Opinion & Analysis

The Wedge Guy: Has the game gotten too hard?

Published

6 years ago

Feb 4, 2020

Shortly after I started writing my blog as “The Wedge Guy” back in 2004, I created my “alter ego” so that I could occasionally pontificate on things that were outside my regular discussions that were focused on helping my readers hit better golf shots more often. Those “other” columns were penned under the pseudonym, “The Texas Wedge Hog: Rootin’ Out The Truth,” and I had fun sharing some opinions and observations and hearing from my readers.

So, in the spirit of The Texas Wedge Hog, I offer this observation for our discussion: I think the game has gotten too darn hard to be enjoyed as it should.

Let me begin by agreeing that golf is a hard enough game as it is. If you’ve ever seen Robin Williams routine on golf, it is side-splitting…but amazingly true. Think about it. We have this small white ball and a 4-1/4” hole somewhere a quarter mile or so away. We have these implements to strike the ball with, after we wrap that implement around behind us and attempt to deliver it back to the ball with accuracy and power, so that we can propel that ball toward the target. And we have this concept of “par” that allows us 3, 4, or 5 strokes to get from tee to hole at various ranges that average out to about a stroke for each 100 yards. But this concept of par allows that half of our strokes will be taken on the greens, after the long shots have gotten us there.

Please understand that my perspective on golf begins with an introduction to the game nearly as soon as I could walk (68 years ago next month). I began playing nine holes by myself or with my friends at the age of 6 or 7 years. I distinctly remember how the par-4 holes evolved from three 2-wood shots and a chip and putt (or two) and 54 was a good score. Then, I began to be able to reach some holes with two shots, and the goal became 45—then 40 as I gained enough strength to be able to achieve greens-in-regulation.

I grew up on a little 9-hole municipal course, and we were taught the game from the hole backwards. We were taught that way because of the relative difficulty of the game back then. Putting was the easiest skill to master, so we were taught that first. Greens rolled about 5-7 back then I suppose, but the Stimpmeter hadn’t been invented yet. Greens were relatively flat and simple.

Once we kind of had putting down, we progressed to learning chipping and pitching the ball, then short irons. Those skills evolved into middle iron play, and the long part of the game. In general, the closer you were to the hole, the easier the game got. Chipping was harder than putting, but easier than full iron shots. Mastering long irons and fairway woods was very difficult and driving not far behind with the old persimmon drivers.

My observation is that we (whoever “we” are) have flipped this upside down, and now the closer you get to the hole, the harder mastery becomes. With equipment and teaching technology, we can get a beginning golfer to efficient execution of the full shots pretty quickly. But there are simply no shortcuts to learning how to putt on and chip/pitch to today’s greens, which are firmer, faster and more undulating than those of the past.

As I understand it, the USGA adopted the Stimpmeter as a “standard” measurement of green speed back in the 1980s. So, they benchmarked green speeds on several hundred courses across the country and found those at Oakmont Country Club to be the fastest in the U.S— at something under 9! Augusta National wasn’t far behind, and those two have long earned the reputations for speed. But today you would be hard pressed to find any quality golf course with green speeds under 10 or 11, and many surpass 12 or 13. They get there by rolling the greens firmer, so they can cut them closer. Hybrid grass development is constant, so golfers can have as smooth a putting surface as possible. And this makes putting and greenside play more difficult than ever.

I personally do not believe this is good for golf. I love this game and all it has given me over this lifetime of playing and being fortunate enough to earn a living within it. But I don’t see juniors and beginners having much fun. And I don’t either when our course greens go dormant through the winter and greens that were designed in the 1980s for Stimp speeds of 8-9 now run off the chart. Many pin positions leave you looking for the windmill or clown’s mouth.

I do agree that the difficulty of golf is one of the appealing aspects of this game. But that difficulty should be mostly about making an airborne ball do what you want—not figuring out whether this 12 foot putt is going to break two feet or more—and wondering how the hell you are going to stop it close if you miss.

Next week: A radical idea for making the game inviting to beginners and juniors again.

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Terry Koehler

Terry Koehler is a fourth generation Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M University. Over his 40-year career in the golf industry, he has created over 100 putter designs and dozens of wedges. In 2014, he put together the team that reintroduced the Ben Hogan brand to the golf equipment industry with his TK 15 wedges and Ft. Worth 15 iron designs. Since receiving a U.S. Patent for his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” in the wedge category. In addition to inspiring multiple companies to emulate this sole technology, the performance of his wedge designs have stimulated all other companies to reposition some mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges. Terry is retired from his role as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf, and remains active in the industry as an independent designer and consultant. But his most compelling work is in the wedge category. Since he first patented his “Koehler Sole” in the early 1990s, he has been challenging “conventional wisdom” reflected in ‘tour design’ wedges. The performance of his wedge designs have stimulated other companies to move slightly more mass toward the top of the blade in their wedges, but none approach the dramatic design of his Edison Forged wedges, which have been robotically proven to significantly raise the bar for wedge performance. Terry serves as Chairman and Director of Innovation for Edison Golf – check it out at www.EdisonWedges.com.

21 Comments

84425

Feb 12, 2020 at 6:56 am

Reading the title of the story I thought “is this guy nuts: harder? It’s become easier!” But upon reading it I think you might be right for the general masses. Those that have a good short game will not be affected too much, or might be even better of with faster greens. But if your short game is not great, you will strugle.

Where it has become easier (too easy imho) to cross the first 300 yards of a hole, the last 50 yards have become harder (if you play where conditions are like you state). While both long and short game require practice, short game requires continuous practice. Hours and hours on the putting green, which is something not everyone has the time for.

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Jim Berry

Feb 6, 2020 at 8:49 am

Golf has always been hard. One thing that I have noticed about the better players have in common is a short game. When I score well, the putting and chipping are working. Many of the people that I see struggling with chipping and pitching have only one shot with their wedges. I never see them around the chipping practice area trying different shots and lies. The touch part of the game, chipping and putting, takes practice and attention to get better. I am 71 now, and am scoring better than I ever have. I love a course that is in great condition, and am willing and eager to deal with the challenges.

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Pelling

Feb 5, 2020 at 10:23 pm

Golf is much easier now than it has ever been. The ball goes straight and doesn’t cut on mishit shots. The clubs are huge with sweet spots the size of diner plates. Wedges are versatile and putters are almost automatic, especially from five feet and closer. Lasers yield exact distances. Shoes are lightweight and fabrics conform to the elements. When I started the game, at age 10 in 1963, I inherited my dad’s Spaulding Top Flight irons and his Kenneth Smith 4 wood with a tear drop shaft. I caddied and got to play the local country club on Mondays at 7:00 AM. My hand me down leather Footjoys were immediately soaking wet from the heavy dew and weighed about 10 lbs. I had a heavy leather bag with a thin terrible strap. Modern technology at the time was a Hogan Sure Out sand wedge with a flange the size of a quartered orange.
My brass headed Billy Casper Wilson putter had a sweet spot the size of a pea. There was no club fitting, golf ball covers cut violently on mishits, and I had a nine iron that I learned to open up and play all sorts of lobs, cuts, and pitches with in my back yard. It was my scoring club. Oh, and left handlers were out of luck as there were very few clubs, let alone good ones, available.

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Bob Jones

Feb 5, 2020 at 9:26 pm

I play on a course occasionally that has very good greens most of the time. It is a tournament course, and the rest of the time they are in tournament condition. Then they are fast, but true, and I can’t believe how much better of a putter that makes me.

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Red Nelson

Feb 5, 2020 at 6:53 pm

Hi Terry,
I’m going off-topic in order to reprimand you. Get off the fence, man. Only Jack Nicklaus, the ultimate White Bread, says “darn.” Man-up Texas-style and let your inner animal cut loose! Say “Damn, this game is hard.” I’m pretty sure no one will be offended. If they are, well, they can darn well fornicate themselves. Verdad, amigo?

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Chuck Urwin

Feb 5, 2020 at 6:38 pm

My old boss kept his 36 greens under 10! I realized as I got older he was trying to help the public golfer enjoy golf more! Low hdcp players did not like them that slow but they were in the minority of players, so it was slow as you go! I believe public greens are too fast now & should be slowed down! Private clubs who have always had fairly fast greens should continue to do as they like!

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Rob

Feb 5, 2020 at 12:57 pm

I’ll take super fast and smooth greens over slower but bumpy greens all the time. I can adjust to speed, there’s no way to adjust to bumpy. I play 90% of my golf on public courses and whenever I get the opportunity to play a private course with fast greens I find myself making more putts.

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Mark M

Feb 5, 2020 at 11:00 am

You’re right, that Robin Williams bit on golf is hilarious!
I can see where Terry is coming from, golf can be especially hard for the beginner, the once a month player or the average weekend golfer. But there ARE courses with slower, flatter greens, wide open fairways and a lack of penalty areas. There are par 3 courses for those who need shorter courses, with less difficulty. Are those people playing these courses? Do they move up to a teebox suitable for their games?

I see this whole idea of growing the game by making things easier as antithetical to the game of golf. I don’t think that golf is a game for the masses. Golf is inherently difficult. Golf is not bowling. You can’t just go out and play this game without any training, practice or work and expect to do anything but struggle.

I think Jimmy Dugan said it best: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

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Tim

Feb 5, 2020 at 10:04 am

I agree. Green speeds are getting nuts. Ridiculously fast greens are creeping into the local course, not just the high end ones. It seems to me that the the traffic jams around the course are being caused by groups spending too much time on the greens- plumb bobbing and walking around and around like they do on TV. Slowing down the greens will make wedges stop faster and putts roll straighter. The short game will be far easier and less touchy – as a result – faster.

The other truth of the matter is that people are imitating what they see on tv. People need to realize that what the guys on TV are doing is very different from what we are doing on a saturday morning. Golf is really akin to bowling. Its a silly little pass-time game, nothing more. So lighten up, hit the ball and move on.

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Mat

Feb 5, 2020 at 4:02 am

I would invite Americans to putt on “British” greens that are 8-9 on the Stimp. It is much more enjoyable.

Every time I come back to the States and play, it’s just idiotic. The misses are so punishing, it’s clear that the game slows down from the putting. No wonder everyone takes a lot of time! It’s like putting on linoleum.

No course should ever be over 10 unless the heat were to dry it out. No greenskeeper should ever want something higher than 10.0.

Again, USGA is out of touch here. Just because you can make a 13 doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

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JThunder

Feb 4, 2020 at 8:51 pm

This article seems to posit that putting is ruining golf. Is Terry Koehler a pseudonym for Johnny Miller?

yip yip yip

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Alex

Feb 4, 2020 at 6:40 pm

Stop playing boxes that overmatch you and equipment that doesn’t fit you. The ball goes so much straighter and longer than ever and is so much easier to control than years before. It’s also not a game you can just pick up and be scratch overnight no matter how much of an athlete you think you are. The attention span and ability to work towards a goal being next to nothing nowadays and wanting instant gratification is why people perceive golf as hard.

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Rick

Feb 4, 2020 at 3:32 pm

I’ve been playing for 40 years, the game was harder playing with blades, persimmon woods and no 60 degree wedge! The ball goes farther the club’s are easier to hit and I’m hitting it just as far as I did in my 20s. Golf is and always will be for the few who have perseverance! The desire to compete and enjoy what it gives you. You can’t keep trying to force people to adopt the idea that everybody is a right to be good! Stop the insanity!

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Shallowface

Feb 4, 2020 at 2:59 pm

“Many pin positions leave you looking for the windmill or clown’s mouth.”
The USGA suggests that pins only be set in positions that are as flat as possible three feet around the cup. Most superintendents that I speak to about this are completely unaware of that suggestion.
Augusta National has its reputation for fast undulating greens, but truth is when you watch The Masters putts of that length are rarely played outside the hole. They follow the USGA’s practice.
I’ve been playing nearly 50 years, and I think the game is the easiest its ever been. 460cc Drivers. Balls that don’t spin and therefore fly straight. Hybrids. Wedges available in a myriad of grinds. Putters that are impossible to mishit.
And that’s why people drop out. They know the above is true. And they can’t help but think that if a person can’t play with this equipment, there must be something wrong with them. Just the opposite effect one would think modern equipment would have.

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Rich Douglas

Feb 4, 2020 at 1:40 pm

I’m with Hogan: putting is boring and a completely different game. I’m tired of seeing the groups ahead of me slowing the pace while they 4-putt all day. (The fourth putt just scraped away from 6 feet after the first three.)

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Juststeve

Feb 4, 2020 at 11:49 am

I think the game is a lot easier than it was when I first started playing in the 1960’s. The modern ball goes further and straighter. Modern clubs are much easier to hit and vastly more forgiving of minor mistakes. Today’s greens are so smooth and true that you can actually expect the ball to go in if you get the line and speed correct. When I started playing even at elite clubs putts over 15 feet were basically crap shoots.

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DB

Feb 4, 2020 at 10:44 am

I agree that the greens make the game VERY difficult for beginners. I see them getting frustrated when they 3-4 putt every single green. And I’m not talking about fancy courses either, these are public courses that were designed decades ago and now the greens run 10-11 like you mentioned. Some of the slopes and tiers that might have been challenging decades ago are now brutally punishing if you misjudge.

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dat

Feb 4, 2020 at 9:46 am

Bomb & gouge is boring. Creative golf is basically dead.

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- Moosejaw McWilligher
  
  Feb 4, 2020 at 8:48 pm
  
  The vast majority of golfers cannot “bomb”, and cannot “gouge” anywhere near the green. The vast majority of golfers don’t have the skill to be *deliberately* “creative”, which is even harder than the first two things.
  
  For the 0.1% of golfers who compete for big money at the elite level, “boring” will earn them more money in the long run than “creative”.
  
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  - Rascal
    
    Feb 11, 2020 at 7:27 pm
    
    Very astute.
    
    Reply Report comment
Ryan

Feb 4, 2020 at 9:36 am

I think the Wedge guy hit the nail on the head with this one. I coach HS golf at a very inner city school. Golf has gotton to hard. We now make courses for those who are really good and there just are not that many of those golfers out there. We need to get back to shorter golf courses with less challenges. This will speed up play as well as get more people out there.

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