Interview with Jack Nicklaus: Paul Gallaghertalks to the great man about the detrimental effects of technology on golf. He wants the distance the ball travels reduced.
In a playing career spanning 45 years there is precious little Jack Nicklaus hasn't achieved in golf. After becoming the most successful player in the history of the game, the Golden Bear was eventually forced to down tools because his body told him he could no longer compete and that's when attentions successfully turned to course design.
Though designing courses would never fill the competitive void, it brought him to the front line when railing against modern technology and its detrimental effect on the game he once knew.
You don't win a record 18 major titles without being a ruthlessly competitive animal in the heat of battle. You don't become a "great player" and winner of over 100 professional titles worldwide unless you've done just that: competed worldwide, not just in the comfort zone of the United States. You could say Nicklaus has been there, done it and, forget the T-shirt, he practically wrote the script.
Don't for one second think the 67-year-old has lost any of his verve just because the belt buckle has loosened another notch and the bones creak a little more. No, Nicklaus, who has been involved in over 300 course designs worldwide, still possesses a razor-sharp mind and understands better than most what has happened to the game of golf and how it has ventured down wrong roads on occasion. And like his golf, Nicklaus makes his point with cutting precision.
"The game has completely changed, it's a different game today compared to the one I played," notes a resigned but not despondent Nicklaus, who turned pro in 1961. "And when it comes to designing courses these days, I have no choice but to consider modern equipment. I'm not the one making the rules, I'm just trying to play by them."
Nicklaus is like so many other prominent players, past and present, who don't conceal their disappointment at the direction the game has taken. From a playing standpoint, he says today's "power game" is all about booming drives in excess of 300 yards and retrieving the situation from anywhere with a 60-degree wedge. Players no longer possess the finesse shown by Trevino or Ballesteros, whose imagination and golf equipment allowed them shape shots and invent plays around the green. To witness these guys in full flow was pure entertainment too.
"Excuse the phrase but this is completely ridiculous," says an animated Nicklaus, "I mean the ball doesn't curve anymore, you just pound it and it goes a long way. If it goes in the rough, so what, you just take the 60-degrees with square grooves, pound it out and still make the ball spin on the green from 120 yards out. That's simply ridiculous, we were never able to spin the ball like that. And you shouldn't be able to either, that's why rough is there in the first place - to penalise wayward shots."
Two of the leading lights in the modern game, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, have also felt compelled to speak out on this matter in recent years. During the 2004 Open at Troon it was suggested the skill element of the game had been diluted as modern equipment made up for technical shortfalls. The best player didn't necessarily win, rather the player who holed most putts.
Nicklaus is pragmatic enough to realise the way the game is now played is not the fault of today's stars of the fairways. "You can't blame the kids (tour players) who play today for they all grew up with this modern equipment. The problem is they have never been asked to use the equipment we used to play with so they don't know how difficult shot-making was. Their shot-making is made easier because of equipment. It's not their fault, I can't criticise the kids for it, you have to criticise the people who allowed it to happen to the game."
Nicklaus is not such a dinosaur as to suggest the clocks be turned back. "It's not like we're going to return to wooden shafts or anything like that," laughs the Ohio native, who now resides in Palm Beach, Florida. "Can you hear the kids today say 'yeah, we're going back to wooden drivers, forged irons and V-grooves'? Players today have never played that type of golf, it would be a totally alien to them."
"Similarly, it would be pretty stubborn of me to compete in an event today and say 'I'm not going to play that modern equipment, I'll stick with a steel shaft, wooden driver and a wound golf ball'. If we're playing a 7,000-yard-plus course, the guys would drub me because that type of equipment simply doesn't suit anymore, it's obsolete.
"I need to do what everyone else is doing because that's what the equipment is today, that's the game of today. The issue I have is with all the old courses which are now obsolete."
And therein lies the rub. There's not a single thing he can do about the changes. "The game is what it is and you've gotta use what you've got," says Nicklaus, who noted the average driving distance was 274.3 yards in 1980 compared to a record high of 319.6 yards on the PGA Tour last year.
"They (R&A and USGA - golf's two governing bodies) don't ask too many opinions of the guys on tour. They certainly know my opinion, I've given it enough times. And I'm not the only one, most of the top players share the same feeling. Even the guys playing today say the ball goes a ridiculous distance.
"The problem now is we've got up to 30,000 golf courses worldwide which are obsolete to the pro and I don't think that's right. Equipment has caused that to be, more specifically the golf ball, nothing else.
"My philosophy is you should really be designing courses with members in mind," notes Nicklaus, who has designed courses in over 30 countries and is working on his latest project in Cape Verde. "If you stage a professional tournament, that's fine for one week but the members are the ones who are going to play a course the other 51 weeks of the year."
It had been suggested Nicklaus' Cape Verde design, which will become the signature course in a £628 million resort created by Edinburgh-based developers FM Group on the Salamansa coastline, would measure over 8,000 yards when finished. A figure he simply laughs off.
Closer to home, Nicklaus wouldn't be drawn on developments at St Patrick's Golf Links, a project he was asked to design in Carrigart, Co Donegal, which has endured financial difficulties. "That project is on hold right now. There's not a whole lot more to tell. We started on four or five holes but when it's on hold you're not designing anything."
This is from the designer responsible for the immaculate Mount Juliet course in Thomastown, and who is also busy with Killeen Castle Golf Resort in Meath where the 2011 Solheim Cup will be staged.
"I don't think the average golfer has improved that much over the years and that's why I believe a course in the 6,500-yard range is still a good challenge, especially for a resort course."
This brings Nicklaus to another key point in the equipment debate for he believes the governing bodies have got it wrong regarding club specifications, which in turn has allowed the manufacturers to do a disservice to the golfing public.
"The average player can't play with high-tech equipment anyway," he suggests. "They don't have the necessary club head speed to play the equipment as intended but the professional obviously does. Really, we should have separated the pro from the average golfer but that's exactly the opposite of what the R&A and the USGA are trying to accomplish.
"The governing bodies could have gone 180 degrees in the opposite direction because the golf ball and club head speed allows pros and better players to hit it longer than they've ever hit it, whereas the average player doesn't have the club head speed, or skill, to utilise modern equipment, so the parameters grow further and further apart and that's not good for the game."
It must be stated, the overall perception here is not one of doom and gloom. Sure, too many courses have become virtually redundant against the professional game and modern equipment has changed the nature of play but Nicklaus is not the only one who offers what appears to be a very simple solution.
"The whole thing really boils down to how far should the golf ball go? The first action should be to restrict how far the ball travels. As it stands the club head is restricted to a 460cc and 48 inches in shaft length plus the rules on grooves.
"Really, the only thing in common (from old and new) is the golf ball. If that's the case why not ensure the ball travels 10 or 15 per cent less, or whatever number that might be. I guess that would take the top guys little over an hour to get used to and therefore cause little or no upheaval to the game.
"All said, it's a different game today and that's fine. But if the distance capacity of the ball was reduced it would bring all the obsolete courses back into play and that's my real issue here."
It's easy to see what makes Nicklaus tick for his points are delivered as an unashamed traditionalist. It was no accident he hung up his clubs for good at the 2005 Open at the home of golf in St Andrews. "I'm a traditionalist. To finish my career at St Andrews was a distinct pleasure, I loved it and I planned it that way on purpose. I couldn't think of a better place to do it.
"Stepping away from the game wasn't a very hard decision to make. My abilities disappeared, and looking back, maybe I should have stepped away long before 2005 except the R&A were kind enough to let me finish at St Andrews," said Nicklaus.
"It's not hard to step away from something you can't do anymore. I love competition and golf was my vehicle to competition. When I no longer had that vehicle it ceased to be fun."
This is from the man who took over the mantle from the game's first real superstar, Arnold Palmer. This is from the man who not only won a record 18 majors but was also runner-up in 19 others. Those of a certain vintage, for example, will recall the infamous "Duel in the Sun" when Nicklaus was denied by his prodigy in waiting Tom Watson in the 1977 Open at Turnberry. Nicklaus shot 65, 66 in the final two rounds compared to Watson's 65, 65 in the head-to-head battle. Too many great memories to recall here.
Nicklaus confesses he rarely sits down to watch a tournament on TV these days but there was an exception. "I did watch Tiger's last round of the Open at Hoylake last year. I saw the first few holes then got sucked in. He played as fine a finishing round in a major as I have ever seen," he said referring to a performance which saw the American only use the driver once during all four rounds.
He is also looking forward to this year's British Open as it returns to Carnoustie for the first time since 1999. "I like Carnoustie a lot. It's the most difficult venue of any major championship we played. Period. Frankly, I liked the way it was set up last time. Was it severe? Yes. But I think it needed to be, you have to be able to harness the driver in some way, pull it back and make them (pros) play golf as it once was.
"In any case, when I hear golfers say this course or that course doesn't suit my game, I think that's the biggest load of rubbish. I thought you were supposed to suit your golf game to the course, not the course to your game. Otherwise, why would we play different courses?"
Thought-provoking sentiments from the most prolific winner and most successful player the game has ever seen.
Factfile
Name: Jack William Nicklaus.
Born: January 21st, 1940, Columbus, Ohio.
Residence: North Palm Beach, Florida.
Turned pro: 1961.
Nickname: The Golden Bear (named after the school mascot at Upper Arlington HS).
Professional wins112
PGA Tour73
Other21
Champions Tour10
Other senior8
Major wins: 18
US Masters: 6 (1963, 65, 66, 72, 75, 86)
US PGA: 5 (1963, 71, 73, 75, 80)
US Open: 4 (1962, 67, 72, 80)
The Open: 3 (1966, 70, 78)
PGA money winner: 1964, 65, 67, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76.
PGA Player of Year: 1967, 72, 73, 75, 76.
Favourites
Last round of golf: Pebble Beach.
Favourite places in golf: St Andrews and Augusta.
Favourite from design standpoint: Pinehurst.
The Power Game
2007 major Venues
Masters(Augusta): 7,445 yards
US Open(Oakmont): 7,230 yards
The Open(Carnoustie): 7,112 yards
US PGA(Southern Hills): 7,131 yards
PGA Tour Driving Distances
2006: 319.6 yards (1st Bubba Watson)
2005: 318.9 (Scott Hend)
2004: 314.4 (Hank Kuehne)
2003: 321.4 (Hank Kuehne)
2002: 306.8 (John Daly)
2001: 306.7 (John Daly)
2000: 301.4 (John Daly)
1999: 305.6 (John Daly)
1998: 299.4 (John Daly)
1995: 289.0 (John Daly)
1990: 279.6 (Tom Purtzer)
1985: 278.2 (Andy Bean)
1980: 274.3 (Dan Pohl)
European Tour Driving Distances
2006: 314.1 (1st Christian Nilsson)
2005: 306.5 (Angel Cabrera)
2004: 313.6 (Ricardo Gonzalez)
2003: 316.7 (Titch Moore)
2002: 304.9 (Emanuele Canonica)
