Retired South African golfer Gary Player is widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Recently, he has been a strong critical voice against the developing technology in golf.
He appeared on Graham Bensinger’s YouTube channel five years ago where he answered questions about his criticism of technology. Player said that these new technologies were fine for non-professional golfers, as they need to like the sport:
“Well we need technology amongst the amateurs, the weekend golfers, there should be no limit with them. Let them use what they like because these are the people we (are) enticing to play the game of golf. And rounds are going down now we come out of the ball that goes 50 yards further than when I played and 80 yards further than when Bobby Jones played.”
Gary Player wondered what would have happened if Jack Niklaus and Bubba Watson were to play together in their prime. He then talked about his main point, which was the exorbitant spending on renovating golf courses.
“You put Jack Niklaus and Bubba Watson together in their prime. Same distance, same club, same ball. So now all these clubs are changing. … do you know how much money the world has spent on changing their golf courses in the last 20 years? Oh hundreds and millions of dollars.”
“Cut the ball back for the pros” – Gary Player
