certainly play and are also a lot more fearless than I can recall being at the same age, but it is sad to see courses like Dunbar becoming an easier test than it once was.
And he threw in this for good measure:
Having also seen Craigmillar Park almost reduced to a pitch and putt recently by some of the country's leading amateurs, it really is time that someone at the R&A started to do something about those alarm bells that have been ringing for way too long without any action being taken.
Dempster is wrong. They are taking action! New tees, new bunkers. That's action alright!