"And so the whole damn game, people are saying let me out of here. They can't afford it. Instead of staying where we were and just slow the ball down."

I didn't see much coverage of Gary Player's Masters presser last night and only today after a couple of emails and reading Bob Carney's post did I realize why: he sounded alarms no one wants to hear!

And then you saw our era come along and then you saw this era came along and you'll see new era come along, and I've said this on British television on BBC about eight years ago: It's just a matter of time before players hit the ball 400 yards. And this good player and a good announcer said to me, absolute nonsense.
They are hitting the ball 400 yards now, never mind 30 years' time.

And so what we are going to see, we have not scratched the surface of golf yet. We are in our infancy. Unless we slow the ball down, you cannot put the tees back in the streets anymore, gentlemen and ladies.

You can just feel the Twitterers shifting in their seats! Go on...

They have got to their limit now so the next thing is you have to slow the ball down because the golf courses are going to be completely outdated which is happening now. Golf is suffering terribly. You see golf courses just weeds now closing down. You can buy golf courses for a dollar now because it's the maintenance of the golf course. Because they have seen what is happening: These pros hitting a driver and 6-iron to a par 5 so from Timbuktu to Tokyo to China to here, everyone is lengthening golf courses. And the members hate it; and greens are undulating and the members hate it; and the fees are going up and oil is getting more expensive and we are running out of water (laughter)

Just a note from watching the video: that (laughter) was not from Player, who was entirely serious, but from a few in the room. Nice touch lads. Keep laughing.

and so the whole damn game, people are saying let me out of here. They can't afford it. Instead of staying where we were and just slow the ball down. Not for the amateur. We must have technology for the amateur golfer who is the heart of the game.

The pro is a mere tiny part of the game. And this is going to happen; I can promise you, it is going to happen in time because hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted on unnecessary programs.

I know this is a hard one for people to deal with. Yes, courses everywhere, whether they need to or not, are adding length to accomodate a few players. It's going to happen. And that length, means more cost, more maintenance, and there is also a safety component that has changed.

Now, if you do as Player says and change the ball for competition, this comes to an end, and courses might even get a little shorter (doubtful, but possible). And manufacturers still get to sell clubs, golfers still buy golf balls and the game goes on its very way!