Mike Clayton: "All the fun of the unfair"

Generally when golf has had a pause caused by wars, the sport has used the times as an opportunity to consider its playing values. Sometimes the sport moved in a better direction (after WWI), and other times in ways that aged as well as a Robert Trent Jones runway tee.

As we consider what will happen to some of the trends and shifting values, Mike Clayton reminds us that somehow, some way, golf grew when it was far more unfair than anyone today could ever know. That made it fun and who knows, our idea of fun may radically change in this bizarre time.

Either way, check out his piece for Golf Australia.

I loved this:

What changed was the introduction of the concept of “fairness” and the idea formulated primarily by Americans and adopted largely by Australians (and most others) that you had to be able to see where you were going. The notion of the “blind shot” was seen as somehow silly, poor design and something to be avoided by course architects at all costs.

Bunkers in the middle of fairways came to be viewed as poor hazards catching “perfect” drives. Yet if the measure of a perfect shot is its position in relation to the one following how could a drive into a bunker possibly be seen as perfect?

That two players could hit almost the same shot and come up with two quite different results also was seen as being unfair and the result has been a sanitisation of the original game. Architectural quirks, the luck of the bounce and multiple ways of playing a shot and a hole make the game unpredictable and offend the “predictable” crowd.

I do wonder if deprived the game will golfers be able to laugh at themselves more because they’re just so happy to be out playing?