One of the possible solutions touted by those golfers and golf analysts who believe today's golf ball flies too far on the PGA Tour (where the highest swing speeds can kick a ball into "overdrive") is the creation of a "tournament ball." A tournament ball is a golf ball that would be used by every player in the field, each ball identical to all other balls in play.
The so-called tournament ball would give the short and moderate hitters in tournaments a better chance of staying up with the big-hitters by virtue of its technology - it would be built without that "overdrive" that modern big hitters can tap into at high swing speeds.
The first tournament ball is on its way. But it's not the PGA Tour or Augusta National (which has broached the subject) that's testing the idea, it's the Ohio Golf Association.
According to Golfweek, the OGA will use a tournament ball for its Ohio Champions Tournament in August.
Reports Golfweek:
The so-called tournament ball would give the short and moderate hitters in tournaments a better chance of staying up with the big-hitters by virtue of its technology - it would be built without that "overdrive" that modern big hitters can tap into at high swing speeds.
The first tournament ball is on its way. But it's not the PGA Tour or Augusta National (which has broached the subject) that's testing the idea, it's the Ohio Golf Association.
According to Golfweek, the OGA will use a tournament ball for its Ohio Champions Tournament in August.
Reports Golfweek:
Although OGA executive director Jim Popa is quick to point out that the tournament ball "is not a short ball, but rather a uniform ball," it doesn't take much imagination to understand what the OGA is doing.Read the full report.
Alan Fadel, a former PGA Tour player who has been a reinstated amateur for almost 20 years, is chairman of the OGA ball committee.
"We haven't chosen the exact ball yet," Fadel said, "but we are leaning to one that optimizes (distance efficiency off the tee) between 100 and 105 miles per hour (driver swing speed). The ball is not going to benefit somebody at 120 (mph) the way the current ball does. We are trying to achieve a little more equality, that's all. The guy who swings 120 will still hit it farther than most of the other players, but not quite so far.
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