Press On: What would Bagger Vance think?
By Gary Dickson
Last week my weekend golf partner gave me a copy of an article about golf balls that fly straight, no matter how you hit them. Since we both struggle at hitting the ball straight down the fairway with consistency, the possibility of using a ball that can”t hook or slice is a tempting proposition. The article came from an Internet blog named Devil Ball Golf. How appropriate. The United States Golf Association (USGA) has officially denounced the balls and made them illegal in any USGA sanctioned event.
The article about the straight-as-an-arrow ball made me think about a number of other technological advancements in golf over the past few years. Having recently read the novel “Bagger Vance,” it also triggered me to wonder what golfers from the past would think about the modern advances that have made it possible for today”s golfers to lower their golf scores; that is, if they choose to take advantage of them all.
Changes in sports, just as changes in life in general, are inevitable. Look at pro football. The equipment and rules have changed dramatically since the opening day of the American Professional Football Association season in 1920, that two years later became the National Football League (NFL). Consider the tennis rackets used by modern players, compared to those at the first Wimbledon in 1877. Golf equipment has been improved as technology advanced, just like the equipment of nearly every other sport.
Golf today is quite different from when the Scots were taking a shaped stick and hitting a pebble around a field of dunes and rabbit runs in 1497. In recent years hybrid clubs were introduced to take the place of the long irons that were always hard to hit. The result has been easier shot making with much higher trajectory than the old three and four irons could give.
Players today can also choose a set of irons that have a cavity back, instead of the more traditional muscle back. The difference is that the cavity back clubs provide a much larger “sweet spot.” A shot hit slightly off center will lose less distance and accuracy than it would if it were hit with an old-style iron. This really helps the weekend players shoot better scores, which also lowers their frustration level.
If you want to talk real high tech, now golfers can purchase a golf GPS that has all golf courses programmed into the memory. At any point from the course the user can see just how far he is from the green. Now your golf GPS can even provide you with a satellite image of exactly what you are facing on your next shot, with a view from above advantage. It”s interesting how technology once only available to organizations like the CIA and U.S. military can help your golf game. One model even provides a 5-second video flyover, so you can preview the hole and plan your strategy. It”s a far cry from mysterious caddy, Bagger Vance, staying up all night before the big match to walk off the distances on each hole so he could instruct Rannulph Junuh as to which club to choose in each situation.
When I was 12 I bought a set of golf clubs with my paper route money and started playing with some school friends. I stopped playing in my 20s and didn”t start again until I moved here. I could probably be a pretty good golfer if I had never stopped playing regularly. Now, I”m trying hard to become a decent weekend golfer. It isn”t an easy sport, even with modern equipment. But, one thing is certain, my golf buddy and I don”t want to use trick golf balls in order to make us look like good players. We want to work out our hooks and slices so that someday we will hit straighter, with more consistency, on our own.
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
