This week marks the second year anniversary of publishing the Tour Backspin newsletter and I couldn’t be more grateful to you, the reader, for accompanying me on this journey. We look forward to continuing our historical coverage of PGA TOUR events and the personalities that make up the colorful stories from the past. Merry Christmas!
We have a lot in store for you in this coming year, including our second season of The Tour Backspin Show podcast. If you need a last minute gift idea, why not gift a paid subscription to Tour Backspin? A paid subscription gets you early access to The Tour Backspin Show, discounts on merchandise in the Tour Backspin Store, and helps provide support for what we do.
It was a blast watching the fun at the PNC. Just love the family dynamic. We’re continuing to do some features while we wait for the TOUR to return for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. We’ll return with our historical tournament coverage then.
This week, see how predictions from 1979 on what golf would look like in 2001 played out. Let’s have some fun in the comments section and add your predictions for the future of golf in 2043. Here’s mine—computer chips in balls that will provide launch monitor-type shot feedback and help you find a lost ball. The USGA will be forced to change the rule to help find lost balls due to concerns about the environment.
We love to get feedback! Let us know what you think about Tour Backspin and the stories we tell. Email me at larry@tourbackspin.com, or let me know in the comments.
Listen to The Tour Backspin Show podcast HERE or on Spotify, or on Amazon Music and Apple Podcast.
Congratulations to Chip Oat for correctly answering last week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT? The featured hole was #5 at Pine Valley Golf Club in Pine Valley, NJ. Chip beat out seven other correct answers. We have one more week of WHAT HOLE IS IT? for this year. We’ll reset the leader board for the Sentry Tournament of Champions the first week of 2023. Thanks all for playing! Scroll down for your chance to win in this week’s WHAT HOLE IS IT?
It’s Christmas time! Golf presents under the tree. Scroll down to see this week’s vintage ad to learn more.
We’re playing Three Headlines and a Lie this week in the Tour Backspin Quiz. Scroll down to play.
Did you miss a previous newsletter? You can view it HERE. Forward this email to a friend. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up HERE.
Okay, we're on the tee, let's get going.
Looking Into the Crystal Ball to Predict the Future of Golf
It is sometime in the Spring of 1979 and the March issue of Golf Digest arrives in subscriber’s mailboxes—actual physical mailboxes. Dr. Gary Wiren, the director of club and professional relations for the PGA, authored an article for that March issue titled "Golf in 2001” and predicts some of the possible developments in the game of golf. Let’s add another 21+ years to the period that Dr. Wren peered into and see how he did with his predictions.
The Good
A lot of Dr. Wiren’s predictions were spot on. Here are a few of them:
“The professional will be able to give you lessons by video phone.” Correct, except we call it a smartphone.
“The golf ball with a center wrapped with rubber thread will become a thing of the past.”
“Golf clubs will use a national handicap service. If you go play in Kansas City, 1,500 miles from your home, you’ll still have access to a computer there so you can punch in an identification number and your record will come up on the screen displaying your last 10 scores, where you played—the works.” Yup, again the only difference is we do this on our smartphones.
“The growth in junior golf will result in vast improvement in equipment for youngsters.” The equipment available to juniors now is nothing short of remarkable when you consider what we played with growing up.
“The golf ball with a center wrapped with rubber thread will become a thing of the past.” As will be the fun of cutting a ball open and unwrapping all those rubber threads and playing with the miniature superball inside.
“The visual instruction market will boom. You literally will be able to learn anything you want on your TV at home, from speaking German to playing a bunker shot from a downhill lie.” Just add computer and smartphone to the TV and this prediction is correct.
The Bad
Dr. Wiren was so close with these predictions:
“There are going to be computer-programmed learning aids to help correct errors in your swing. You’ll punch in ‘slice’ on the mini-computer keyboard, and it will start asking questions. When you answer, it will respond with a comment that reads, ‘Try such and such.” Close, Dr. Wiren. What we have instead is an algorithm that will suggest a YouTube video that will not suggest something to try but will visually show you something to try.
“Clubs and balls will be more specialized for individual players.”
“Solar power will be a part of the golf car future in the form of solar-paneled car barns. Batteries also are going to change dramatically. For instance, Bell Laboratories has a new battery that functions just the opposite of conventional batteries. The more corrosion this new battery gets on it, the more efficiently it operates; the corrosion produces a better electric charge.” We’re getting there on the solar power, but Dr. Wiren missed the target with batteries. Lithium batteries are the wave of the future. Bell Laboratories is now known as Nokia Bell Labs and is focused on telecommunication and information technology, not batteries.
“Clubs and balls will be more specialized for individual players. There will be far more custom clubs made by the home pro, as they were in the old days when they were built specifically for a certain person.” The home pro can fit you into custom clubs and may be able to dial in the fit making the correct adjustments on adjustable clubs, but they aren’t returning to the days of making you a set of clubs in the backroom.
“The personalizing of clubs will become commonplace. But you’ll also be able to have your profile or picture appearing [on your clubs].” While you can go crazy with stampings on your custom clubs, especially wedges and putters, I don’t think we’ll be seeing pictures on clubs anytime soon. Not because the technology is not up to the task, but more that you’ll be reluctant to take the ribbing from your playing partners should you put your selfie on the crown of your driver.
The Ugly
Dr. Wiren whiffed on these predictions:
“Balls will also be constructed to enable the game to be played on 30 or 40 acres, instead of the standard 150 or 160.” No, these balls would be used on driving ranges that don’t have the acreage for standard balls and they will become known as “limited-flight” balls. But as far as courses designed for these balls, it hasn’t happened.
“The metric system eventually will become the measuring standard for all golfers and will also play a part in the language revolution.”
“In the area of course maintenance there will be nonchemical control of weeds, which will eliminate the pesticide problem. Furthermore, new ways to accelerate the growth of trees will enable courses without a great natural setting to mature much earlier.” Ouch. This one misses the mark on so many points. I still see the “chemicals applied today” warning sign on the first and tenth tees at my club. Pesticides are still in use. Many courses are removing trees and, these days, golf course sites are not chosen if they don’t have a great natural setting.
“The metric system eventually will become the measuring standard for all golfers and will also play a part in the language revolution.” Nope, nope, nope. At least not in America and I don’t see us changing anytime soon. We’re too stubborn in this regard.
“For the riders, who will remain in the majority, we’ll have the jet cart, which will glide on an air stream over the ground, rather than on it. This will cause less damage to the turf, thus making maintenance easier, and will take the jolts out of riding.” Only if you’re Bubba Watson. Stop fooling around developing golf scooters and golf CycleBoards and get on this jet cart right away. I was promised a jet cart!
Learn more about Dr. Wiren in our Bonus story.
We’ve got 18 Christmas songs for golfers in this week’s playlist. Listen HERE.
Please help us grow by forwarding this email to a friend who would enjoy it. Thanks.
Enjoy!
Larry Baush
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
Tour Backspin Playlist
Thanks for reading! Please let your family, friends and colleagues know they
can sign up for email delivery of this free newsletter through this link.
Bonus Story
I have great respect for Dr. Wiren, and others like him, who can peer into the future and predict what life will be like 20 or 30 years from now. Just think about putting yourself out on the line like that. Especially if some schlub, some geek who loves digging around old golf magazines, and stumbles on your predictions, only to throw shade on them. Well at least some of them, anyway.
Dr. Wiren served in his position as Director of Education, Learning and Research for the PGA of America between 1972 and 1985 and produced the “Laws, Principles, and Preferences” of swing instruction.
Dr. Wiren is a member of both the PGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Teachers’ Hall of Fame. As an author, he has written fourteen books.
As the March 1979 issue of Golf Digest illustrated, he could also see into the future pretty darn well.
WHAT HOLE IS IT?
Are you on the leader board?
Tour Backspin Quiz |Three Headlines and a Lie
Pro Golf Needs Its Own Rules
Dave Hill Ticketed in Car Won at the Buick Open
Getting High in the Canadian Rockies
Scrambling Is How I Live
Answers below
Pro Pointer
Blind Shot
Click for something fun. 👀
You can get a cool, daily dose of golf history at Your Golfer’s Almanac podcast. This short podcast provides interesting nuggets from the history of golf. Check it out HERE.
Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Frank Beard, Golf Digest, March 1979
We made up the one about Dave Hill.
Golf Traveler, Stephen Birnbaum, Golf Magazine, July 1975
Tom Kite, Golf Magazine, July 1975