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Cantlay: The ball needs to go shorter
Some people think Patrick Cantlay doesn't have a lot to say for himself and that he's a bit dull. But his on-course demeanour seems a world away from his opinions that are always well thought out and reflect plenty of depth.
The World No. 3, speaking in a Q&A with a sponsor Goldman Sachs, had this to say about the golf ball. In a world of players being on huge deals with clubs, balls, clothing etc this was a bit of a lighthouse in the gloom.
“It’s not a lightning round question. That’s an extremely difficult question. I’ll answer it theoretically with the caveat being I won’t even go to the implementation of it. That’s the hardest part of it. The knee-jerk reaction is don’t do anything. They may mess up the implementation, so it won’t be worth it,” he said.
And now the good stuff..
“Theoretically, the golf ball needs to go shorter. Every golf course I go to has different tee boxes farther back than even 4-5 years ago when I visited the golf course. It’s getting to the point where the tee boxes are already to the perimeter of the property, so much so that Augusta National has been buying up all the adjacent pieces of property so they can put more tee boxes and change the holes.
“That’s not sustainable. Not only that if pace of play is one of your biggest concerns, how many golf courses do I go to on Tour where the tees are 100 yards back? They can’t keep going in this direction. The technology isn’t only better but young guys are trying to hit it farther and farther because the stats say the farther I hit it, the better I’ll play. Something has to give."
And he would finish on a high, pointing out that one of the world's very best courses can't be played as it should be.
“I think the biggest shame is that I can’t go to Cypress Point and play the course the way the designer designed the golf course to be played. The biggest problem for me is when we lose the architectural integrity of the golf course. We’re to the point where that’s where we are. Something has to give.”
The World No. 3, speaking in a Q&A with a sponsor Goldman Sachs, had this to say about the golf ball. In a world of players being on huge deals with clubs, balls, clothing etc this was a bit of a lighthouse in the gloom.
“It’s not a lightning round question. That’s an extremely difficult question. I’ll answer it theoretically with the caveat being I won’t even go to the implementation of it. That’s the hardest part of it. The knee-jerk reaction is don’t do anything. They may mess up the implementation, so it won’t be worth it,” he said.
And now the good stuff..
“Theoretically, the golf ball needs to go shorter. Every golf course I go to has different tee boxes farther back than even 4-5 years ago when I visited the golf course. It’s getting to the point where the tee boxes are already to the perimeter of the property, so much so that Augusta National has been buying up all the adjacent pieces of property so they can put more tee boxes and change the holes.
“That’s not sustainable. Not only that if pace of play is one of your biggest concerns, how many golf courses do I go to on Tour where the tees are 100 yards back? They can’t keep going in this direction. The technology isn’t only better but young guys are trying to hit it farther and farther because the stats say the farther I hit it, the better I’ll play. Something has to give."
And he would finish on a high, pointing out that one of the world's very best courses can't be played as it should be.
“I think the biggest shame is that I can’t go to Cypress Point and play the course the way the designer designed the golf course to be played. The biggest problem for me is when we lose the architectural integrity of the golf course. We’re to the point where that’s where we are. Something has to give.”
