Greg Norman is not a fan of the ongoing changes the R&A is making to the Old Course for The Open Championship.
The twice winner of the Claret Jug is adamant that not only are additional alterations the wrong way to go, they will not stop someone shooting golf’s fabled 59 in a Major, maybe even at St Andrews.
“I don’t like what they are doing,” says Norman.
“St Andrews is all about strategy because it is such a short golf course. So you can play it three or four different ways.
“If they take that element of strategy away, it will never be the same again.”
The Australian believes that the advances in golf technology only add to the problem.
“Someone will shoot 59. I’m absolutely certain of that,” says the Great White Shark.
“Look, I nearly shot 59 at Turnberry one year way back before the equipment was what it is today.
“When one of the new generation strings it together, he is going to shatter what’s out there.”
To hold that back, Norman believes the game’s governing bodies should instead hasten a different type of ball for recreational and competitive golf.
“I would hope they will sit back and take a radical look at what the game has become,” he continues.
“It’s all about the bombers who can launch it 340 yards out there, and the bulk of the field is getting sand kicked in their face.
“The art of shaping shots has gone and I say that as a bomber who used to pound it out there.
“Everybody should have a chance of winning because golf is about shot-making, putting, finesse. So bring back that kind of exam!
“Sure, players are physically stronger and better today than they were back then.
“But they are still trying to play the same hole and the same golf course.
“The best players are still going to be the best players, whether you give them hickory shafts, a gutta perch ball or whatever.
“Take them out on the Old Course, and the best players are still going to win because they know how to adjust their game and they know how to get it in the hole.
“So why make dramatic changes to Old Tom Morris’s links?
“In 1996, I suggested to Augusta National that every player in The Masters, no matter what manufacturer’s ball they endorsed, played with a ball to the club’s specifications.
“Some 20 years on, I maintain the rulemakers should still look at the golf balls being used.”
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