Posted on Apr 6, 2023
Golf has a problem: people are hitting the ball too far
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https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/ [login to see] /golf-ball-change-rule-augusta-tiger-woods-pros-courses
There's a storm brewing in the golf world over how far the best players are able to pound the ball. Some argue it's making the game too easy.
At its heart, the problem is technology. Clubs used to be made out of wood and the original ball was hand-stitched leather stuffed with goose feathers. It's a far cry from the modern titanium drivers and highly engineered golf balls that pierce the sky.
These modern golf balls were in their infancy when 18 holes opened at East Potomac Golf Links (EPGL) in Washington, D.C., in 1923. Engineers were barely figuring out that adding dimples to the ball gave players more control over the distance, trajectory and spin; things essential to the modern game.
People weren't hitting it a mile long like they can today, jokes Will Smith, who used to work in golf course architecture.
"Here we are 100 years later," he said, while surveying the 15th hole on the Blue course at EPGL. "We're trying to build a golf course that can challenge and be interesting to golfers who hit the ball probably on average 30, 40, 60 yards further."
There's a storm brewing in the golf world over how far the best players are able to pound the ball. Some argue it's making the game too easy.
At its heart, the problem is technology. Clubs used to be made out of wood and the original ball was hand-stitched leather stuffed with goose feathers. It's a far cry from the modern titanium drivers and highly engineered golf balls that pierce the sky.
These modern golf balls were in their infancy when 18 holes opened at East Potomac Golf Links (EPGL) in Washington, D.C., in 1923. Engineers were barely figuring out that adding dimples to the ball gave players more control over the distance, trajectory and spin; things essential to the modern game.
People weren't hitting it a mile long like they can today, jokes Will Smith, who used to work in golf course architecture.
"Here we are 100 years later," he said, while surveying the 15th hole on the Blue course at EPGL. "We're trying to build a golf course that can challenge and be interesting to golfers who hit the ball probably on average 30, 40, 60 yards further."
Golf has a problem: people are hitting the ball too far
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