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I know what you're thinking — this looks like any other golf ball.
我知道你在想什么，看起来和其他高尔夫球并没什么两样嘛。
But not when you look on the inside.
但看看球里面你就不会这么想了。
So, for about 100 years before the Pro V1, the standard golf ball had been a "wound ball."
在Pro V1问世前的大约100年里，标准的高尔夫球都是“编织球”。
The inside is a rubber band, wound around a core, and sometimes filled with liquid,
球的内部是被橡皮筋缠绕起来的球核，有时还会往里面注满液体，
which you can see if you cut one open, like golfer Rick Shiels.
像高尔夫球手里克·谢尔斯那样把球剪开你就能看见里面的液体。
But cutting open a Pro V1, you can see what makes this ball different.
但剪开Pro V1之后，你就会发现这个球与众不同的原因。
It's the solid, multi-layered core.
它里面是实心的，而且有很多层。
Before the Pro V1 and balls like it, players had to choose:
在Pro V1和与它类似的球出现之前，球员们都要在
between a solid-core ball that's good for distance, or a wound ball that's better for accuracy.
有益于飞行距离的实心球和有益于精度的编织球之间做选择。
But a multi-layered ball can do both.
然而，多层内核的球可以同时做到这两点。
Its rigid core helps it fly far for distance,
坚实的内核能够帮助球飞得更远，
and the flexible outer layers allow a golfer to control spin when hitting closer to the hole.
柔韧的外层则可以让高尔夫球手在近距离击球时控制球的旋转。
Before 2000, nearly all players hit wound balls.
在2000年以前，几乎所有的球员打的都是编织球。
But afterwards, nearly all pro players in the US Open had switched to hitting solid multi-layer balls like the Pro V1.
2000年之后，参加美职赛的选手几乎全部换成了Pro V1那样的多层实心球。
And that year was the year that the average driving distance shot up six yards.
就是在那一年，平均开球距离上涨了6码。
Unusual and concerning is how a 2017 report described the rise in driving distance for professional players.
2017年的一份报告这样描述职业球员开球距离的增长：“不同寻常并且值得关注”。
Hitting the ball too far means golfers can fly the ball over obstacles designed to make the game difficult.
击球过远意味着高尔夫球手们可以让球直接飞过那些用来增加比赛难度的障碍物。
And that's making some courses obsolete.
这样一来，某些球场就过时了。
Especially older ones, like Oakmont Country Club, where holes designed in another era are being overpowered by modern players.
尤其是奥克蒙特乡村俱乐部那样的老俱乐部，那个年代设计的那些球洞已经被当下这个年代的球员们征服了。
Now, officials are considering what they can do to limit distance.
现在，官员们正在考虑如何限制球员们的开球距离。
Making golf balls bigger would increase drag, and a heavier ball would fall out of the air more quickly.
增加球的体积能够增加阻力，增加重量则能让球更快落地。
But adjusting dimpling, or rolling back innovations that made the Pro V1 successful, like layering and materials,
但调整球表面上的酒窝，或重新采纳推动Pro V1成功的分层和材质等因素之前的设计，
could also reduce the flight of golf balls, and solve the problem.
也可以缩短球的飞行距离并解决这一问题。
However, not everyone's happy about this idea.
然而，并不是每个人都喜欢这种想法。
"We own our manufacturing process, we own our technology, and we own our responsibility to the end-user."
“我们自己的制造流程归我们自己所有，我们自己的技术也归我们自己所有，我们对终端用户也是有责任的。”
As this epic marketing video shows, Titleist invests a lot in making golf balls.
正如这个史诗级别的营销视频显示的那样，Titleist在生产高尔夫球上是投入了大量资金的。
And for ball manufacturers, any little change to production would cost them a lot of money.
而对于高尔夫球制造商来说，任何微小的生产变化都会耗费不少钱。
But they probably shouldn't be too worried.
但或许他们不用太担心。
The truth is, golf has been having a version of this debate for nearly a hundred years,
事实上，关于这一问题的讨论已经有近百年的历史了，
and nothing's been settled yet.
而且一直都没讨论出个结果。
Debating the flight of the ball started a long time ago, with people asking "does it go too far?" as far back as 1936.
关于球的飞行距离的争论很久以前就开始了，早在1936年就有人问：“是不是飞得太远了？”
And in the end, maybe it just doesn't even matter.
说到底，这个问题也许根本就不重要。
Remember the 13th hole at Augusta? That got fixed.
还记得奥古斯塔俱乐部的第13洞吗？这个洞的问题已经解决了。
The club just bought the land behind the tee box, in order to pull it back, and make it farther to hit a drive over the corner.
俱乐部刚刚买下了球座后面的那块地，将开球位置拉得更远了，这样一来，不管你用什么球，
No matter what kind of ball you use.
你都得打更远的距离才能打到第13洞的那个角落了。
