Will Jack's Concern About The Scale Of Golf Be Heard?
/Lost in Jack Nicklaus highlighting the likelihood of pending USGA/R&A changes in their distance stance and his views on Titleist's chilling effect on discussion, were the Golden Bear's views on golf's scale.
We've heard many bring up sustainability, including Tiger Woods most recently. But based on the social media reaction I saw to Nicklaus' comments earlier this, week, it remains remarkable how many golfers do not believe that a 7,500 yard course takes longer to play than a 6,500 yard course. And there are golfers surprised to hear that the length of a round is a deterrent and that a reduced scale would be more attractive long term.
The transcript of his comments is worth reading if you're unclear on his stance, which is going beyond just where and how great players hit the ball.
The game is a great game today the way it is. The game when I played was a great game. The game they played 20 years before me is a great game. However, as time changes, I think you need to change with the times. The times today, people don't have the time to spend playing five hours to play golf. They don't have -- a lot of people don't have the money to be able to do that, and they find the game very frustrating and very difficult.
So if the golf ball came back, it would solve I think a lot of those issues, and it would make -- it would -- I think we only have one golf course in this country, my opinion, that's not obsolete to the golf ball and that's Augusta National. They are the only people that have enough money that have been able to keep the golf course and do the things you had to. They are even buying up parts of country clubs and roads and everything else to get that done.
Not that other people couldn't do that, but it just unpractical. Why every time we have an event, do we have to keep buying more land and then making things longer? It just doesn't make any sense to me.