Golf Isn't Something We Need To Solve

With big data being used in all walks of life, including golf, sometimes the simple eye test is all you need to really know how much things have changed

Ryan Barath

These days, it feels like every part of golf has a "correct" answer. We can quantify just about everything—from how we swing the club to how the ball flies through the air. Collecting and understanding that data is incredibly valuable, but it also raises a question: what if not everything in golf needs to be solved?

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Collecting and understanding data is helpful, but in many cases, we don't need graphs and spreadsheets to analyze something that is so obviously happening, especially when it comes to the artistic endeavors that golf once relied on.

Across sports, data, analytics, and equipment have reshaped the way games are played. At the professional level especially, strategy has increasingly become an exercise in optimization. But while the numbers have changed how we play, I'm not convinced they should always dictate how we experience the game.

But what if sports aren't meant to be solved?

As humans, we are programmed to solve problems, but we are also gifted with the unique ability to be creative in thought and in play.

What if sports are meant to be played creatively rather than exist as something to be optimized?

For example, we don't need launch monitor data and ShotLink to recognize that with the help of modern drivers, lightweight shafts, and solid core golf balls (plus some fitness thrown in for good measure), the golf ball travels an incredible distance at the highest level. It also doesn't curve as much.

Even when you factor in how lofts have changed, holes like the 18th at Riveria, which used to be approached with hybrids and fairway woods, are now attacked with high-flying wedges.

This is where the artistry of play comes in. Just because a shot calls for a specific distance doesn't mean you need to use a specific club - nobody exemplifies this more than social media star Mac Boucher, who is known for his creative shot making and interesting club selections to get around a golf course.

A final score doesn't always need to be how we judge a round of golf, instead it should simply be a measured result for partaking in the creative process. Would you rather have the memory of a particular score—or of a shot that you wanted to try and pulled off?

To be clear, there is no right or wrong answer here. Every individual has a different measure of success, and an idea of how that want to play the game.

Similar things have happened in sports like tennis and basketball.

Now once again, player dynamics, fitness and equipment have had a severe impact on the game (not saying for better or worse) but, to the point where the entire strategy has shifted. Tennis, much like golf has become a game where power plays a huge factor in success. Big serves have become similar to big drives - they offer a very distinct advantage and are partially made possible thanks to modern lightweight rackets.

And, in basketball, shooting 3-pointers has gone from being a specialty to a team requirement.

The difference between tennis, basketball, and golf is that in tennis and basketball, the opponents are humans of generally close to equal skill, where as in golf, the only opponents are obstacles on the course and the elements which are constantly changing.

There Is No Right Or Wrong Here

What I believe gets lost in a discussion like this is the desire to be right when picking a side. Is the game better now than it used to be? Is it less creative and less artistic? Should you always worry about score?

For data geeks and stats nerds, the human condition for solving a problem outweighs the desire to think in a non-linear fashion (sidebar, I utilize stats for a lot of my own golf). Where, on the other end of the spectrum, others see golf as less of a thing to beat and instead as a medium. A club is the brush, the ball is the paint, and the course is the blank canvas ready to receive creative energy.

We don't use data to assess what our minds find attractive in a painting or piece of art, and I don't think we need data to always tell us how to play golf either.

At the highest level of professional golf, winning is measured and valued at an extremely high level, and with the large scale commerce involved in the sport, I don't see the desire shifting beyond ever trying to solve the unsolvable problem. But for the rest of us, there's nothing wrong with trying to think a little more creatively, a little more often.

Professional golf will likely keep chasing every measurable advantage, and that's understandable. Millions of dollars are on the line. The rest of us have the luxury of playing for something different. We can hit the shot that looks fun. We can experiment...even, play. We can fail trying something we've never tried before. Because for most golfers, the point isn't to solve golf—it's to experience it.

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