Marsh wants ball delayed
Leading track architect and Australian golf legend Graham Marsh has taken his weight from the global urge to rule the distance that the golf ball flies, saving the ruling authorities of the game by doing nothing and the equipment companies for their "big lie."
Marsh, designer of more than 50 jobs and still actively involved at the age of 75, told the Australia "Inside The Ropes" podcast this week that he was "sad" about the situation that had developed.
Marsh, whose company recently modified the Royal Pines course on the Gold Coast to fit it for the Australian PGA championship, said the distance the modern golf ball traveled made architects impossible and obsolete old jobs.
"When I first entered the wave design industry, our landing areas were 220 meters or 240 meters many years ago," he said. “We've done a number of courses for that area, but the best thing we can do now is go back and fix them, because all the bunkers are in the wrong place!
“But now, 35 years later, it is 270 meters (landing area). We are now almost 300 meters away. That has been 60 or 70 meters (increase), just in my time in the industry that is crazy.
"It has been one of the great tragedies of the game. We were given this load of guff by the industry that if we went with these game improvement clubs, everyone would play better, and of course the ball would continue, and they would continue develop that with a good commercial arrangement, to earn more money, which is what you do in that industry.
"But the problem is that the players have not gotten better, the handicaps have risen, the equipment is more expensive and fewer people play the game. It was a big lie. They made bamboo for everyone, including the USGA and the R and A Everyone has made bamboo. ""
Marsh, who won more than 50 tournaments in his career, said the game authorities, the R & A and the USGA, had to take immediate action by delaying the ball. "That is the only tool they have left. There is nothing else."
