Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[Captain Hook11]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:00 AM, vtpachyderm said:

 

 

Unpopular opinion 2 - Golf is the ultimate participation trophy sport - where else would you use handicapping in competition play just so that everyone has a chance to win? I understand you need it to keep people playing as it's a bl**dy hard game as it is, but think about. Disclaimer - I say this as I just lost a match play to an opponent that I had to give up 13 strokes over 18 holes. On every hole he had a stroke, he hit 6/7 iron off the tee on the par 4's. I was 3 down after 12, played 13-17 in 1 under, was 1 up after 17, and he won the 18th as he had a stroke and we tied it on bogeys (Stroke Index 1). He won on the 1st playoff hole, a par 5, and I hit into the pot bunker in the fairway and gave up whatever advantage I had and we both finished with par.

I was talking to my wife about golf last night and said the handicap system is great because it allows you to technically play on an even playing field with anyone in the world, and she said "yeah but you didn't *really* beat them did you?" And I had no response. Just kinda laughed and agreed. I think the toughest part is accurately handicapping guys, which obviously is easy enough for players with legit GHINS. A lot of people don't, though. On our recent golf trip, 4/8 guys didn't have legit numbers, which didn't sour the weekend or anything, but when I gave the worst guy 20 strokes and he's getting 2 pops on a short par 4 and hits the green in 3, I'm scrambling. No I'm not bitter at all HA.

[Chunkitgood]

Handicap system is to make it possible for good players to play with not so good players (and sometimes take their money), not the other way around.

 

It almost but not quite adjusts for the disparity in skill so the good player should of course win.

 

The opposite of participation trophy, the poor player gets nothing, except possibly bad advice from the good player.

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

Poor golf etiquette transcends generation or age...a******* gonna a** regardless of how old or young they are.

 

This comes after my previous 2 rounds - I got hit into today, and last week, the group of retirees in front of me didn't rake a single bunker.

[rd1959]

On 5/22/2022 at 11:32 PM, itsame said:

 

1) I am definitely not arguing that a larger target is harder to hit.

 

2) I have already adressed the 8" hole scenario and made the same point about how too big of a hole makes the advantage disappear. Here's the quote:

 

"At the other extreme, [if] 95% of putts go in from 15'-25', which might be plausible with an 8" hole. Obviously there's very little room for the best putters to shine, as even at 100% that makes them marginally better than average."

 

Here's a quote from my first comment that is important to understand:

"PGA pros only sink 15% of putts from 20' and 7% from 30'.  Increase that to 25% and 12% and it would make good putting more likely to turn around tournaments."

 

The conclusion that a larger hole necessarily helps worse putters is flawed for three reasons: 

1) It fails to account for the relation between make percentage and average proximity to hole

2) It does not take into account how much putting affects the final score compared to other strokes

3) It compares pros to amateurs instead of better pros to average pros

 

On tour:

The average proximity to hole from any lie, any distance, is 37' 1". The average birdie distance is 9' 5".

The average make percentage from >25' is 5.48%. The average make percentage of the top-10 from >25' is 8.9%.

 

The make percentages from 37'1", which is the average proximity to hole, is therefore extremely small, even for the best putters.

The smaller that percentage is, the least likely it is to make a difference in the final score.

 

What this means is that hitting a good iron/wedge very close to the hole is a much bigger factor.

 

The very conclusions of 'Strokes Gained' are:

 

1) 'The long game accounts for roughly 2/3 of scoring differential. In other words, shots outside of 100 yards (tee shots and approach shots) are the biggest determining factor in why one golfer scores better than another. Broadie concluded that approach shots are where most scoring occurs.'

2) 'Putting is not as influential in scoring differential as we first assumed. Broadie assigned 15% importance to putting in determining any player’s score. It turns out putting is much harder than we all thought, and it’s harder for golfers to separate themselves from one another with the flat stick.

 

 

The reason for this is that the make percentage from putts is too small. Increasing those percentages could turn the game into a 'putting contest', where most strokes would be gained on the green, giving a bigger edge to good putters who could take advantage of a lot more shots on the green, instead of mostly those that land into the current 'birdie distance'.

 

Whereas if the hole was small enough that only tap-ins would go in, good putters couldn't take advantage of the smaller hole because they would mostly finish their holes by tapping it in like everyone else, as their make percentage from any distance would still be too small to be meaningful on the final score.

 

All these technical posts about percentages make me wonder how Tom Morris decided on the hole size. Did Ol' Tom burn the "midnight candle" and figure it out on his trusty calculator or did he have an old post hole digger about 4-1/4" in diameter, dug the hole, stood back, and said "that looks about right"?
 It's just a hole in the ground. If a person can't hit a little ball into that hole, maybe they need to practice until they can.

[samwm]

Your driver isn't fade biased, you just suck.

 

 

[Wooley12]

 

[elwhippy]

Going to upset a lot of people. Visible tattoos. Once a symbol of criminal gangs. Now everywhere. Smart shirt, tailored shorts, new FJs...and tatts. Just looks wrong. I shall now hide in my fallout shelter. 

[miamistomp]

Would rather see tats than fat guys who need to stand on a mirror to see  if their junk is still there and pant and sweat their way through a round in a cart

 

 I guess golf might not really be  a sport

[Santiago Golf]

23 hours ago, rd1959 said:

All these technical posts about percentages make me wonder how Tom Morris decided on the hole size. Did Ol' Tom burn the "midnight candle" and figure it out on his trusty calculator or did he have an old post hole digger about 4-1/4" in diameter, dug the hole, stood back, and said "that looks about right"?
 It's just a hole in the ground. If a person can't hit a little ball into that hole, maybe they need to practice until they can.

 

Old Tom had nothing to do with the hole size

 

It would probably give more credit to the Park family of golfers ... they were the pros at Musselburgh 

 

"The four and a quarter inch diameter hole became standard during the 19th century, its seemingly random size was just that, it happened to be the width of the implement used to cut the holes at Musselburgh and in 1893 the R & A made the size mandatory"

[rd1959]

5 minutes ago, Santiago Golf said:

 

Old Tom had nothing to do with the hole size

 

It would probably give more credit to the Park family of golfers ... they were the pros at Musselburgh 

 

"The four and a quarter inch diameter hole became standard during the 19th century, its seemingly random size was just that, it happened to be the width of the implement used to cut the holes at Musselburgh and in 1893 the R & A made the size mandatory"

Thank you for that information. I learned something new. 
  I was just being a smartass when I posted that. It was a dig at how people today overanalyze the smallest details on everything. 
 

[scuffandhurry]

5 hours ago, miamistomp said:

Would rather see tats than fat guys who need to stand on a mirror to see  if their junk is still there and pant and sweat their way through a round in a cart

 

 I guess golf might not really be  a sport

 

the two tend to go hand in hand 

[mshills]

On 6/19/2022 at 11:13 AM, miamistomp said:

Would rather see tats than fat guys who need to stand on a mirror to see  if their junk is still there and pant and sweat their way through a round in a cart

 

 I guess golf might not really be  a sport

 

Unpopular opinion:  as much as I treat it as a sport, it's hard to really justify it as such.  In what other sport does the facility where it is played:

 

...routinely say walking is just too hard and you are not allowed to do that here?

...serve alcohol to people playing the sport while they are playing?

['Noles2013]

You should spend a decent amount of time on the driving range and chipping/putting green before actually taking on the golf course not only for your sake but others as well.

 

Two days after Christmas it was an unseasonably 70 degrees outside so I head to the course and get paired up with a woman in her mid 40s who looked every bit the part.  Name brand golf shoes/skirt/shirt, etc. with a nice set of clubs to boot… and she insisted on playing from the white tees.  She ended up playing exactly like the woman Chubbs was giving lessons to at the beginning of Happy Gilmore.  Just absolutely clueless and had clearly never swung a club before.  Finally on the fifth hole I broke the news I was going to play the rest of the round without her.  After I finished my 18 I saw her on the 11th tee box.  Didn’t wanna be rude but I wasn’t trying to be out there for 8 hours.  

 

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by 'Noles2013

[hobbes928]

Most amateurs would benefit from watching and studying an LPGA swing, not the .01% like Rory or Tiger who have swing mechanics that are not achievable by most. 

[Bmurr7]

LIV is cool.  Come at me bro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PGA is cool too. It's all golf. 😬

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

16 hours ago, hobbes928 said:

Most amateurs would benefit from watching and studying an LPGA swing, not the .01% like Rory or Tiger who have swing mechanics that are not achievable by most. 

I'm focusing on fundamentals this season - it's easier to club up and make up for 10 fewer yards than it is to hit out of the woods, or worse, suddenly be shooting 3 after hitting one into a lake.

[scuffandhurry]

the new pro v that comes out of the ball machine now belongs to you, not the range.

[RCGA]

The Lost Ball and Unplayable rules are the most penalizing infractions, relative to their benign occurrence, in all of sports. 

[DavePelz4]

My most unpopular golf opinion is there are some people and posts in this thread that are just wacky.

[J_Tizzle]

Bifurcation of the rules would be a good thing and make the game more enjoyable for 99.99% of golfers.  

[chippa13]

On 6/20/2022 at 2:04 PM, mshills said:

 

Unpopular opinion:  as much as I treat it as a sport, it's hard to really justify it as such.  In what other sport does the facility where it is played:

 

...routinely say walking is just too hard and you are not allowed to do that here?

...serve alcohol to people playing the sport while they are playing?

Adult hockey is not called "Beer League" for nothing.

[electroleum]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:50 PM, hobbes928 said:

Most amateurs would benefit from watching and studying an LPGA swing, not the .01% like Rory or Tiger who have swing mechanics that are not achievable by most. 

I'd kill to have a swing like Nelly Korda. It's a thing of beauty.

Edited June 23, 2022 by electroleum

[aenemated]

39 minutes ago, electroleum said:

I'd kill to have a swing like Nelly Korda. It's a thing of beauty.

 

Or Patty T.

 

Averages almost 273 at all of 5'5" with a motion that looks absolutely effortless. Man, I love her swing. 

[BIG STU]

22 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

Bifurcation of the rules would be a good thing and make the game more enjoyable for 99.99% of golfers.  

You are correct on the face of things--- But I have found that most recreational only golfers tend to play by their own rules anyhow and do not give 2 flips what the USGA or the R&A have to say. Now that is not taking into consideration the serious amateurs that play like stipulated club events or USGA events like mid ams etc

[J_Tizzle]

22 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

You are correct on the face of things--- But I have found that most recreational only golfers tend to play by their own rules anyhow and do not give 2 flips what the USGA or the R&A have to say. Now that is not taking into consideration the serious amateurs that play like stipulated club events or USGA events like mid ams etc

 

Thats a very fair statement for sure.  My groups typically play pretty hard on the rules and I think there are a few that are kinda silly still to this day.  Mostly just give me back my belly putter...

[J_Tizzle]

On 6/19/2022 at 12:36 PM, Santiago Golf said:

 

Old Tom had nothing to do with the hole size

 

It would probably give more credit to the Park family of golfers ... they were the pros at Musselburgh 

 

"The four and a quarter inch diameter hole became standard during the 19th century, its seemingly random size was just that, it happened to be the width of the implement used to cut the holes at Musselburgh and in 1893 the R & A made the size mandatory"

 

Jerks!

 

How much more fun would golf be with a 5"-6" hole.

[trilerian]

I hate fast, firm greens.  Then bad pin placements on top of those...  I get that some people like them, but I see no point in a green ever running above a 10 and so firm a full swing PW doesn't leave a pitch mark.  Some people brag like it's a badge of honor to play on 12+ greens, all I can think is that they are masochists.  

 

Let's see... I don't mind music so long as I can't hear you coming down the next fairway, and please turn it down while I'm teeing off.  

 

I don't like playing for money...

I don't like playing with or around people who are overly indulging their alcohol on the course.

I like to wear athletic clothes, basketball shorts and tech tees, to play golf in.  I walk 95% of my rounds and I sweat a lot!  I break out my polos and golf shorts only on the weekends.  

 

Probably my most controversial view.  We shouldn't change golfing equipment because 4% of golfers can hit the ball over 300 yards.

[J_Tizzle]

48 minutes ago, trilerian said:

I hate fast, firm greens.  Then bad pin placements on top of those...  I get that some people like them, but I see no point in a green ever running above a 10 and so firm a full swing PW doesn't leave a pitch mark.  Some people brag like it's a badge of honor to play on 12+ greens, all I can think is that they are masochists.  

 

Let's see... I don't mind music so long as I can't hear you coming down the next fairway, and please turn it down while I'm teeing off.  

 

I don't like playing for money...

I don't like playing with or around people who are overly indulging their alcohol on the course.

I like to wear athletic clothes, basketball shorts and tech tees, to play golf in.  I walk 95% of my rounds and I sweat a lot!  I break out my polos and golf shorts only on the weekends.  

 

Probably my most controversial view.  We shouldn't change golfing equipment because 4% of golfers can hit the ball over 300 yards.

 

I'll agree with the equipment one for sure, the others not as much :).  

 

For the clothing comment, I just remember playing in highschool in denim shorts and cotton polos, the new stuff is essentially sports wear anymore.

[Bmurr7]

23 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

Bifurcation of the rules would be a good thing and make the game more enjoyable for 99.99% of golfers.  

*looks up bifurcation*

 

Agreed. Mostly.... 👍

[hollabachgt]

1 hour ago, BIG STU said:

You are correct on the face of things--- But I have found that most recreational only golfers tend to play by their own rules anyhow and do not give 2 flips what the USGA or the R&A have to say. Now that is not taking into consideration the serious amateurs that play like stipulated club events or USGA events like mid ams etc

Even greater reason it should formally exist. Casual players, by both differences in skill and choice, already play a different game than tournament players, so what harm is there in formalizing the separation within the rules of the game?