In the midst of a sweet recollection of his first Masters victory 50 years ago, Gary Player yesterday took a sourer turn and, as a player and architect, addressed the 'distance problem' that he thinks is damaging the game.In his Masters press conference Player somehow got from the Champions-dinner question to recalling how he'd told the BBC eight years ago that it was only a matter of time when players would be hitting the ball 400 yards. His interviewer called it nonsense. The memory set him off.
[Today] they are hitting the ball 400 yards now, never mind 30 years time.
And so what we are going to see, we have not scratched the surface of golf yet. We are in our infancy. Unless we slow the ball down, you cannot put the tees back in the streets anymore, gentleman and ladies. They have got to their limit now so the next thing is you have to slow the ball down because the golf courses are going to be completely outdated which is happening now. Golf is suffering terribly. You see golf courses just weeds now closing down. You can buy golf courses for a dollar now because it’s the maintenance of the golf course. Because they have seen what is happening: These pros hitting a driver and 6-iron to a par 5 so from Timbuktu to Tokyo to China to here, everyone is lengthening golf courses. And the members hate it; and the fees are going up and the oil is getting more expensive and we are running out of water and so the whole damn game people are saying let me out of here. They can’t afford it. Instead of staying where we were and just slow[ing] the ball doing.
The "rollback" he favors was only for the tour professionals only, he was quick to point out.
Not for the amateur. We must have technology for the amateur who is the heart of the game. The pro is a mere tiny part of the game. And this is going to happen; I can promise you, it is going to happen in time because hundreds of millions of dollars are going wasted on unnecessary programs.
Player has not only won 9 majors, he's done 300 projects in 35 countries around the world. His perspective is broad and his views are not necessarily alarmist. In some corners of our game, we can use a huge injection of the kind of fun this afternoon's Par 3 Contest represents.
Bob Carney
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