Vickers: New balls killing the game/ Castle Pines founder vows to put

CASTLE ROCK - Castle Pines Golf Club founder Jack Vickers took a full swing Wednesday at the golf balls PGA Tour players now use, blasting the new technology and claiming the balls are "killing the game of golf."

"I'm very upset about the golf ball and what it's doing to golf, I think it's a major concern," Vickers said. "Somebody is always coming out with a better ball or a better piece of equipment to knock it farther. You have a hard time thinking where you see a 3-shot par 5 anymore. It's become a 7-club game instead of a 14-club game, particularly with the pros. They are hitting drivers and wedges. I think that's kind of pathetic.

"Every other sport, everybody plays the same ball. This is like saying in football, 'We are going to widen the damn goal post another 40 feet and we are going to make a football that you can kick 100 yards.' I think it's taken a lot away from the golf and I don't blame the pros. I don't blame the Tour. I'm upset with the United States Golf Association because they are the governing body that make these rules."

Vickers, who founded The International in 1986, said he had spoken with several players who agreed with his position, but several, asked for comment Wednesday, did not.

"This has been a hot topic that's been talked about quite a bit lately," two-time The International champion Phil Mickelson said. "The golf ball in 1975 comes off the face at the same speed it does now. It's not any hotter. Certainly it goes farther because we are optimizing launch conditions and spin rates. We have golf balls today, like the Pro V1x, that launch and soar through the air much better.

"I don't feel that I should have to play a set of clubs that are a half-inch short or a driver that's 43 inches long, when I'm taller and need a 45-inch shaft driver. That's the same with a golf ball. I don't feel I should have to play a high-spinning golf ball and adjust my swing to accommodate it."

Vickers cited several holes at Castle Pines he believes have lost some of their bite due to the length players now have. But Davis Love III, ranked in the top-20 on the PGA Tour this season in driving distance with a 295.4-yard average, said there are at least two holes on the course that are currently out of his reach.

"I can't get to (hole) 8 anymore, I can't get to 14 anymore," Love said of the 535-yard and 623-yard holes. "I would be against (restricting the ball)."

Rich Beem, defending champion at The International, believes that low scores, or as is the case this week, lots of points, are good for the game.

"People want excitement, fans want to see birdies," Beem said. "Do fans want to see The International won with 12 points or do they want to see it won by 50 points? I think more towards 50."

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