LICC

I've played a few of his and found them to be just ok. They were fairly one-dimensional. Many landing areas pinched on both sides of the fairway. Many pushed up or elevated greens or pressed up to a pond. Bunkers on both sides of most greens. Mounding framing holes. Decent courses but not a lot of variety and not among my favorites.

https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/east-lake-appoints-andrew-green-to-develop-renovation-plan What is notable to me is this is another of many clubs to undo prior Rees Jones work. History has not been kind to the Rees Jones style of course design.

Median driving distance on Tour in 2002- 280 yards. Median driving distance on Tour in 2021- 297 yards. Tenth longest average driving distance in 2002- 292 yards Tenth longest average driving distance in 2021- 311 yards

But why does this matter. Shiels isn’t saying he is hitting as many balls as MGS. He doesn’t need to hit as many in order to have enough of an experience to give an informed, accurate opinion based on what he experienced.

There are 20 pages of reasons above why it matters.

I don't see how you can look at it that way. The MGS rep took an unwarranted shot at Shiels that in no way was necessitated by the comment from the poster.

I read an interview with Robert Trent Jones II where he supported the idea of bifurcating by banning the use of tees by the pros. I think this, or a limit on tee height, is a valid idea for discussion as a means to rein in distance.

Millions of recreational golfers like to watch the elite pros as fans. As the rules affect how the game is played at the elite level and thus the fan viewing experience, the applicability of the rules at that level does affect the recreational golfer/fan's enjoyment of watching the sport. Thus the idea of bifurcation.

The MGS post on the Stealth driver said this, which seems consistent with Guy's description: "Out of the gate, in our range session with Trackman and TaylorMade TP5 balls, we saw exceptional results. These days, I typically hover around 158 mph ball speed. With the Stealth Plus, I repeatedly hit 162 and change (a personal best for me). Obvious (though not massive) mishits dipped to 158 mph or so while the total trash typically stayed above 150. Our Harry Nodwell plays professionally. He’s typically in the 178 mph range but he repeatedly and consistently broke 180, including a personal best of 181.4. There appears to be real juice in the Stealth."

I think that saying the new model doesn't provide much if any improvement over the prior year's model (or even the model from 5 years ago which I have seen him do) is a negative. He has also talked about how some clubs vary greatly on mishits while others do well in this area. He often gives varying opinions on sound and feel, both positive and negative.

I don't understand this. Shiels hit over 120 balls on one day and then more the next. How many do you think he needs to hit to get enough data and experience to give an informed opinion. And I find his reviews aren't all the same. He gives his data and his impressions on feel, sound, accuracy, etc. and they differ for each video.

If this response was from an official MGS representative, then this is a black mark for MGS. The 5-10 shots comment was silly and insulting Shiels seems unwarranted and petty.

What if you agreed that he cover the greens fees and you will pay your own airfare and lodging? That is still a four-figure gift from him but as he is having someone back out anyway he probably would prefer to play with you rather than get paired with a stranger.

In his book On Golf, Jim Flick tells about studies of Bobby Jones’s swing done by Dr. David Williams (pp. 53-54). Williams fed videotape of Jones’s swing, taken from the previously-mentioned movies, into a biomechanical computer and made all sorts of measurements of the swing. The tape showed Jones driving the ball 250-260 yards, and measured his swing speed at 113 mph.

JB Holmes won it in 2019. He is one of the longer hitters on Tour. In 2019 he ranked 16th for the year in driving distance.