Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 9 September 2015 | Page 20

but that was still two shots shy of Nick’s winning
total 20 years before. From this, one is inclined to
think that this particular course, ancient and classic
in every sense, is, in this instance, far from obsolete
– unless, of course, it is the contention that winning
a Championship at around par is somehow more
worthy or appropriate than at 15 under?
I decided that limiting the comparisons to one
course was interesting, but might offer skewed
results, so, in truly scientific fashion, I took a pin and
selected a date at random between 1960 and 1980,
and came up with 1976.
Using the same pin (in the interest of good science
and fairness), I then used the same methodology
to select a date between 1990 and 2010, and the
result was 1998.

WHAT’S PUTTING

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Over the four Majors in 1976, the total under par
was 28 and, in 1998, this total had been lowered
to 34. In 2015, 38 under par is the magic number
after only three Majors, so the trend would indicate
that the change is towards lower scores, but, if
the wind blows at Whistling Straits in the USPGA
Championship in the last Major of 2015, this could
well affect the final total.
In the face of the advances in technology, there
is a questionable wisdom amongst certain golf
authorities, who, in an apparent effort to combat this
tide of obsolescence, insist on setting up courses that
become virtually unplayable. A direct result of this
is that players are encouraged to adopt a game plan
with the primary focus of how to avoid a bogey rather
than to try anything other than he most conservative
approach to virtually every hole.
My own admittedly limited and casual surveys
amongst the amateurs I know reveals that, while
they like to see the pros struggle occasionally,most
watch tour events to see things that they can’t do; i.e.
players scoring lots of eagles and birdies.
When a cyclist wins the Tour De France for the
umpteenth time, the tour’s organisers don’t start
digging potholes in the road surfaces to make the
next race more interesting, but they might, of course,

DOWNS GOLF COURSE 1920’S

be well advised to institute a battery of drugs tests.
Similarly, athletes are encouraged to run further and
faster (drug-free, preferably) and are not slowed
down by being made to wear heavier running kits or
‘tricking up’ of the running surface or track conditions.
If we are to believe the manufacturers’ claims and
associated marketing text over the last 20 years
alone, the cumulative affect of all the improvements
in equipment should allow every amateur play-off
single figures, 18 single putt greens in a round being
the norm for everyone, and sub 60 rounds on the
world’s tours would be common place.
There is no doubt that the scores on professional golf
tours are getting consistently better across the entire
field, but surely this is as it should be? One would
also have to ask what aspects other than club, golf
ball and shaft design have influenced these changes,
such as the quality of the courses on which the tours
play and the general convenience and ease of the
environment. It was not so long ago that the gap in
the apparent abilities between the PGA Tour and
European Tours was put down to inferior playing
conditions on many of Europe’s courses, which would
be a fairly logical argument given that both sets of
players had access to the same type of equipment