As we know, the golf ball has undergone many changes and improvements in its inner materials and design. Besides the controversy with golf ball changes, I believe the major shift in the game has come predominantly with the oversized 460cc driver and metal woods.
It wasn’t a problem when the metal heads were the same size as the persimmon wood drivers, but when they became oversized around the late 1990s, the game changed to what it is now — with the emphasis on speed swings and hitting the driver as far as possible, instead of being restricted by small club heads and the need to hit the sweet spot solidly, which is much harder when swinging as hard as can.
Golfers using persimmon woods had to be much more accurate with their drivers, just to hit the sweet spot and get any decent distance. Not hitting the sweet spot on the persimmon drivers takes off 50 yards.
Golf was harder back in the persimmon era, which is why I call it the Big Boy Era of pro golf. The golfers in that era used to stand on the 1st tee in front of all the golf fans, nervous and stressed, trying to hit a persimmon driver halfway decently to avoid embarrassment, or even hitting a shank into the crowd lining the tee! That took big boy pants in my opinion.
Since golf has had oversized metal drivers and woods, standing on the tee box isn’t that scary; it isn’t that hard to hit the surface of the oversized drivers.
Imagine hitting the persimmon wood in a pressure moment for a Major win! So much harder than hitting the modern metal woods. The driving aspect of professional golf has turned into a video game anyone can play. I hear of regular golfers hitting 400-yard drives, hitting the green on a decently long par 4, etc. I get tired of hearing these stories; it has become mundane and common. Anyone can hit these new drivers.
The problem with the pro game, they are hitting the driver 50 yards farther at least, so the classic courses from the past have to be modified with more length, maybe excluding them from the tour in favor of longer courses.
The tradition of golf is being ruined because of the oversized drivers allowed in the game in the late 1990s, right when I was graduating from high school, playing on my high school golf team with a cheap generic set of Voits, which had oversized metal woods to replace the persimmon woods I used for my first two years of high school, 94 through 95.
Oversized drivers could still be used outside of professional golf, yet, like pro baseball, let the big boys play with the wood bat, the persimmon woods, and see who is the best.
The USGA is working to roll back the distance on the golf ball, but this isn’t the problem, and they should know it. The problem is the oversized metal woods they’ve allowed to be used in the professional game they regulate; they don’t want to disrupt the commercial side of the game, with their club manufacturing and marketing partnerships. The business aspect is the culprit for the pro golf game being ruined by this disruptive decision to allow oversized metal woods, and it has been too long for them to even consider rolling it back.
Maybe what they could do is regulate the metal woods to be the same size as the persimmon woods used to be. That would satisfy my criticism, as the small metal woods didn’t give a substantial advantage over the persimmon woods in distance, as shown in the 90s when some professional golfers started using the metal woods, such as Curtis Strange in the late 80s.
I like to watch the big boy era (persimmon, blades, and balata balls) more than the oversized driver era that followed. It would have been great if the USGA had stopped the oversized metal drivers coming into the pro game, but they didn’t, and I think golf fans and players are worse off for it when it comes to following the professional game and comparing it to past eras.
Just to be transparent, I play with 1959 Hogan Starburst blade irons and Hogan persimmon 3 and 4 woods (70s?), but I do have a Taylor Made SIM driver instead of a persimmon, cause it is much easier to hit and I’m not a professional golfer. Yet, if the pros start hitting persimmon drivers again, I probably would too.
It wasn’t a problem when the metal heads were the same size as the persimmon wood drivers, but when they became oversized around the late 1990s, the game changed to what it is now — with the emphasis on speed swings and hitting the driver as far as possible, instead of being restricted by small club heads and the need to hit the sweet spot solidly, which is much harder when swinging as hard as can.
Golfers using persimmon woods had to be much more accurate with their drivers, just to hit the sweet spot and get any decent distance. Not hitting the sweet spot on the persimmon drivers takes off 50 yards.
Golf was harder back in the persimmon era, which is why I call it the Big Boy Era of pro golf. The golfers in that era used to stand on the 1st tee in front of all the golf fans, nervous and stressed, trying to hit a persimmon driver halfway decently to avoid embarrassment, or even hitting a shank into the crowd lining the tee! That took big boy pants in my opinion.
Since golf has had oversized metal drivers and woods, standing on the tee box isn’t that scary; it isn’t that hard to hit the surface of the oversized drivers.
Imagine hitting the persimmon wood in a pressure moment for a Major win! So much harder than hitting the modern metal woods. The driving aspect of professional golf has turned into a video game anyone can play. I hear of regular golfers hitting 400-yard drives, hitting the green on a decently long par 4, etc. I get tired of hearing these stories; it has become mundane and common. Anyone can hit these new drivers.
The problem with the pro game, they are hitting the driver 50 yards farther at least, so the classic courses from the past have to be modified with more length, maybe excluding them from the tour in favor of longer courses.
The tradition of golf is being ruined because of the oversized drivers allowed in the game in the late 1990s, right when I was graduating from high school, playing on my high school golf team with a cheap generic set of Voits, which had oversized metal woods to replace the persimmon woods I used for my first two years of high school, 94 through 95.
Oversized drivers could still be used outside of professional golf, yet, like pro baseball, let the big boys play with the wood bat, the persimmon woods, and see who is the best.
The USGA is working to roll back the distance on the golf ball, but this isn’t the problem, and they should know it. The problem is the oversized metal woods they’ve allowed to be used in the professional game they regulate; they don’t want to disrupt the commercial side of the game, with their club manufacturing and marketing partnerships. The business aspect is the culprit for the pro golf game being ruined by this disruptive decision to allow oversized metal woods, and it has been too long for them to even consider rolling it back.
Maybe what they could do is regulate the metal woods to be the same size as the persimmon woods used to be. That would satisfy my criticism, as the small metal woods didn’t give a substantial advantage over the persimmon woods in distance, as shown in the 90s when some professional golfers started using the metal woods, such as Curtis Strange in the late 80s.
I like to watch the big boy era (persimmon, blades, and balata balls) more than the oversized driver era that followed. It would have been great if the USGA had stopped the oversized metal drivers coming into the pro game, but they didn’t, and I think golf fans and players are worse off for it when it comes to following the professional game and comparing it to past eras.
Just to be transparent, I play with 1959 Hogan Starburst blade irons and Hogan persimmon 3 and 4 woods (70s?), but I do have a Taylor Made SIM driver instead of a persimmon, cause it is much easier to hit and I’m not a professional golfer. Yet, if the pros start hitting persimmon drivers again, I probably would too.
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