An Old Course Ball?

John Huggan had this provocative postmortem on The Open earlier in the week:

Appallingly and inappropriately, the Old Course surely has more long grass growing

within its boundaries than at any time in its long history. With varying degrees of offensiveness, many bunkers are surrounded by rough. Plus, almost all of those wonderful hazards now appear man-made. So perfectly round are they, their faces close to vertical, they resemble doughnuts more than bunkers. 

Of course, you can legitimately argue that none of the above matters when, as was the case with the two new bunkers right and short of the second green, the pin positions are so distant as to render their presence wholly superfluous. But here’s the thing. 

Everything the R&A did to prepare the Old Course for this Open was designed to make the ancient links more difficult. Not more interesting. Not more fun. Just more difficult.

Why is that, you ask? Because the modern golf ball hit by a frying-pan driver wielded by a leading professional goes way too far. And why is that? Because of the R&A’s utter incompetence in the realm of technological administration. Not that they will be owning up to the charge any time soon.

Well-argued, Counselor...But wait, there's more:

Why is that? Because combined with any sort of stiff breeze, the greens on the Old Course are too fast. And why are they too fast? Because speedy putting surfaces represent just another way for the R&A to keep the scores up on a course that is short by modern professional standards. 

And why do they need to do such a thing? Because the modern golf ball hit by a frying-pan driver wielded by a leading professional goes way too far. And why is that? Because of the R&A’s utter incompetence in the realm of technological administration. Not that they will be owning up to the charge any time soon.

Give John's piece a read as it covers other subjects of interest as well.  But Shack takes off from John's piece with this rather out there proposal:

His point: all of the hole-tucking, green speed-pushing ways were employed not to test skill, but to work around modern distance that dates the Old Course. The same distance we are told has been capped. Though tell that to Jason Day and Bubba Watson, who had under 75-yard shots into a 456-yard par-4 Sunday in Canada. 

I think we can all agree visiting the Old Course for the Open is a special affair and that it would be fun to actually see the it play somewhat more like it did 20-40 years ago when a long iron had to be used on par-4s.

So I ask: what would be so awful about an Old Course ball emerging every five or six years? The manufacturers could package it in a fun way, sell it to us suckers and advertise how they did their part to make The Open better? 

What would be so terrible about this? Please, enlighten me...

It's deja vu all over again, as there was a time that those similarly inclined urged Augusta National to specify a rolled-back tournament ball for their little get together.  The logic was that the ANGC poobahs could do whatever they damn well pleased, and could thereby be our saviors... But that's expecting an awful lot from folks that run only the one event, and also ignores the rather cozy and/or incestuous relationships that exist withing the major golf organizations.  There's a reason that Shack himself refers to them as the Five Families...

In this case it's the very same organization running the Open Championship that Huggan lambastes for their "technological incompetence" that runs the Open, and an Old Course ball would be rather a stunning admission against interest.

Terrible, Geoff?, No....Unrealistic?  Oh yeah!