Connect with us

Equipment

Forum Thread of the Day: “Courses that are now obsolete on Tour due to power in the game?”

Published

on

Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from Titleist99 who asks WRXers if they feel some golf courses are now obsolete on Tour due to the ever-growing power element in the game. Some of our members list tracks which they think will struggle to host majors again, while others explain why they feel every famous course still has its place on the calendar.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • oikos1: “The courses aren’t obsolete because most fans enjoy seeing a course overpowered. Golf traditionalists may not like it but just look at other sports today. Sure, a no-no, once it gets to the 7th becomes interesting, but most fans want to see homers and runs scored. Same in basketball, no one wants a pro game ending at 60-54 and football clearly is shooting for high scoring passing affairs. The majority of golf fans just don’t want to watch pro’s grind it out every week. They want to cheer for birdies and eagles. They want to see if the impossible is possible, the potential for crazy good. Bring on the 54 in golf! So no, golf courses aren’t becoming obsolete. PGA Tour attendance has been on the rise the last three years. If anything, they are looking at ways to make the events bigger and will seek venues that allow for just that.”
  • LICC: “Some former Majors courses that are now too short for the majors: St. Louis, Canterbury, Northwood, Prestwick, Myopia, Five Farms, Wannamoisett, Chicago Golf Club.”
  • Obee: “The problem with the shorter courses is that the Tour players don’t like having driver taken out of their hands. And that’s really all it is. They get ‘bored.’I get it; it does take away a large part of the game. But I would love to see them play more short courses were drivers taken out of their hands on a good number of holes. But as far as ‘obsolete’ goes. None of the courses are obsolete. They are just different.”
  • NJpatbee: “Course design and not just length add to the difficulty of a course. Pine Valley will never host a pro tournament because of their inability to handle the crowds; I would speculate that even the regular tees would be a challenge for the PGA Tour pros. The Championship Tees would be a bear. Now, I have never played there, but I am available if any member wishes to invite me!”
  • Titleist99: “PGA TOUR might want to add a little rough to protect our classic courses..”

Entire Thread: “Courses that are now obsolete on tour due to power in the game?”

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected]

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Moosejaw McWilligher

    Nov 21, 2019 at 3:09 am

    No such thing as an “obsolete” golf course. A tournament requires that the winner takes one or more fewer strokes over 72 holes than everyone else. Whether that winning score is -30 or +10 makes little difference to most golf fans, and zero difference at all to the integrity of the game itself.

    It DOES however, mean a lot to the enormous egos and enormous pocketbooks of golf course architects – who can pad their resume and their bank account by declaring courses “obsolete” and then getting paid to “re-design” (ie, lengthen) those courses. And the egos of members of private clubs who compensate for other shortcomings with their “big bad” golf course.

    It also can affect the egos of old former pros who don’t like seeing their scores and records broken – which also makes zero difference to the integrity of the game.

    “Obsolete” is fake news.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

Neal Shipley, AKA, the “Big Fridge’s,” custom stamping

Published

on

Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.

That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.

On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.

“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”

On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”

“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.

Check out Shipley’s full what’s in the bag and the rest of his wedge stampings here on “Inside the Ropes” from Colonial.

Continue Reading

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: L.A.B. Purple DF3 with Masters cover

Published

on

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.

From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear.  All prices include shipping. 
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules

Continue Reading

Whats in the Bag

Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)

Published

on

Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4

3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4

Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms

Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105

Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Continue Reading

Announcement

Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated as of January 29th, 2026. Please review the updated policies here Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. By continuing to use our site after January 29th, 2026, you agree to the changes.

WITB

Facebook

Trending