Bifurcation/Ball Roll Back Discussion

[RickyBobby_PR]

10 minutes ago, THEZIPR23 said:

The best part of "Tiger Proofing" was he benefitted the most. 

Yep. They did nothing but make it harder for the guys who weren’t long to beat him with having to hit longer clubs into greens and not being able to match his par 5 capabilities. Iirc he led par 5 scoring close to a dozen times. 

[Bob Pegram]

23 hours ago, BIG STU said:

And I do not see anything wrong with that and I for one do not care if you anchor or not.

Wow! that's a typo. I use a 36.5 inch putter.

[BIG STU]

3 hours ago, Bob Pegram said:

Wow! that's a typo. I use a 36.5 inch putter.

Senior moment I presume. Yep after my accident I had to go from 33" to 35". I was messing around the other day with my Cleveland 8802 Designed By at 33". After a few putts my back was killing me. 

[Aaronknows]

It's happening! There is going to be a ruling sometime this week that will affect distances… Whether it be a golf, ball, rollback, COR limits decreased, or more testing. Be on the lookout because it's coming....

[cnosil]

9 minutes ago, Aaronknows said:

It's happening! There is going to be a ruling sometime this week that will affect distances… Whether it be a golf, ball, rollback, COR limits decreased, or more testing. Be on the lookout because it's coming....

Supposed to be tomorrow and about the ball. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Will be interesting to see. I guess more interesting to see how it affects us mortals or if it does at all. 

[MacTourney]

Oh please, oh please, let this be a doorway to bringing back wound balata orbs, what would life be without hope.  

 

[Golf2Much]

I can't wait to see what the powers that be are planning.  Realistically, changing the ball characteristics was the easiest and overall less expensive solution for dealing with obsoleting certain courses due to distance. 

It will be interesting to see if (and/or when) any of the guidelines filter down to the recreational golfer. 

It should be interesting.  

[cnosil]

36 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Will be interesting to see. I guess more interesting to see how it affects us mortals or if it does at all. 

Apparently the proposal is going to be for "elite" level of competitions.  Per Tony's twitter posts the expectation is that pretty much no ball currently in the market will meet the new restrictions.  Remember the phrase "soft is slow".  

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

2 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Apparently the proposal is going to be for "elite" level of competitions.  Per Tony's twitter posts the expectation is that pretty much no ball currently in the market will meet the new restrictions.  Remember the phrase "soft is slow".  

 

I guess more importantly will be when does this happen?

Very interesting. Eyes and ears are open and awaiting!

[Kenny B]

39 minutes ago, MacTourney said:

Oh please, oh please, let this be a doorway to bringing back wound balata orbs, what would life be without hope.  

 

"wound" ... how about "round" ?  

[cksurfdude]

2 hours ago, cnosil said:

Apparently the proposal is going to be for "elite" level of competitions. 

That would make the most sense to me .. ie. imho it's not the regular, recreational golfers who are hitting it ummm "too far" (and who are needed to play .. and to enjoy, and continue, playing .. to "grow the game").

[cnosil]

https://golf.com/gear/golf-balls/usga-rollback-bifurcation-announcement/

[Ding-dong]

 

 

5 hours ago, cnosil said:

https://golf.com/gear/golf-balls/usga-rollback-bifurcation-announcement/

Last line is interesting, fans don’t want this … I don’t want to see second shots that are wedges, nor do I want to see par 5s hit in 2 with a 6 iron or less. 
The current game is about strength, and somewhere down the line we have lost the art of plotting your way around the course. 
Any ball changes will be a good thing, any ball that gives you nothing after x impact force would be great … no bifurcation would be required. We would see a change in pro player and a game more connected to its roots. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

https://golf.com/gear/golf-balls/usga-rollback-bifurcation-announcement/

Need to read it again as I was reading it middle of the night, but it will be interesting. Reactions I am sure will be polar. What tours will adopt this? ie LIV will they stick with the long ball to try and get more players over there, that could be part of the brand. 

Time will tell I guess, but I really don't mind the way the game is now. Professionals are already on an entirely different level of play. 

[Jodrell]

2 hours ago, Ding-dong said:

any ball that gives you nothing after x impact force would be great … 

Yeah, this…no idea if it’s possible, but it would stop the game becoming even more about just strength & speed. A lot of pros don’t seem to care about missing fairways because the wedges are so good they can easily get out and still get close

[LICC]

The USGA and R&A have convened a news conference for Tuesday at which, GOLF.com has learned, they’ll introduce a proposal that includes a Model Local Rule that — for tours and championships that adopt it — would effectively mean rolling back the golf ball and introducing bifurcation, i.e., creating a different set of rules for professionals and top amateurs vs. the rest of the golf world. 

According to an industry source, equipment manufacturers were informed of the proposed changes Monday morning, which center around the clubhead speed used to evaluate balls for the Overall Distance Standard (ODS).

In short, if the governing bodies have their way, professionals and elite amateurs on tours and in tournaments that adopt the rule will hit the ball shorter distances. Rules for everyday golfers aren’t expected to change.

[RickyBobby_PR]

4 hours ago, Ding-dong said:

 

 

Last line is interesting, fans don’t want this … I don’t want to see second shots that are wedges, nor do I want to see par 5s hit in 2 with a 6 iron or less. 
The current game is about strength, and somewhere down the line we have lost the art of plotting your way around the course. 
Any ball changes will be a good thing, any ball that gives you nothing after x impact force would be great … no bifurcation would be required. We would see a change in pro player and a game more connected to its roots. 

People watch sports to see things they can’t do and to see the pros at whatever sport play their best. Golf is about having the lowest score, so if pros can get to par 5s in 2 or hit wedges into par 4s that’s amazing. 
 

Just like baseball chicks dig the long ball. Fans will complain that there are too many home runs and as soon as there a a 1-0 pitching duel taking place they say it’s boring.

Then we look at soccer. It’s boring to most because there isn’t a lot of scoring or action on the field, just a little round ball being kicked around from player to play for minutes at a time before a shot may even be attempted.

There are courses on tour where scores are going to be super low and then courses/events where it’s not going to be. There is a good mix of this on the tour

[EasyPutter]

There is always something in these articles that burns my toast and it is usually someone spouting as if they are gifted with knowing what everyone thinks.

“One of the coolest things about our sport is that the general player can play with exact same equipment from the same exact place,” one pro said. “No fan wants to see PGA Tour players hit it shorter than they do. That’s one reason they watch pro golf, because Rory can hit it 320 and they can stand on the same tee and not do so.”

Nothing but blow-hard goose crap, of course I want to see PGA Tour players hit shots like I do, that makes them real and makes me know that my game is perfectly fine because even the pros sometimes hit a shot like I do on my best day.

I guess I should sign this, No fan 

[Jnoble89]

I personally am a fan of seeing the pros absolutely MASH the driver. I'm not sure that I believe changes to the golf ball would turn people away from watching professional golf, because pros are still pros and will still make incredible shots, regardless of how far the ball travels. It will definitely be interesting to see how this all shakes out, and what some of the more prominent guys on tour will say on the subject.