Golf Course Architecture - Issue 63, January 2021

13 MA I L BOX Dear Editor There is still a widespread and vivid debate over how many of our great old courses have become obsolete for professional tournaments and top amateur competitions as a result of increased hitting distances. The increased hitting distance is due in part to modern players’ sheer physical strength, gained from healthy diets and hours of working out in the gym for which they should be praised, but even more so due to advancements in the technology of equipment. The governing bodies of golf bear much of the blame for this development as they have let the equipment manufacturers set the agenda for too long without much concern for the legacy of the game and its spirit. In September 2020, EIGCA stated its support of measures to reduce the hitting distance. However sympathetic I find this statement and at the risk of being considered a gloom-monger, I think we are beyond a ‘point of no return’ as I do not have faith in the governing bodies displaying either the leadership or the courage to turn the clock back. At best, they will legislate to stop the clock where it is now but this will still not render our old classics fit for professional and top amateur events using today’s equipment. Witnessing how the game has evolved over the past three decades has left me somewhat in despair and torment. To stop the rot and return more to the original roots of the game whilst still accepting evolution, is it perhaps conceivable that the professional tours and national golf unions introduce different sets of equipment rules for some tournaments? Could the following be viable? Modern Courses Tournaments – use of any equipment that complies with the rules permissible. Classic Courses Tournaments – only wooden woods, steel shafts and balata balls permissible and no wedges above 55 degrees loft allowed. This concept would reap a number of benefits: Old classics such as Sunningdale, St Germain and St Pierre could come back on the professional tournament schedule. It would encourage something other than sheer power and require real shot-making skills, variety, imagination and finesse, all facets of the game that would make it more interesting to play as well as to watch, and closer to its original spirit. It would open potential investors’ eyes and make them realise that tournament golf can indeed be played on something other than monster-long courses that don’t require five hours to complete. Even as a curiosity, even the equipment manufacturers would benefit as they would profit from additional sales of wooden clubs and balata balls. Mere mortal golfers can continue playing their friendly games with whatever equipment on whichever course they so desire. Playing the occasional round with wooden clubs might bring them a revelation. Henrik Lund Varna, Bulgaria We are delighted to receive letters from readers, and the best in each issue will be rewarded with a golf shirt. Send to 6 Friar Lane, Leicester, LE1 5RA, UK, or email us at letters@golfcoursearchitecture.net Congratulations to Ashley Allpress, who correctly identified that in our last issue, our resident gopher Sandy Par was at the spectacular fifth hole of Isle of Purbeck’s Harry Colt layout. What would that same architect make of Sandy’s location for this issue? Email us at gopher@golfcoursearchitecture.net with the name of the course for a chance of winning a GCA golf shirt. GOPHER WATCH