The long ball
John Paul Newport, in this morning’s Wall Street Journal online, says the drive is the primal progenitor of the game, and we mortal golfers just can’t escape it’s allure and majesty. “There’s nothing in golf — and very little in life generally — as deeply thrilling as knocking the bejeebers out of a golf ball and watching it soar away, gravity-free, as things normally soar only in dreams.”
It’s why the driver - not the putter, not even those new hybrids - is the big money cash cow for golf equipment companies, and it’s likely why the golf equipment business is soft right about now: we may have reached the nadir of this generation’s driver innovations. It’s why John Daly, in spite of our better judgment, continues to intrigue. It’s why many of us love short par 4’s and reachable-in-two par 5’s.
What’s your idea?