The cost of the long ball
Jeff Bass, the head professional at Pebble Lake Golf Course in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, penned an interesting piece on what technology has cost the game of golf.
Oh but what might have been had earlier generations had the foresight to see the dark side of distance in the modern game. Not as it applies to scoring, although there is a direct correlation — particularly among the game’s best players. The dark side is in reference to two of golf’s obstacles to growth: Time and money.
His point is rather simple – because the technology is allowing courses to get longer and longer, the costs of everything from construction to maintenance has gone up. The length also adds time to play the course as well. (His point is a good one – the muni I grew up on was 6,000 yards from the tips. We would get around it on a very slow day in 4 hours.)
