Your most unpopular Golf opinions?

[rd1959]

1 hour ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

Jerks!

 

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

I would agree with 5". Then again, I don't drink, so 6" might work out better for everyone else. 😀

[Santiago Golf]

5 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

Jerks!

 

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

 

I'm all for a 6 inch hole ... it would speed up pace up play

[BIG STU]

7 hours ago, hollabachgt said:

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?

No harm at all as far as I am concerned

[rd1959]

8 hours ago, Bmurr7 said:

*looks up bifurcation*

 

Agreed. Mostly.... 👍

I had to look it up too.

[MelloYello]

15 hours ago, Santiago Golf said:

 

I'm all for a 6 inch hole ... it would speed up pace up play

 

I agree whole-heartedly. 

 

When you think about how small 4.25" actually is, it seems utterly ridiculous that we stick to that standard.

 

It places FAR too much emphasis on practicing short putts which IMHO has nothing to do with the spirit of the game. 

[trilerian]

23 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

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.

 

I just discovered some UA golf shorts that have an elastic band and a drawstring.  These might be a game changer...

 

I'm ordering 2 pair, we'll see how they do. 

[J_Tizzle]

1 hour ago, trilerian said:

 

I just discovered some UA golf shorts that have an elastic band and a drawstring.  These might be a game changer...

 

I'm ordering 2 pair, we'll see how they do. 

 

If my course didn't have a hard-on for tucked in shirts I'd be all over those.

[mark174ace]

5 hours ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

If my course didn't have a hard-on for tucked in shirts I'd be all over those.

I have a couple of pairs of the UA golf pants and they are awesome!!!

[BIG STU]

On 6/23/2022 at 2:13 PM, J_Tizzle said:

 

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...

In the groups I play in none of them would give you any grief at all about the belly putter. We do not care if you anchor or not. We just play golf and have fun

In some cases I can see it if one is playing stipulated club events etc but that is no longer my cup of tea. Most of the folks I play with just play and have fun. And you and your belly putter would be more than welcome.

Edited June 25, 2022 by BIG STU

[betarhoalphadelta]

Is a belly putter still considering anchoring if your belly jiggles? 

 

Asking for a friend...

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

Something I think about a lot is a post that I read in one of those rollback/distance debate threads a while ago:  Put it into writing and make the official rule (USGA/R&A) that the driver must be the longest club in the bag and the putter must be the shortest club in the bag.  I like that rule.  Depending on the rules official, that either mandates a driver an a putter in the bag, or it says that if you ditch the driver, you can absolutely go nuts with your 3 wood.

[pinggg]

- Swag headcovers are obnoxious.
- Nobody cares about LPGA. 

- No course should allow jeans.

- Majority of golf youtubers are tools.

- I don't want the game to grow. 
- We need more 9 hole courses. 

[Rocky Ball-boa]

6 hours ago, pinggg said:

 

- Majority of golf youtubers are tools.

 

- I don't want the game to grow. 
 

 

Yeah, I watch a lot of youtube golf. It's always tragic and frustrating to see most of them making the journey from "a golfer that does youtube" to "a youtuber that does golf".

All the "HEY GUYS LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR LOADS MORE AWESOME CONTENT!", "JOIN ME NEXT WEEK FOR A GIVE-AWAY!", cringe intros/outros and all that. 

There are still some gems out there though, that gives me my golf fix without having to fork out the extortionate amount of money required to watch the PGA in any way these days.

 

I also agree on that there's no need to grow the game. I used to be able to go down to my local course and play 9 holes on my lunch breaks without even booking a tee time. I just knew there'd be a slot available and I'd make it around before the boss-man started wondering where I was at. Post covid, it's almost impossible to fit in.. loads more people playing, and much slower rounds. I don't see that I've gained anything from it.

Equipment manufacturers, golf broadcasters and clubs on the other hand, they love it. They're also the people peddling the "we must grow the game" slogan that many people parrot without thinking about it because their favourite golf personality (with a financial stake in the growth) said so.

[stompboxah]

If you have a full bag of PXG clubs I immediately assume you have more money than sense. Its like the Ed Hardy of golf. 

[pearcebarr]

Headcovers are useless. No, not just the trendy aftermarket ones, or iron covers. All headcovers. Don't need em

[vtpachyderm]

On 6/26/2022 at 12:10 PM, Rocky Ball-boa said:

I also agree on that there's no need to grow the game. I used to be able to go down to my local course and play 9 holes on my lunch breaks without even booking a tee time. I just knew there'd be a slot available and I'd make it around before the boss-man started wondering where I was at. Post covid, it's almost impossible to fit in.. loads more people playing, and much slower rounds. I don't see that I've gained anything from it.

Equipment manufacturers, golf broadcasters and clubs on the other hand, they love it. They're also the people peddling the "we must grow the game" slogan that many people parrot without thinking about it because their favourite golf personality (with a financial stake in the growth) said so.

 

I completely disagree with this notion that there is no need to grow the game. Why shouldn't it be available to anyone and everyone that wants to play. We should be celebrating that the entry point is much easier than it used to be. The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport.

 

Where and when I grew up as a kid, golf was not an inclusive sport - you needed money, influence, and a set of archaic decorum rules that chases away the so called riff-raff. In some instances the colour of your skin also came under scrutiny (the drunken white expat in the clubhouse bar is allowed to say what he wants for everyone to hear, but me as the brown kid is not allowed to play because he doesn't have knee length socks on a hot summer day?).

 

You cannot believe how refreshing it was when I moved to the US (Go Hokies!) how accessible and fun it was to play golf on more relaxed terms on public courses, and now people are complaining we don't like that? That's a pretty stuck up attitude if you ask me. I'm so happy that here in Noway, where and who I play golf with now is so relaxed and open and despite the increase in popularity it just required a slight adjustment in planning tee times.

 

Unpopular opinion then - if you don't like the way the game is growing, take your tucked up polo shirt, khaki shorts, and new balance sneakers to the nearest members only country club.

[BIG STU]

On 6/25/2022 at 9:39 AM, betarhoalphadelta said:

Is a belly putter still considering anchoring if your belly jiggles? 

 

Asking for a friend...

Dont know on that one----- I do know Trevino said one time "That for it to be a belly putter first off one has to have a belly"

[acegolfer]

I prefer a fade to a draw. Why? If I end up to the right side of the hole, it's easier to putt and chip than left because most greens here are sloped from back to front. 

[Rocky Ball-boa]

  

23 hours ago, vtpachyderm said:

 

I completely disagree with this notion that there is no need to grow the game. Why shouldn't it be available to anyone and everyone that wants to play. We should be celebrating that the entry point is much easier than it used to be. The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport.

 

Where and when I grew up as a kid, golf was not an inclusive sport - you needed money, influence, and a set of archaic decorum rules that chases away the so called riff-raff. In some instances the colour of your skin also came under scrutiny (the drunken white expat in the clubhouse bar is allowed to say what he wants for everyone to hear, but me as the brown kid is not allowed to play because he doesn't have knee length socks on a hot summer day?).

 

You cannot believe how refreshing it was when I moved to the US (Go Hokies!) how accessible and fun it was to play golf on more relaxed terms on public courses, and now people are complaining we don't like that? That's a pretty stuck up attitude if you ask me. I'm so happy that here in Noway, where and who I play golf with now is so relaxed and open and despite the increase in popularity it just required a slight adjustment in planning tee times.

 

Unpopular opinion then - if you don't like the way the game is growing, take your tucked up polo shirt, khaki shorts, and new balance sneakers to the nearest members only country club.

 

There's a whole ocean of grey area between the "only the elite of society can play" and "we need to grow the game" dichotomy.

 

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder from some injustices you feel the world has inflicted upon you, and I'm sorry to hear it. But don't look at everything and everyone's arguments through that prism. Not wanting the number of active players to grow substantially doesn't immediately translate to "I want to keep the riff-raff away and I love a tucked in polo shirt".

 

Let's get back on track, can you substantiate the "The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport" with some tangibles? Because from my point of view, every time the game grows, my membership fees goes up, tickets to events are harder to come by, my equipment becomes more expensive, tee times rarer and round times longer.

Help me achieve your level of enthusiasm - exactly what is the good that I have to look forward to?

[ND2005]

On 6/30/2022 at 3:25 AM, vtpachyderm said:

 

I completely disagree with this notion that there is no need to grow the game. Why shouldn't it be available to anyone and everyone that wants to play. We should be celebrating that the entry point is much easier than it used to be. The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport.

 

Where and when I grew up as a kid, golf was not an inclusive sport - you needed money, influence, and a set of archaic decorum rules that chases away the so called riff-raff. In some instances the colour of your skin also came under scrutiny (the drunken white expat in the clubhouse bar is allowed to say what he wants for everyone to hear, but me as the brown kid is not allowed to play because he doesn't have knee length socks on a hot summer day?).

 

You cannot believe how refreshing it was when I moved to the US (Go Hokies!) how accessible and fun it was to play golf on more relaxed terms on public courses, and now people are complaining we don't like that? That's a pretty stuck up attitude if you ask me. I'm so happy that here in Noway, where and who I play golf with now is so relaxed and open and despite the increase in popularity it just required a slight adjustment in planning tee times.

 

Unpopular opinion then - if you don't like the way the game is growing, take your tucked up polo shirt, khaki shorts, and new balance sneakers to the nearest members only country club.

 

Great comment and observation. 

 

I would add that while the game is getting more inclusive, there is still a deep seated misogyny amongst a large percentage of golfers and course structure (men's only areas of the club, poorly designed/thought out women's tee box options, etc) continues to contribute to this. 

[Ty_Webb]

4 hours ago, Rocky Ball-boa said:

  

 

There's a whole ocean of grey area between the "only the elite of society can play" and "we need to grow the game" dichotomy.

 

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder from some injustices you feel the world has inflicted upon you, and I'm sorry to hear it. But don't look at everything and everyone's arguments through that prism. Not wanting the number of active players to grow substantially doesn't immediately translate to "I want to keep the riff-raff away and I love a tucked in polo shirt".

 

Let's get back on track, can you substantiate the "The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport" with some tangibles? Because from my point of view, every time the game grows, my membership fees goes up, tickets to events are harder to come by, my equipment becomes more expensive, tee times rarer and round times longer.

Help me achieve your level of enthusiasm - exactly what is the good that I have to look forward to?

 

To a certain extent some of that is likely to happen anyway. If the number of people playing the game shrinks, then courses will close and you'll still have a fight for a tee time, but the course might be further from where you live and might not be as good (although one would assume that the better courses would be the ones that stayed open). Conversely as more people play and there is excess demand for golf, then it becomes more profitable to provide more supply. So we, in theory, get more golf courses. 

 

I think it a lot depends on where you are though. I live on Long Island and there isn't exactly a lot of space or opportunity for more golf courses, certainly near me and there is virtually endless demand, so growing the game just means it's harder to get a tee time (or it's more expensive if that's the way courses go). If you live in a small town with a lot of space around and you're the only golfer in the town, you've got a long drive to play. If you wind up with 300 golfers in your town, then suddenly it's worth someone building a course there and you win from a grown game.

[Warrior42111]

6 hours ago, Rocky Ball-boa said:

  

 

There's a whole ocean of grey area between the "only the elite of society can play" and "we need to grow the game" dichotomy.

 

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder from some injustices you feel the world has inflicted upon you, and I'm sorry to hear it. But don't look at everything and everyone's arguments through that prism. Not wanting the number of active players to grow substantially doesn't immediately translate to "I want to keep the riff-raff away and I love a tucked in polo shirt".

 

Let's get back on track, can you substantiate the "The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport" with some tangibles? Because from my point of view, every time the game grows, my membership fees goes up, tickets to events are harder to come by, my equipment becomes more expensive, tee times rarer and round times longer.

Help me achieve your level of enthusiasm - exactly what is the good that I have to look forward to?

The big one in my mind at least is to hold off on the demolition of courses for housing.

 

If more people are playing, more courses are going to be profitable. Which can prevent them from being sold. Once a course is sold for housing or retail space it's not going to ever come back to be a course and now you have fewer courses.

[vtpachyderm]

11 hours ago, Rocky Ball-boa said:

  

 

There's a whole ocean of grey area between the "only the elite of society can play" and "we need to grow the game" dichotomy.

 

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder from some injustices you feel the world has inflicted upon you, and I'm sorry to hear it. But don't look at everything and everyone's arguments through that prism. Not wanting the number of active players to grow substantially doesn't immediately translate to "I want to keep the riff-raff away and I love a tucked in polo shirt".

 

Let's get back on track, can you substantiate the "The more people play, the more good change can come about to a sport" with some tangibles? Because from my point of view, every time the game grows, my membership fees goes up, tickets to events are harder to come by, my equipment becomes more expensive, tee times rarer and round times longer.

Help me achieve your level of enthusiasm - exactly what is the good that I have to look forward to?

Fair question. But let’s clarify - no chip on my shoulder whatsoever and it’s just an example of how far golf has come since then with regards to inclusion in the sport - we can show up with hoodies and Jordans now which to me is progress because the game has grown and should continue to do so.
 

But there is still a long way to go as ND2005 posted especially when it comes to womens golf. I’m sorry but golf is still so misogynistic and has a looooong way to go with regards to that and the only way you can force change is if more people that don’t have antiquated notions and thoughts take up the game. 
 

With regards to the negatives you quote, I honestly think these are a result of golf not being able to keep up or adapt as it was content with the level it was at/status qui if you will. If I recall before Covid the worry was that the golf population was aging and there was no refreshing of the player group and so revenue streams were under threat - to put it bluntly the golfing population was dying out. In time the industry will find a balance but that takes time. 
 

My membership fees have also increased because they can but my home course has never been in as good a condition as it is this year because of the increase in membership and fees. Another course has seen what you experienced and has closed membership now but no big loss as neighboring courses have invested and improved their facilities. Golfing has never been better here in the Trondheim region and the bulk of new players are all young. Plus there has been an uptick in women/girls taking up the sport. 
 

I would counter that equipment has never been more accessible for the average joe due to the plethora of choices available for all price points. Yes if you want the latest and greatest you’re going to have to pay but good deals can be had if you play it smart. That’s just par for the course for all sports and not just golf.

 

Sorry for the long post and with all due respect your complaints do sound a tad selfish.

[vtpachyderm]

8 hours ago, ND2005 said:

 

Great comment and observation. 

 

I would add that while the game is getting more inclusive, there is still a deep seated misogyny amongst a large percentage of golfers and course structure (men's only areas of the club, poorly designed/thought out women's tee box options, etc) continues to contribute to this. 

Thanks and yes - it’s still very misogynistic. When playing with my wife the looks we get when we show up at the tee box is disappointing but then when she manages to out drive them it’s rather funny seeing how it changes. Still doesn’t mean she feels comfortable - middle aged grumpy golfing men have an uncanny way of giving you a look that is so demeaning. Have to learn that to try on my kids 😂😂. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

41 minutes ago, vtpachyderm said:

 

Sorry for the long post and with all due respect your complaints do sound a tad selfish.

 

Good follow-up. I was going to respond initially thinking that the people saying "I don't care about growing the game" were doing so not out of a racial, classist, or sexist bias... Many are just pissed off that they can't get tee times, greens fees have gone up, and the courses are overcrowded. Then you add that "growing the game" means "introducing new novices", and that's never great for pace of play. 

 

It's absolutely selfishness. Especially, as @Ty_Webb brings up, because in certain areas there just isn't more room for more courses. I'm on the opposite coast from him, but I'm in that same boat. They're not putting new public golf courses in Orange County CA to keep up with increased demand. So the results are, as mentioned, tee times are hard to come by, greens fees are up, courses are overcrowded and pace of play suffers. 

 

I'd join that, but I'm part of the problem. While I'm no newbie to the game, I barely played at all between 2010 and 2020. Then COVID came, I went for my first round in >5 years while visiting my father in law, and I suddenly remembered why I love the game. Now I'm playing regularly, bringing friends/coworkers to fill foursomes that probably wouldn't play nearly as often if I weren't setting up the tee times, and introduced my son to the game. So I'm making the courses more crowded and harder to get times 😉 

 

But literally trying to get a weekend morning tee time here, at a course that's less than 100USD per round, is a battle. Heck, most of the courses in the 100-200 range are impossible to get times. It simply sucks that with more people playing the game, it makes it harder to play the game because courses and tee times are finite. 

 

That has to balance against the other side, of course, where the game is contracting. And the below thread is the cautionary tale against those who complain about growing the game--it's also not good if it shrinks. 

 

 

[LeftDot]

Been lurking this thread and haven't seen this said yet:

 

Anywhere that has a grass range needs to have a qualification or licensing system for people that want to use it as a practice range. People who can't make any sort of decent contact with the ball, or don't know range etiquette, are an excessive and unnecessary burden on groundskeepers and customers. There's absolutely no reason for someone to hit 10 yard chunks for an entire bucket wherever there's (rapidly disappearing) grass in the bay. Go hit on mats if you don't know what you're doing, it's not going to make a difference at that skill level. 

 

Slightly less controversial opinion: more clubs need to offer range-only memberships.

[acegolfer]

I like golf because it's an extremely hard sport. If it were easy, I'd have mastered it and be done with. I like slow gradual improvement. 

[SterlingArcher]

12 hours ago, LeftDot said:

Been lurking this thread and haven't seen this said yet:

 

Anywhere that has a grass range needs to have a qualification or licensing system for people that want to use it as a practice range. People who can't make any sort of decent contact with the ball, or don't know range etiquette, are an excessive and unnecessary burden on groundskeepers and customers. There's absolutely no reason for someone to hit 10 yard chunks for an entire bucket wherever there's (rapidly disappearing) grass in the bay. Go hit on mats if you don't know what you're doing, it's not going to make a difference at that skill level. 

 

Slightly less controversial opinion: more clubs need to offer range-only memberships.

 

I agree about the grass range, but unfortunately sometimes it just boils down to selfishness of the individual.  We have some very highly skilled golfers at my club who abuse and tear up the range.  Instead of a line of divots going straight back (our policy), they make wild patterns all over the place aiming at different targets.  No matter how many emails, signs, policies the pro and range staff write they do what they want in the name of their practice session.  Club administration won’t do anything about it because they like saying we have golfers who have played in the U.S. Am, U.S. Open, etc. 

[Hoselknocker]

On 7/1/2022 at 3:22 PM, vtpachyderm said:

Thanks and yes - it’s still very misogynistic. When playing with my wife the looks we get when we show up at the tee box is disappointing but then when she manages to out drive them it’s rather funny seeing how it changes. Still doesn’t mean she feels comfortable - middle aged grumpy golfing men have an uncanny way of giving you a look that is so demeaning. Have to learn that to try on my kids 😂😂. 

  On the other hand, many women at our club aren’t doing themselves any favors.  The “ladies association” at my course routinely plays in groups of six, hit multiple balls off the tee, and show no interest in playing quickly.  One lady stood on the tee box for a solid 10 minutes telling a story while me and 

My daughter were waiting.  They piss everyone off then claim misogyny when someone calls them on it. Oh and one of them took my daughters ball while we were yelling that it was ours.  

[chisag]

On 6/25/2022 at 1:31 AM, BIG STU said:

In the groups I play in none of them would give you any grief at all about the belly putter. We do not care if you anchor or not. We just play golf and have fun

In some cases I can see it if one is playing stipulated club events etc but that is no longer my cup of tea. Most of the folks I play with just play and have fun. And you and your belly putter would be more than welcome.

 

 

... There are many rules I agree should not be breached by those on tour. The belly or any anchored putter takes nerves out of the equation to a degree, or at least for those with very shaky hands or the yips. Controlling your nerves is part of the demands on winning, just like walking 4 rounds on a hill course. 

... But as far as Ams are concerned, nerves should not be part of the equation when playing casual golf. Sure the hands might shake for a birdie or eagle if they are very rare for that individual but that is the exception. If a golfer is more comfortable anchoring their putter by all means do so. Although playing 5 times a week and often with at least 1 stranger, I have never seen anyone use one since the ban. But you want one ball off the tee and one on the greens, or use an illegal driver or anchor your putter? Fine by me as you and I agree with what helps golfers have a more enjoyable round should always be OK.