Drew Holcomb retweetledi
In men's professional golf, we have seen a wave of dominant youth talent. Every week a new young "star" is born. It's made me wonder, does experience matter anymore in golf?
At the Open, the elements and Royal Troon created a test that examined every conceivable shot in the bag and players without a wide range of shots struggled, notably young players.
The best finish for a player under 25 was t19, Daniel Hillier, who talked about growing up in the windy part of New Zealand. The next best was MK Kim at t31. The top ten of the tournament was by far the oldest in average age of the four majors, I would venture to guess due to the unique nature of the test which required supreme shotmaking and creativity.
We need more tournaments that examine things beyond how far you can hit it and how well you wedge it. The best way to achieve this is through quality golf architecture and natural elements like weather, firm turf and topography. Venues matter and those that possess some of these attributes create the most compelling television.
Seeing shot shapes, trajectories, course management skills and experience valued rather than who can hit the most high launching bombs was delightful. I hope the future of men's pro golf values this type of a test and less golf like what we see week in and week out on the PGA Tour.
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