worth reading The Long Good-Bye?

You can add another name to the list of people complaining about today's ever-longer golf courses -- and it comes all the way from the Czech Republic.

It's Rick Woelfel, who begins a recent opinion piece on the state of the game by saying, If the course setup for the just-concluded PGA Championship was indicative of where golf course design is headed, there are some dark clouds on the horizon.

The course, at Atlanta Athletic Club, played to 7,467 yards -- way too long for Woelfel's tastes. Below is an abridged version of his commentary. It was originally posted at ExeGolf.com, a “community portal” operated by the European Society YOOP SE.

Our concern is that in an unceasing effort to protect against the skills of today’s touring professionals, golf course architects and tournament administrators have set a trend which has resulted in courses becoming increasingly difficult, perhaps too difficult, for the average golfer.

In recent years, the courses that the PGA Tour plays have gotten increasingly longer; they are now well over 7,000 yards in most cases. No one is suggesting that recreational players tackle a course of that length; something between 6,300 to 6,500 yards is plenty long enough for most amateurs. A case could be made that many people should tee it up closer, to an even 6,000 yards, which allow them a legitimate chance to reach most par fours in two or reach the bend in a dogleg without driving the ball 270 yards-plus.

The problem is that as tour courses get longer, architects and greens committees feel compelled to make their own facilities play increasingly longer and harder. In the end, this creates a situation that becomes increasingly frustrating for the average player. At a time when the number of golfers has leveled off and when the industry claims to be focused on “growing the game,” the powers that be must take extra care not to drive golfers away from the game by presenting them with playing conditions that are overwhelming. . . .

If the game is to continue to thrive and survive, architects must remember that not everyone who plays their courses is a single-digit handicapper. The game will be better for it.