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Golf's Digital Divide
theodp writes "Are $50,000 simulators and $4,500 sensor vests driving a wedge between golf's haves and have-nots? That's the question posed by the WSJ, who reports that a new generation of expensive high-tech tools is stoking a costly arms race among golfers looking for an edge in a sport that already has an elitist reputation."
CyberSteroids for the men with little balls.
Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
You mean rich folks have an advantage? Damn. ll my life, there has been equality between the haves and the have nots. Especially in golf. Now, that is falling down like a house of cards.
My life is over. Anyone want my user id before I go to end it all?
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
A game for rich people continues to be dominated by rich people!
Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
SHOCKED to hear that technology might be introducing the taint of elitism into the great Everyman's Sport that is golf.
Someone had to say it first....
That's not to mention the fact that in golf a fair bit of the skill is in knowing what to do, not just how to do it.
Free Conference Call -- No Spam, High Quality
I don't believe this is the tragedy that the submission of this story implies. It is unfortunate that such equipment is inaccessible to everyone, but if nothing else, isn't a sport striving for greatness? I see training as a different sort of advantage than say, steroid use. Ultimately, no tool will replace hard work; a professional golfer, regardless of income, must work for success.
If we draw a line based on income, what else does that set a precedent for? Genetics can also provide an advantage; how should that be resolved? What about in other situations? Do I want my doctor to have inferior training than another, because having access to expensive training tools gives him an 'unfair' competitive edge in the health market?
It's my computer ;) I can play against Tiger Woods any time, and 5 kilobucks computer can do way more than track golf balls :)
Hyperom.com
At a cost of $60 for green fees (the lowest around here), the wedge between golfing "Haves" and "Have-nots" begins before you even reach the gilded gates of the course. Add in golf-cart and clubs, plus drinks afterwards, it's easy to drop $120 to go golfing.
Phooey...
52 52'23" W 47 32'07" N
So the oldies are worried that noobs are going to take over their last bation of old-rich-golfplaying-bastard-ness? Amen.
I used to race bicycles and got myself to England to "really" race.
I had some nice equipment and good fitness (180 miles/week) at the time and consistently got my head handed to me by guys much older than me on what would be considered "ordinary" kit for an American bike racer.
Practice is the great equalizer. I have a hard time believing it's that different in golf.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
$50,000 simulators to play golf are no more necessary than a $100,000 swiss watch is necessary to tell the time.
who fucking cares. who cares if some guy on another hole has some $50,000 machine to practice on. it doens't impact me in the least. i could care less what others play, just my own.
It bugs me when I'm reading slashdot and there's a link to an article from the Wall Street Journal because I read the WSJ nearly daily. The fact that they link to it doesn't bother me so much as the fact that because not as much of the Wall Street Journal is online as say, the New York Times, the articles are generally posted at least a week after I've already read them. I wish there were a way for me to filter items on slashdot that are links to WSJ articles because it would save me a lot of time.
On another note, is it just me or does it seem like the hyperlink to the actual article is placed rather randomly amongst the article summary? Not that this is atypical of Slashdot (or many sites on the web) but wouldn't it make more sense to have the link be a phrase like "the question posed by the WSJ"?
And by the way, yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.
I golfed for 18 years. It's a great head game, really almost zen like, but championship calibre play doesn't come from expensive toys. Expensive toys can hone natural talent but that's about it. For all that, expensive toys can ruin natural talent.
Micheal Jordan was touted a a "physical genius", whatever that is. When Jordan turned to baseball it was said his physical genius would allow him to achieve the same greatness in baseball as he did in B ball. Did not happen, and it's likely Jordan had access to every toy available.
The X factor will always be part of championship play and all the toys for all the boys won't replace it.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
I saw a report on TV a few years back about a golf ball that has 2 rows of dots, kinda like a baseball, instead of all over, and it doesn't slice at all.
So good it was immediately outlawed. Which is fine but, you have to admit, golf is a pretty artificial sport.
Who the HELL is going to be using a $50,000 simulator and vests in golf, unless your are a professional on a circuit, and winning money and/or being sponsored!!
I'm not going to be using it. Does that make me a have not?
They're professional. And if an amateur can afford such a luxury, then all the power to them. Just like some can afford top of the line golf clubs and balls, and others can not.
Just like Lance Armstrong is able to have bikes custom made, helmets custom made, practice with out having a day job, and spend time in a wind tunnel with high tech gear and finding ways to lessen drag.
And guess what? I CAN'T DO THAT. Imagine that.
That's professional... on the individual level. Just go out and have fun. Isn't that what it is all about? If you're trying to break into professional, then you'll work your way up the ladder to your 50K simulator. If not, then get out your grandfathers clubs, and who cares. Have fun.
Every sport is like this.. get over it. Some people will have money, and others will not.
Final word: I don't think Tiger Woods started off with a $50,000 simulator... He worked his way up to the top, now I bet he's stepped into one to help keep him there, but he wasn't using one when he started, and it didn't stop him.
www.slightlycrewed.com - Because aren't we all?
I'm not so worried about whether or not the guy next to me has a $50,000 simulator and $10,000 practice vest at home. As long as I get a tall club and he doesn't pick the same ball color, everything will work out over video games and a burger back at the club house.
One man's religion is another man's belly-laugh. - LL
Q: How did golf get its name?
A: All of the other four-letter words were already taken.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I play hockey with a guy that has a new pair of $500 skates and a $150 composite stick, he still is never in the right position defensively and his shot accuracy makes the goalies breathe a sigh of relief
Fine!! I'll spend $50000 to put it in the hole... ohh wait!
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
All of this is just to get money from people that already have too much of it.
The only things you need for golf are a swing you can repeat, and knowing how to putt. Neither require anything more than a normal set of clubs, and some practice.
Ben Hogan said it best that there is no reason the average person can't break 70. And there was no tricks, no $50k electric vests, no goofy clubs that collapse when you swing the wrong way, or anything else. It's just having a swing that repeats, and includes the fundamental things you need to have that all great golfers do.
Best thing to be a better golf game is get the Ben Hogan book about the 5 fundamentals. About $5-$10 at any bookstore. Ben Crenshaw has a video on putting that's also good, and it's about the same price if you can find it.
But does that simulator include using flowers for driving practice? Oh, I think not.
Besides, most of the folks I know golf because it's a good excuse to swill something from the beverage cart, enjoy being outside instead of in their offices/cubicles, and fire off jokes that would otherwise score them a 30 minute meeting with their manager and an HR rep.
I doubt tour pros will even be using this stuff, except maybe if they've just lost their card and are grasping for straws. This is a toy for CEOs and investment bankers who have millions of dollars burning a hole in their bank accounts. They won't necessarily do any better than the rest of us who spend our time on the course and on the driving range.
Hey, my butler and limo driver can play golf as good as anyone.
driving a wedge
So which wedge are we talking about here: pitch, sand, lob? Inquiring minds want to know.
Oh, and overall, golf is a very very expensive game, both because of the cost of maintaining the course and the amount of stuff designed for rich people who think their problem is with their equipment and not their skill at the game. This fits neatly in the second category.
I am officially gone from
"So good it was immediately outlawed. Which is fine but, you have to admit, golf is a pretty artificial sport."
So what exactly is a "natural" sport then?
Stop knocking golf. Where else can WASPs get a release for the urge to dress like pimps?
Or did you mean "Gorf"?
If you're a Tiger woods then perhaps equipment that gives you an extra 1% edge is worth it, but most people would not tell the difference. The biggest success determining factors are ability and practice. Expensive kit does nothing unless you actually use it.
Marketers understand what drives buying for premium spending sports (golf, fly fishing,...). Most of the sportsmen don't have enough time to get out and practice sufficiently and feel a bit guilt about it. Being able to buy the toys helps alleviate that feeling of guilt rather than actually improving the game directly.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Very few of the have nots can even afford to buy the clubs and balls, much less the green fees, necesary for a good game of golf. Therefore, the have not, in the classic sense, are not even an issue. What we are talking about here is the fact that the comfortably wealthy middle class, the have nots in the sense that they perhaps only have a second home, cannot afford these things. And, when you get done to it, in the US we are increasingly divided into the working class, with little expendable income, the wealthy middle class, and the insanely rich upper class. Only the later two matter in terms of political and economic power. Everyone in the former shops at Wal*Mart and votes along religious lines.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
...a new generation of expensive high-tech tools is stoking a costly arms race among golfers looking for an edge in a sport that already has an elitist reputation.
The expensive tools aren't about "having an edge" on the green. It's a way of trying to create a new layer of socio-economic separation in the group of players. Golf has been a pasttime of the affluent and powerful for awhile. And it used to be a game that stayed in that domain. But the more people have been shouldering up the cost of equipment to get started (partially as part of corporate ass-kissing to try to get a leg up in office politics) and with more and more public golf courses springing up the game just isn't "exculsive" enough for the Good Ol' Boys anymore.
So they take it up a notch. How hardcore a golfer are you? "Oh, well I spent $1000 on this space age driver." "Oh well, I have a $4500 simulator."
It's just a new game of keeping up with the Jones's with an entry price set high enough to keep the riff-raff out.
Of course. (no pun intended, tee hee)
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Are $50,000 simulators and $4,500 sensor vests driving a wedge between golf's haves and have-nots? That's the question posed by the WSJ, who reports that a new generation of expensive high-tech tools is stoking a costly arms race among golfers looking for an edge in a sport that already has an elitist reputation.
If you play golf regularly you see how ridiculous this notion is. Golf is the most honest test of skill in all of sports. There is no faking a good score or hiding a bad one. The advantage of the new balls and drivers doesn't mean much to anyone but a low handicapper. It'll make a +3 a scratch. Thats it. If you don't understand the swing no technical gizmos will understand it for you. The idiots that layout 10K on equipment and lessons are invariably high handicappers. Put them in a competative situation and they forget their lessons and still shoot 90. Good players with lesser equipment will laugh rather than be jealous. That said hyped up equipment are wrecking the game at the higher level because some of the best classic courses are too short for competition. You will see a deadened standard ball in major golf within 5 years.
an ill wind that blows no good
If you're so competitive that you have to "beat" other golfers (let alone spending thousands of dollars to do so), it's time for you to take up an actual sport. You know, where you break a sweat...or at least have to walk from one point on the playing surface to another.
Here in bubbaland, they don't drop ridiculous sums of money on a sissy game like golf, we have BASSBOATS that cost more than most peoples houses and will outrun most coast guard cutters because of the QUAD mercurys on them. Them dang fish are FAST, doncha know, got to "git out there" quick like, they might disappear on ya! Then you need a fish finder sonar your cousin "borrowed" from the navy during his stint, then a tacklebox with 10 grand of basically the same looking lures that you attach plastic worm crankbait to.
Now that is a MANLY MAN sport. Oh ya, you need a new ford extravagant pickup to haul the boat...another 100 grand or so.. Then, you just catch the bass and let them go! You stop and buy hamburgers in a sack on the way home, but TRIPLE POUNDERS with cheese and bacon from all the calories exerted taking your credit cards in and out of your wallet.
snobs, eh, pikers!
...other poor people's sports, such as yachting and skiing.
Golf is the saddest excuse for a sport currently in existence. Hell, I would rather watch curling than watch golf.
Rich golfers are spending stupid amounts of money on crap they don't need? *Gasp* *Shock* how is this news worthy?
... what did you expect, something profound?
This is why I like to run. Well, one reason, anyway. As hobbies go its pretty good in and of itself - strengthening, restful, and a remarkably social activity. But more than that, its not a financial drain, or at least not a huge one. Its one of the few activites where money doesn't have a direct influence. Theres an indirect one in that rich people can afford to train all the time and not work, but that's going to be true almost everywhere in life.
Clothes - about $50 for an outfit (top/shorts/socks). 1-2 outfits per season will get you by, although you probably want more for convenience so that you're not washing them all the time.
Watches - not really needed, although $350 buys you about the most expensive running watch you can find (heartrate, GPS, computer sync, et cetera).
Shoes - figure on $80 every 350-400 miles or so for most decent mid-weight sets.
So... its not free, but its certainly not expensive. At least not compared to most other sports, from golf to lan party hardware (is that a sport?). There are no "per play" fees other than racking up mileage, but even many serious runners only spend about $10-12 per week on their shoes. Besides, you can run pretty much anywhere and have both a good time and a good workout.
To enter a race will cost you between $10-100 depending on the distance and the fanciness, but once you're in you'll be using exactly the same equipment as the elite runners from Kenya. At least, as far as anything you can purchase goes. Very few sports still have that distinction. Besides, unlike golfing where you really need to be on a course, if you're just looking for a nice way to spend 3 hours outside with your buddies you can go for a nice long run on the streets for free. Maybe a buck or two tucked away for some PowerAde but, hey, you'd probably be buying something to drink no matter what you're doing, right?
Swimming can be even cheaper as long as you're not using a wetsuit, assuming that you have access to a community pool. But don't even get me started on biking!
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Walk, carry the damn bag, swing hard. It's a sport. I'm tired and sweaty after 18 holes and ~6600 yards/meters. If you ride in a cart, smoke cigars and drink beer, it's just a game.
Lump lingered last in line for brains, and the ones she got were sorta rotten and insane.
Is increasingly advanced nautical technology creating a rift between yachting haves and have-nots? A new study shows that many lowly millionaires are unable to afford the latest accessories. Film at 11.
I am the man with no sig!
I honestly thought this article would be about how you need a computer and internet connection to make tee times.
It used to be done over the phone, but now my godparents had to buy a computer and internet access exclusively to reserve tee times at their local course.
It can be pretty rough if you have never used a computer before...
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
someone should invent a gadget that simulates browsing through slashdot and... oh wait, sorry. Back to the lab.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
There was a time when we used to play golf with:
1. persimmon woods
2. hickory shafts
3. blade irons
4. something called a "mashie niblick" (look it up, for a trip down memory lane)
5. leather balls stuffed with feathers
Now, thanks to new technology we play with:
1. oversized titanium drivers
2. graphite shafts
3. cavity back irons
4. 60-degree wedges
5. four layer solid-core distance balls
Now for the kicker - according to the USGA, the average handicap hasn't dropped significantly. What does that tell us?
Complete crap. Doesn't matter. You still have to execute, and out on the course you don't have your big expensive machine there to help you. Tiger screwed himself at Augusta this year, and some young dude that's (I think) never won a tourney came back and won at Harbour Town the next week. with one of the game's quality vets at his heels.
The name of the game is being consistent and having well rounded skills...and some luck thrown in there too. Anyone who has been playing at this thing for awhile can tell you that buying all the fancy practice gizmos won't help you if you can't replicate it out there on the tee.
GM.
You need to play a game where money is not a factor.
;-)
Like, Polo.
With a buy-in in the multi-million dollar range for a decent day-to-day selection of horses, grounds fees, and to cover vet bills, you can get rid of all the pesky dollar-competitive issues you have in golf.
Not that I'm playing much polo - I'm still saving up for the Polo shirts
I'm a competitive amateur bicycle racer. When I race on the weekends I line up next to guys wearing $250 shorts, $400 carbon fiber soled shoes $8000 carbon bicycles, $5000 carbon composite wheels. If they aint got the engine, none of that stuff means shit! You could put Lance Armstrong on a $300 discount store special and he'd tear them a new one.
That said... Money DOES matter. If you have enough income that you can spend 20 hrs a week riding a bike or hitting a golf ball, you're going to be better off than someone working 10 hour days to get ahead. Of course theres also the ski bum philosophy of living (very) modestly and spending all your time training. The other way is more comfortable.
At least with these toys, there might be some justification for the price, unlike most golf equipment, where the $200 item is just as good as the $2000 item except in some people's heads (that matters a lot of course).
Also, this haves vs. the have-nots thing is a bunch of hogwash. Yes, there are a few extremely rich people who show it off. But most people who have a few million in the bank don't show it. I know a few people like this. One drives a car that's fifteen years old. Another drives a piece of junk. They look like simple people. Their bank account doesn't affect their thinking. But on the other end of the spectrum, there are a ton of people nowadays who feel a need to show off and attract attention. They do so by overextending themselves on their credit cards and multiple refinances of their homes, so they can drive fancy cars and live a high-roller's life. They're generally the ones who buy all those gadgets.
And like I said, they'll get laughed right off the golf course, because a guy who shows up with $15,000 in electronic golf gadgets is like the nerd kid who shows up on his bicycle with 50 different pieces of safety equipment like pads and gloves because his mom thinks he'll get a scratch otherwise.
Am I the only one interested in the method by which that iClub thing (last link in summary) works?
...
Come on! I wanna know what sensors they put on people and in the clubs, and then I wanna know how they turn the raw data from those sensors into usable data like position in 3d space and orientation.
Is this stuff patented? Patents are public record...
Haha! Reverse patent trolling!
1) Search patent database for good patents
2) Come up with awesome idea using the patent
3) License patent from owner cheaply
4) Release super-awesome product-of-the-century
5)
6) PROFIT!
:(){
A game that involves sunlight and walking? Like anyone here would play that!
I think Soccer would have been a better test of his "physical genius." Baseball wasn't at all related to basketball, at least not in the way soccer is. I think he would have been happier with soccer; he could play the same games he did in the court, but in a whole new atmosphere.
As many posters have stated before me a good golf game comes down to repetition. Find a swing that works for you and be able to repeat it. You do not even have to swing in some perfectly straight swing plane like most every instruction book/video will tell you. Take a look at Jim Furyk, his backswing is in a different plane than when he comes around on the ball. According to the "experts" his swing is horrible and shouldn't work. He makes it work. Too many people try to mimick what they have seen someone else do instead of becoming comfortable with how they want to swing.
...but we don't "really" race in the UK. For that we go to the Continent, where we get soundly thrashed.
There's a nice true story about a Brit rider:
He rode and rode and rode, many miles and for a long time, getting to a point where he could consistently best most of the UK riders he competed against. Eventually he decided he was ready for the European circuits, and so moved to Amsterdam.
He started out modestly, competing in the weekend 'fun' rides around the small Dutch towns. These are dense packs of riders, racing on narrow, slippery and wet cobblestoned streets at horrendous speeds.
He thought he was doing pretty well at it too, although he noticed lots of cursing around him in various Euro languages as they cornered.
This went on for weeks. Every Saturday he'd get his kit together and join the races, telling himself he was doing well, and almost ready for the Big League of Continently cycling.
Then during a race one morning there seemed to be slightly more cursing than usual, but he thought little of it until a hand appeared from the bunch around him and gripped his handlebar stem...the hand steered him around the corners for some minutes. He was simply too petrified to intervene or react, and just let it happen. But while his bike was being steered for him the swearing and cursing ceased.
That day he got his stuff together and moved back to the UK. He'd discovered what almost all UK riders learn in Europe: that they simply aren't ready for that level.
Nothing like a classic struggle between the haves and have-mores in society to show the real grit! People having to sustain themselves on mere hundred dollar gear! Ones that only have thousands to pay on greens fees! Show some humanity people! These are people that are struggling for their very livelihood! Struggling!
I've played golf for over 20 years now. In 1985, before all the little tours, I missed the cut at the qualifying school by 1 shot, so I know what I'm talking about. Your swing is not all that important. The fact is, nearly 70% of your overall score is accumulated within 50 yards of the hole. If you have a decent swing off the tee, meaning 200-250 or so and in the fairway, and have a tremendous short game, you will score well. I just don't see how gadgets can make any difference to the areas of your game that require the most talent, the short game. I've had my ass handed to me in a bucket by 70 year old dudes who can't hit the ball more than 150 yards in one shot with the trajectory that makes gophers nervous to pop their heads out of their holes. Why, because they chip and putt like Ballesteros or Norman.
My interest in golf has gone from zero to, ummmm, zero. The only good thing about golf is that golf courses are nowadays one of the few bits of open space left in many suburbs.
Me? I just try to make sure I'm somewhere in the middle of the field... I have plenty of fun anyway... plus people are amazed my boat is still out there every year
If you want to see the real gap between the haves and the have nots, look at yachting...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
Dear Quirks, Your sig reads "It's better to whore the body than the mind". I am at a loss for figuring out what this means/what you intend it to mean? If you could provide some insight, I would really appreciate it! (I wasn't sure how to get the message to you, so I have replied to your thread here...) Thanks! mr_stinky_britches 2006-04-20
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.
Silicon Valley started to go downhill when executives started playing golf instead of raquetball and tennis.
Nobody mentioned that golf is a sport, where men play with their balls. Next news: curling has got wide acceptance by masses.
I wonder if its compatible with www.albatross18.com.....
The fun factor still doesn't compare to the Monster Roll Cage monster truck simulator that Idryonis made. 360-degrees of continuous rotation on pitch and roll. http://mrc.idryonis.com/
from every other sport?
In the original Tour de France, no support of any kind was allowed: riders had one bike per race and had to repair it themselves. In the early days of auto racing, it was not unusual for racers to drive their own car to the track, compete, and drive home.
Every sport has gone this way: those who hope to make a living at it have to do whatever they can. If technology can give an edge to those who can afford it, they pretty much have to use it. Auto racing now costs so much that it can only be sustained by advertising, and all but the very top drivers are effectively employees.
Eventually race car drivers will simply sit in the car while it drives itself, providing a necessary human touch to a robotics competition. At least golf will (I think) be spared that fate.
A nice little game, but not a sport. Golfers are not athletes. My definition of sport requires two things:
1) Breaking a sweat
2) direct physical confrontation with your opponent
I went golfing exactly twice in my life, each time because three guys at my place of employment "needed a fourth", whatever that means. So I was up against two guys who had been playing golf for ~7 years, and my boss who had been playing golf ~2 years.
I beat my boss and one of the other players BOTH time I played with them, and just missed beating all three of them the second time I played.
Ridiculous. Foolish. Asinine. If golf was a real sport like basketball, boxing, martial arts, rugby, etc., anyone with 2 to 7 years experience should have wiped the floor with me.
Golf is "men in funny pants, walking."
Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft..
Today, it's called golf
Stories like this drive a wedge between who cares and who gives a shit.
p-l-e-a-s-e
Golf is not a sport it's a game. What makes something a game rather than a sport may be a fuzzy line, but I assure you if it can be played by fat out of shape buisness executives it's not a sport.
-Mark
--- W. C. Fields
"There are only 3 sports, Bullfighting, Motor Racing and Mountaineering. All the rest are just pastimes". Of course, Mountaineering gets played by fat business executives with too much money as well, but then they end up dead...
Golf is a skill. And it can be a very lucrative skill for those who can perfect it.
But alas, I agree, it is not a sport. IMO it barely qualifies as a hobby.
To all of the golf-happy minions around here (both of you), consider an alternative plan: a gym membership. A good walk spoiled doesn't do shit for your cardiovascular system.
--- The American Way of Life is not a birthright. Hell, it's not even sustainable.
Ball golf is way too expensive and uptight. If you want to have fun on the cheap, play disc golf! It's just as fun (and frustrating) as ball golf. There's probably a course near you.
I can't believe that I am here, this world has shackled my inner self. Golf, weenies, burnt toast. Randomness in nature, at some point, limits the accuracy of the little balls flying through the air. We are becoming artifacts. FISH $
It's an activity. Like darts or bowling. Only with really funny looking clothes.
I golf a little bit - which is to say I play a golf-like game I call "whackfuck".
As in:
*WHACK*
"FUCK!!"
Anyway... I have a terrible, intermittant slice that I don't have the time to dedicate eliminating via practice, and which greatly limits how much I can enjoy the game. When your drives have a beaten zone that starts at about 5 degrees left of intended line and 70 degrees right... it's no fun to hit balls onto the adjacent fairway, or into the parking lot (although there is amusement to be had by banking a shot off the glacis of an oncoming golf cart)
I have been resistant to dumping lots of cash on golf toys. I'm not interested in being the guy with the shiniest clubs; I just want to be able to play a few times a year with my buddies and not make an ass of myself.
So I'm at the driving range, which is connected to a big pro shop. I've just hit half of a big bucket of balls, and they are all 180 yards out and 100 yards right of my stall. So just out of curiousity, I go into the pro shop and ask to try out a couple of different drivers, ranging in price from $50 to $800.
Most of them make no difference, but this one club, a $150 Ti offset driver, goes straight as an arrow and maybe 220 yards out. I hit maybe two dozen more balls with it, and I only sliced maybe 2 or 3 of them. The rest joined the first one at 220-ish right out front.
I bought it on the spot.
I'll still occasionally slice a screamer hard right, but now my beaten zone off the tee is 5 degrees left to the right side edge of the fairway. It makes the game a lot more enjoyable for everyone, and the risk of accidentally injuring somebody has dropped way, way down.
I call that a win, and money well spent - and I realize that that level of success is rare, so I'm not out spending more money in search of more technology to make the game even easier, nor am I under the illusion that if I buy the right geegaws I can take on Tiger Woods. But sometimes, there is value in better equipment.
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
As an avid golfer and golf/web service provider (http://www.clubgolfnetwork.com/), it's great to see there are other golfers on /. - I was wondering there were any more of us! ;)
:)
To the OP - the other thing to keep in mind is that physical fitness has now become a huge part of the (pro) game. Gone are the days of the fatties ruling the course - credit Tiger with pushing the envelope... more and more pros spend hours in the fitness trailer, and it shows in their games. Personally, I know that when I'm "in shape" I easily get another 20 yards from my driver vs. when I haven't been exercising.
As for the simulator, what golfer hasn't seen one of the full-size sims in Dave & Busters and wanted one for their home? Hook a projector up to your box, load PGA 2006 and you too have the opportunity to play courses you might not otherwise be able. (How else am I going to play Pebble Beach) As technology keeps improving, costs will drop and bring sims to the mainstream. Hooray for technology!!
http://photobombers.com/ Funny pix
Your question presents me with a bit of a dilemma. The sig is tied up in the context of a conversation with a friend of mine in highschool. I'll try to relate the meaning directly by way of an anecdote.
My best friend in high school and I both set out to be writers. We were discussing what we'd do to support ourselves once out of highschool. At that time we agreed University was a wasteland and we both intended to work in the real world and educate ourselves. We were adamantly in rebellion against our milktoast, upwardly mobile, middle class upbringing ( we didn't know part of the privledge of our class was the luxury of rebellion).
I suggested something clerical or in sales. My friend went with construction work. He said: "It's better to whore the body than the mind."
That's the short and nasty. So why don't I attribute the sig to him? He still owes me $10 bucks; and, until I get my $10 bucks, I'm using the sig without attributing it to him.
I didn't go into sales or clerical work. I took a job as a bouncer (ya really) in a night club that had goodfellas and expensive hookers upstairs and a well known, motorcycle gang as clientelle in the club downstairs. I wanted the street experience. I got to know alot of hookers. For the most part they were funny, happy, well paid, people. They confirmed in me the idea that's it's better to whore the body than the mind.
cheers
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
When you can hit your driver straight most of the time, you might benifit with these "power drivers", but I think way too many golfers spend too much time worrying about yardage, when they should worry about strokes.
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My grandmother taught me golf - and she was Scottish (as indeed am I). She also taught me two basic truths about it:-
Now you folks can think what you like - but I got it from an unimpeachable source. Can you say the same ?
How many beans make five, anyhow ?