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."

Comments

And lo, the day has come....

[Marko DeBeeste]

CyberSteroids for the men with little balls.

No way

[MyLongNickName]

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?

Re:No way

[ceoyoyo]

Some people need to get a hobby. Oh, wait....

There's a saying among photographers: the amateur says "gee, I wish I had better equipment." The professional says "gee, I wish I had more time." The master says "gee, I wish I had better light."

Applies to lots of things, including golf, except you might have to change the light thing. Or maybe not.

I am shocked...

[ScaryMonkey]

SHOCKED to hear that technology might be introducing the taint of elitism into the great Everyman's Sport that is golf.

Golf sucks anyway

[dbitch]

Someone had to say it first....

Doesn't help

[jimmyhat3939]

The funny thing about this stuff is that, except at the super-elite level, it's not proven to help very much. And, even guys like Tiger Woods don't really use equipment like this all that much. They spend most of their practice time either putting or working on specific shot situations on a real course.

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.

O RLY?

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

Oh boo hoo!

[Five Bucks!]

Golfer have-nots?!

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...

As a golfer

[hsmith]

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.

The Middle Class Brat Experience

[Quirk]

I had 3 years of pro lessons from the age of 5. The pro who taught me was English and very much given to a classical swing. The trick of a great swing and/or putting is like the secret of enlightenment... there is no secret to enlightenment. It's just if you're looking for the answer... you don't have it, and, once you do, you're no longer looking for it, but it's unlikely you know exactly the steps you took to get it.

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.

What's new?

[labratuk]

Are $50,000 simulators and $4,500 sensor vests driving a wedge between golf's haves and have-nots?

I thought the whole point of golf was to drive a wedge between the haves and have nots.

Re:What's new?

[killjoe]

"I thought the whole point of golf was to drive a wedge between the haves and have nots."

No that's the whole point of the wall street journal.

None of this matters...

[HomerJ]

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.

You almost got the main point

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Sure there's a performance difference between crap gear and reasonable gear. There is far less performance difference between reasonable gear and the best gear. This applies to most sporting equipment. For example my $600 or so Sage fly rod is markedly better than a $50 Chinese bottom end job, but is probably not much better than a $200 rod or much worse than a $2000 rod.

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.

Re:You almost got the main point

[nate nice]

True to a point but not always. If you assume you're using your driver on 14 holes, then 15 * 14 = 210 total yards saved. This isn't a whole lot but on an average 5000 yard course, that shortens it by around 4%. Again, it's not a lot but it will maybe save you 2 strokes in that on those par 4's you might be driving the green instead of chipping. But as you pointed out, there are no guarantees.

Also, 15 yards can be the difference between using a 5 iron or a 4 iron. This makes a big difference for some people.

As for putting you're dead on of course. If these same people were really serious about improving their game by 7 strokes or so, they would spend at least an hour every day practicing a routine of puts. Or better yet, spend the money on a putting green for the backyard. It's the best way to improve your game. count how many 10' putts you miss in a game. You would probably be amazed.

Another thing with many of those huge drivers is they have a much larger sweet spot. This will keep you out of the woods a couple times as they are more "forgiving". This is a classic example of equipment improving a score instead of skill, prevalent in bowling as well (all the new cover stocks to improve hooking on oily lanes to create better pocket entry angle resulting in less 10 and 7 pins hanging around, etc).

The most amazing thing is the shafts people buy. So many people buy those ultra flexible shafts but they don't have enough club speed to use them so their hands get too far in front of the ball and they end up decelerating when they make contact resulting in shorter shots.

Gold junkies are known to go nuts and pay way too much for things. I love the game but have never bought anything but balls. Luckily I have a brother who's all too obsessed with the game and passes down decent equipment. He's really good at the game at least.

Then and Now

[Hootenanny]

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?

arrggghhg the sun!!!

[tlynch001]

A game that involves sunlight and walking? Like anyone here would play that!