Tiger doesn't make great golf courses obsolete
Scripps Howard News Service
By JON EBERT
Scripps Howard News Service
Q. What can be done to the great golf courses to keep Tiger
Woods from reducing them to pitch and putt courses? Hitting the
ball far should not give one player such an advantage. How does
he hit it that far, anyway?
A. There are several things that can be done to make great
golf courses play the way the architects intended for them to
be played. Narrower landing areas can be created by strategically
placed bunkers and trees. The rough can also be brought into play
in these areas. None of these changes should ever be made without
first consulting a qualified golf course architect.
Tiger Woods is not the reason to make these modifications to
great golf courses. He is not the leader in driving distance on
the PGA Tour, although he's right up there. His length no doubt
helped him at Augusta where the fairways are wide and there is
no deep rough. In my opinion, though, he won the tournament on
the greens.
Imagine playing 72 holes on those greens without a three-putt,
and never missing a putt under five feet. As golf ball and club
technology expands, almost all players are hitting the ball farther,
and if we want our courses to be played the way they were designed
to be played, modifications will need to be made.
Remember that modifications would affect not only Tiger Woods,
but anyone who played the course. In my opinion, unless you take
his clubs away from him, there's no way to stop Tiger Woods from
shooting great scores, and no one should try. If courses are 'tricked
up,' he's talented enough to figure out how to shoot low scores
anyway. Everyone has to play the same course under the same conditions
and if he's the best, he should be commended.
Why does Tiger hit the ball so far? There are several reasons.
He is young, tall, strong and flexible. There's not much wear
and tear on that body yet. He has great technique. He has a long
backswing with a very wide arc, and on the downswing, he shifts
his weight to his left side and clears his hips faster than anyone
I've ever seen. He hits the ball so hard that his body twists
up like a pretzel on his follow-through.
My back hurts and my bones crack just by watching him! He also
has no fear. He hasn't had many negative experiences during his
short professional career to make him cautious. To add to all
the above, Tiger is also very smart on the golf course. He makes
the proper play at the proper time. He never tries to play a shot
he's incapable of playing, although from the looks of things,
there is no such shot! I see a long and bright future for Tiger
Woods. Time will tell.
(Jon Ebert, a golf professional, writes for the Naples Daily
News in Florida.)
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