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US OPEN

• micheldess 819 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 10:00 AM

  It's a fact since long long time than equipments and balls are better and better and so the players hit longer and the ball stop more easily from long distance.

  Still Koepka will probably win other majors and Hideki Matsuyama is now number 2 in the world and will probably wins majors in the future.

  The organizers hoped the wind will blow more during the four days of competition and with that the score probably would habe been between -5 and -10 for the winner.

  Final score always depends of condition

• Essisdaddy 5,883 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 10:05 AM

  This article (click the pic) pretty much covers it -

   

  

   

  How on earth does someone (JT on Saturday) hit a 3-wood - with a soft fade that stops 15-feet from where it landed - 310 yards???

• filmslayer 2,340 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 10:09 AM

  USGA & the R & A said they want to adjust rules . i hope they take a look at equipment ! a lot of great old courses like Oakland Hills have been taken out of the rotation cause of length .

• Vaibhav5viv 886 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 11:49 AM

  While equipment is a huge factor, can't help but feel that USGA have been pussyfooting since Merion with the setups and the style of courses(barring Oakmont ) have been quite un-US Open like. From 04- 13 the set ups were really tough apart from when Rory trampled a soggy Congo.

  With such wide and straight up fairways the courses are pretty open to being overpowered. If they can reign in the 3wds and hybrids, which imo have the biggest improvements alongside quality of balls, the courses with pesky narrow fairways might  take it back to being like US Open. 

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 1:32 PM

  Vaibhav5viv:

  the courses with pesky narrow fairways might  take it back to being like US Open

  Throw in some doglegs, trees and water while you're at it. 

• filmslayer 2,340 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 1:58 PM

  YankeeJim:

  Vaibhav5viv:

  the courses with pesky narrow fairways might  take it back to being like US Open

  Throw in some doglegs, trees and water while you're at it. 

  and extremely deep punishing rough like they used to .

• AlaskanDame 19,555 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 5:55 PM

  filmslayer:

  YankeeJim:

  Vaibhav5viv:

  the courses with pesky narrow fairways might  take it back to being like US Open

  Throw in some doglegs, trees and water while you're at it. 

  and extremely deep punishing rough like they used to .

  +1

  and 

  +1

• Lutjanid 697 Posts

  Tue, Jun 20 2017 6:18 PM

  Heaps of things have combined to have us where we are now. Equipment has played a part. So has the physical attributes of these guys. They are bigger and stronger than ever. More flexible and more in tune with the golf swing.

  Irons go further now but that has not much to do with any technological advances and a lot to do with the specs of the clubs. Today's 5iron is the same loft and length as a 3 iron was 15 or so years ago. That's why we have Hybrids, because nobody can get 3 iron in the air when it only has 19deg of loft.

  It's also why we have to carry 3 or more wedges, when your PW is 42 or 43 degrees and your sand Iron is 56 there is a lot of real estate in between.

  Something that has been missed are the putters. These things are so much better at helping the ball leave on the intended line. I venture if the field had to go back to something like the "Bulls Eye" it would be a different story.

  Once the powers that be allowed metal drivers and graphite shafts that was the beginning of the end. So with all these factors helping today's players it's no wonder they are shooting such good scores. And they are very good, that helps. :-)

• cappiest 1,346 Posts

  Wed, Jun 21 2017 12:24 AM

  Without a question the biggest reason the game is the way it is today is golf equipment. Obviously the clubs play a big part, however the golf ball itself is the biggest reason. The way they make golf balls now and the technology they put in to a ball makes it fly unbelievable distances and stop on a dime.

  I dont think it will be long now and we will see specs that will be changed to the way a golf ball is made. They have to because at the rate they are going in the next 5-10 years the courses will have to be 8000 yards+ for the pros. Jack Nicklaus has been saying it for almost 20 years now that the golf ball is the single biggest reason the game has changed. So much so that most of the courses he has designed that are played on the tour they are going back to these courses and lengthening them because todays golf balls are too long. Jack doesnt want to see people breaking 60 on his courses because essentially that would mean his design was not up to par...pardon the pun....

  If you bring out old Iron Byron that Wilson used to use for ball testing and had a driver hit with say a Titleist Tour Z Balata which they used on tour in the early 80's and then hit the Titleist Pro v1 ball of today with the same driver that Pro V1 would fly 40+ yards further.

  I mean in the 80's the longest guys in the game were hitting it 285yds average now the longest guys are hitting it 315+. So if you can scale the ball back and yes some of the clubs as well to get things back to a bit more realistic values.

  I mean come on Rickie Fowler is not a big guy but he hit a 3 iron in to 18 on Sunday from 300yds and flew it on the green. Thats just crazy, when you go back 30 years and consider the longest guy in the game could have teed up his driver from 300 yards out in that fairway and never got over that bunker in front of the green.

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Wed, Jun 21 2017 1:01 AM

  cappiest:

  Titleist Tour Z Balata which they used on tour in the early 80's and then hit the Titleist Pro v1 ball of today with the same driver that Pro V1 would fly 40+ yards further.

  +1 

  The balls are massively different. I remember using the old balata ball as a mate was a caddy for a pro....he had a box full of them (a box as in a packing box) in the trunk....said help yourself lol....some 100 odd ball later......

  When hit well they were great, but not considerably longer than other 2 piece balls around then....but they did spin (mishit and you had a massive gash).

  I still had a couple left, and tried them against the ProV1 (which I use - and WGT....I buy them in bulk lol hint hint)......4 shots and the ProV1 was at least 20-30 yards behind.

  Add the improved technology with clubs, the courses are falling way behind.

  Yes the USGA did not "toughen" up the course......as spectators want to see players bombing the ball....and scoring well. Maybe it is good for ratings and a grind for par isn't.

  Purists probably want the latter....but maybe we are in the minority.