franklygolf

Frank,

Thanks for the weekly tips. Well done on Tiger’s triple. If he applied the unplayable lie Rule he may have won the British Open.

You mentioned a couple of weeks ago that there was talk of rolling the ball back. Am I stupid or does this not contradict the initiative that the USGA is pushing, with the PGA, to Tee-it-forward?
Mitch, Georgia

Mitch,
Thanks for your comments about Tigers Triple. Yes, we would all be better off by knowing this unplayable ball Rule #28, the essence of which I outlined in the Q&A last week.

Regarding rolling the ball back, let me say that this talk started in 1890 and has been ongoing ever since (see “From Sticks and Stones” — The Evolution of Golf Equipment Rules).

You are not stupid Mitch: it just seems like rolling the ball back, to decrease the effective distance we can hit the ball, and then suggesting we play from the forward tees to move the landing zone forward doesn’t make sense to a lot of us. See the video above for a good visual.

Maybe there isn’t a problem with the distance the ball goes.

When will we learn to make sure we have a problem before we try to solve it?

I do think that playing from the forward tees is a good idea for the majority of golfers as I mentioned in my book “Just Hit It” in 2008.

This initiative will speed up play, we will enjoy our game more, and probably come back to play again – good for golf. However, if we then roll the ball back we may have to move even further forward — to the very forward tees. This is one way to obsolete golf courses that have been growing in length for the last 30 years.

Mitch, I don’t think rolling the ball back for you and me will ever happen but you never know.
Thanks for the interesting question.
Frank