Arthur:
Golf has some pretty intense restrictions and is getting more and more popular all the time. Why aren' t you guys accusing them of not keeping up with the times?
WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?!
But that is actually a great commentary on why P&Y is acting like a bunch of blockheads who want the " old days" to come back.
But first, with regard to golf...
Golf is probably
the most lenient with regard to letting technological advances into the sport. We have gone from wound balls that did not even used to be perfectly round a few years ago (Ben Hogan told a story of having to find round ones in a box of a dozen). We had no synthetic materials, no titanium covers with liquid cores. A wood was just that...WOOD...not oversized titanium. No graphite shafts, no weighting of drivers so that the center of gravity was lower allowing for a higher, longer shot, no perimeter-weighted irons so that shots hit off center can travel a long ways down the fairway, no long putters, no mallet putters....need I go on? Oh, that' s right. They still don' t allow tour players to wear shorts! Now THERE is a rule maintaining the sanctity of golf! A recent article in golf digest pointed out that most tour pros now hit drives AN AVERAGE of 23 yards longer than a few years ago: Vjay Singh hits his about 28 yards longer, Nick Price about 25 yards longer, just to name a couple mentioned in the article. The reason? 90% of it due to technology getting better!
As far as " intense regulations" ...well...if you call that intense, then I propose that P&Y get just as " intense" . You' re right, Arthur, golf is getting " more and more popular" because they don' t enact a bunch of silly rules about equipment to make things harder. Now a lot of people who would have given up on the sport because they aren' t blessed with super hand/eye coordination are able to play a decent round of golf due to forgiving equipment, instead of being frustrated. THAT is why the sport is getting more popular! If P&Y ran the PGA, I' m sure we sould not have ever seen Big Bertha drivers, or any other big-faced club. Perimeter weighting? Hmmm! Sounds like a crossbow...oops! ...I mean, unsporting.
And I' m sure had the PGA acted that way, golf would NOT be as popular as it is today.
Mahly13:
Would it be ethical to tell people you can' t use sights? A release? aluminum or carbon arrows? Do we REALLY want the average hunter out there trying to shoot like that? NO! then why can' t those who CHOOSE to shoot 80% be in " The book" as well?
Bingo!!! So where are the defenders of " fair chase" at P&Y on those issues?
Bowdacious, you put it best:
I am very grateful for the Pope and Young Club, and the fine job it has done over the years preserving and recording world class animals, so we can all admire and aspire. I hope their commitment to ethics in hunting will override their stubborness to hold on to the past.......