After years of research, the USGA and R&A are ready to start reducing distance — and they are going after the golf ball.
Eighty-three players on the PGA Tour average 300 yards or more off the tee this season, but the days of Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Tony Finau and the like vaporizing drives and humbling par 5s may be numbered.
After three years of research, listening to comments from manufacturers and requesting feedback from stakeholders, the U.S. Golf Association and the R&A are ready to start reducing distance at the game’s elite levels, and they are going after the golf ball to do it.
On Monday, golf’s governing bodies sent letters to equipment companies to announce a proposed Model Local Rule that would allow tournament organizers to require players to use golf balls that were tested under modified Actual Launch Conditions (ALC) to reduce distance. The primary goal of the Model Local Rule would be to reduce distance at the highest levels of men’s golf — with the USGA and R&A anticipating a reduction in driver distance of 14-15 yards for the longest hitters and golfers with the highest swing speeds — while not changing equipment rules that govern recreational players.
The game’s governing bodies plan to reduce distance at elite levels by altering the tests that must be passed for any ball to be deemed conforming to the rules. By increasing robotic testing speeds and altering other test parameters, the governing bodies effectively will require a slower, shorter golf ball to comply with the Model Local Rule. It will then be up to any event or tour to adopt the Model Local Rule.
“Hitting distances at the elite level of the game have consistently increased over the past 20, 40 and 60 years. It’s been two decades since we last revisited our testing standards for ball distances,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. “Predictable, continued increases will become a significant issue for the next generation if not addressed soon. The Model Local Rule we are proposing is simple to implement, forward-looking and does so without any impact on the recreational game. We are taking the next steps in this process, guided first and foremost by doing what’s right by the entire game.”
The deadline for manufacturers, industry insiders and stakeholders to send feedback was Sept. 2.
Sunday marked the end of the first LIV Golf season, and whether you are a fan of the upstart tour or not, there’s no denying player defections, the massive payouts that LIV golfers have received and Greg Norman’s squabbles with the Official World Golf Ranking system were big storylines in 2022. Looking ahead, the continuing saga of LIV Golf will assuredly be a huge part of the golf narrative in 2023, too, but it might be eclipsed early in the season by news coming from Far Hills, New Jersey, and St. Andrews, Scotland.
The USGA and the R&A, the governing bodies of golf, proclaimed that they feel distance is a problem for the game in February 2020, and since that time, they have slowly and methodically been studying equipment testing methods, equipment designs and different aspects of the game to come up with a solution.
The deadline for manufacturers, industry insiders and stakeholders to send the USGA and R&A feedback, information and research was Sept. 2. Now, with the holidays approaching and just two months remaining in 2022, the USGA and R&A are reviewing submissions and developing concepts they could announce soon to reduce distance.
Here is where we are in the distance debate, what we know and what we don’t know:
BROOKLINE, Mass. — As is tradition, several top officials with the United States Golf Association addressed the media on the Wednesday before the start of the U.S. Open. Stuart Francis, the president of the USGA, Mike Whan, the organization’s CEO and John Bodenhamer, the senior managing director of championships, proudly talked about bringing the country’s national championship back to The Country Club for the first time since 1988.
“This Open almost didn’t happen, and there’s a number of stories behind that,” Bodenhamer said. “Prior to 2013 and the U.S. Amateur here, we didn’t think we could conduct a U.S. Open here. The footprint was small. It was in a residential community. There were just too many hurdles to overcome, but conducting the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in 2013 changed our perspective. When we came here for the Amateur in 2013, we thought coming back to Brookline was possible.”
Several topics were addressed, along with USGA initiatives and programs, as well as the subject that has dominated the headlines this week, the LIV Golf Series. Here are the five takeaways.
“You know Augusta National is going to be the real linchpin when it comes to distance, don’t you?”
I heard that sentence, or at least a version of it, several times during conversations with equipment makers after the U.S. Golf Association and R&A announced they wanted to explore new Model Local Rules that could reduce distance at the elite levels. Those two organizations want to potentially modify how they test golf balls too.
The USGA and the R&A are the governing bodies of golf. They make the rules, set the equipment standards and oversee the handicap system. They research the sustainability of soil and grasses, report on the environmental impacts of the game, study ways to improve the pace of play and host tournaments worldwide, including the U.S. Open and British Open.
But the Augusta National Golf Club will also play a critical role because its reach has expanded beyond Washington Road and Old Berckmans Road. These days, Augusta National awards invitations to the Masters to the Asian Pacific Amateur Championship and the Latin American Amateur Championship winners, so its influence is felt in those regions. It hosts the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, which has quickly become one of the most coveted amateur titles in golf and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals on the Sunday before the start of the Masters.
The club is also home to the most influential course in the world. With all due respect to the Old Course at St. Andrews, the universally acknowledged home of golf in Scotland, the most influential course in the world is in Georgia. Since Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones transformed Fruitland Nurseries into a golf course that opened in 1932, it has been revered.
Only a privileged few get to play on the holy ground, but tens of millions of people see it every year on TV and think, “Now that is what a great golf course is supposed to look like.” The green fairways are lush and devoid of weeds, the edges of the bunkers are razor-sharp, the flowers explode in color, while the sand is pearly white. Even the new trees look like they have been there for generations.
When it comes to modifying the course and making sure it continues to challenge the game’s best players, whether that means adding length, adding or removing trees, or adjusting the position of fairway bunkers, no obstacle is too great. Augusta National has a state-of-the-art sub air system that can pull water down through the soil and pump it away to make fairways and greens drier, scores of lawnmowers to cut the grass and plenty of fertilizer is used to make the plants, bushes and trees vibrant. Unlike many golf facilities, money is not an issue at Augusta.
So, if there is one course in the world that could afford to keep up with the trend in distance, it’s Augusta National.
Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley speaks during the trophy presentation following the Augusta National Women’s Amateur golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
If the USGA and R&A decide to create Model Local Rules that allow tournaments to mandate players use distance-reducing equipment, they will put those rules into play at events they control, including the U.S. Open and British Open. It would then be up to the tournament committee at Augusta National to decide whether or not to implement the Model Local Rules at the Masters and the PGA of America to decide what to do at the PGA Championship.
If Augusta opted not to implement the distance-reducing Model Local Rules, it would be a potentially mortal blow to the distance debate. But, if you have listened to Augusta National’s chairman, Fred Ridley, over the last year, it sounds like that will not happen.
Before the start of the 2021 Masters, Ridley said, “We have had a long-standing position of supporting the governing bodies. I was very encouraged when I saw the areas of interest that were published by the USGA and R&A [in 2021].” He went on to add, “Growth of the game is a big issue, but our position would be to support the governing bodies, and then if there is no action taken, for whatever reason, then we need to look at other options with regard to our golf course and what we can do to continue to challenge these great golfers and maintain the design integrity that was initially adopted by Mr. Jones and Mr. MacKenzie.”
This year, after discussing the changes to the 11th and 15th holes, Ridley said, “We look forward to further discussions during the comment period this summer, as well as future recommendations and ultimately implementation.”
Ridley won a national championship while playing at the University of Florida in the early 1970s, won the 1975 U.S. Amateur (defeating Curtis Strange and Andy Bean), competed in five majors and played in the Walker Cup in 1977. He was heavily involved with the USGA, served as the USGA’s Championship Committee chairman, and was elected president of the USGA in 2004. People refer to him as “Chairman Ridley ” everywhere he goes around Augusta National Golf Club, but at the USGA offices, he’s Fred.
So, it’s safe to assume that if Augusta National Golf Club is going to play a role in the distance debate and the USGA and R&A decide to create Model Local Rules that could mandate golfers use distance-reducing equipment at an elite tournament, the Masters is going to adopt those Model Local Rules if Fred Ridley has a say in the matter. And as chairman, he’s got the biggest vote of them all.
“Today, for all golfers, represents just another step in our process,” said the USGA’s chief governing officer, Thomas Pagel.
The United States Golf Association and the R&A sent an official notice to equipment manufacturers on Tuesday regarding new Areas of Interest. The three-page message did not include any changes to the Rules of Golf, and it did not announce any changes to the rules governing drivers, golf balls or any other gear either.
What the USGA and R&A’s Areas of Interest email did do, however, is reveal how the game’s governing bodies likely intend to curtail the trend of elite golfers hitting the ball farther and golf courses getting longer.
In February 2020, the USGA and R&A released a joint statement saying hat they feel the trend in distance is putting golf on an unsustainable path. Golf courses have been getting longer, according to the USGA and R&A, to challenge players who hit the ball farther, and maintaining those courses requires more water, fertilizer and labor. Historically significant courses that can not be lengthened also risk becoming obsolete and devoid of challenge for the game’s best players.
On October 12, 2021, a new Model Local Rule was announced, allowing tournament organizers to limit the maximum allowable club length of non-putters to 46 inches. It became available for use on January 1 and will be in place at the 2022 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. It has already been adopted by both the PGA Tour and the LPGA.
Now, the USGA and R&A have told manufacturers they are considering modifying how they test golf balls for conformity. They are also interested in learning more about how Model Local Rules could reduce the spring-like effect in drivers and reduce the maximum moment of inertia (MOI) to reward center-impact shots more for elite golfers.
A critical date in the distance debate just quietly passed. What can we expect next from the USGA and R&A regarding distance?
While many Americans headed to the polls and voted in state and local elections on Tuesday Nov. 2, that day also marked an important point in golf’s distance debate.
Golfers around the world have been waiting for some clarity on what the U.S. Golf Association and the R&A plan to do about distance. Tuesday marked the close of the organizations’ comment period, a time when golf equipment makers, superintendent groups and other industry organizations could submit their ideas and research regarding distance to the USGA and R&A for consideration.
As you might recall, back in February, the game’s governing bodies put out a request for data, opinions and insights to help get a more complete, 360-degree view of distance and how it affects golf. The USGA and R&A announced at that time that they felt the ongoing distance trend, with players hitting the ball farther and golf courses getting long over the past decades, was unsustainable. The folks in Far Hills, New Jersey, and St. Andrews, Scotland, made it clear they intend to stop the trend, but they stopped short of saying precisely what they wanted to do.
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On Oct. 12, golf’s governing bodies announced the creation of a new Model Local Rule that will allow tournaments and event organizers to reduce the maximum length of clubs (aside from putters) down from 48 inches to 46 inches starting in 2022. The PGA Tour and LPGA are taking up the Model Local Rule, and the USGA confirmed that beginning in 2022, it will adopt it as well in all its championships.
Inside the golf world, that announcement was expected, but what comes next is still unknown. Theoretically, the passing of Nov. 2 and the closing of the comment period means the USGA and the R&A have all the data and feedback they will receive from outside sources on distance. Now, they need to start sifting through it, with the goal being to develop a better understanding of precisely what might happen if specific changes are made to equipment, course setups and other aspects of golf.
For golfers around the world, there is nothing to do now but wait. If history is a guide, we will hear something from the USGA and R&A regarding distance in early to mid-February. They have made distance announcements in that period in the past, and there is an unwritten rule among golf’s ruling families that says, “Thou shalt not make news during another group’s time to shine.” In other words, the PGA of America is not going to make announcements around Masters time, and the USGA will avoid dropping important news during the Players Championship.
It is worth remembering that even if we get a major announcement in February, it will not affect you, the recreational golf, for years to come. Remember when the USGA and R&A changed the rules governing grooves? The announcement came in August 2008, and elite golfers had to start using the new-groove wedges beginning in 2010. Manufacturers agreed to stop selling wedges and irons with the older, sharper grooves in 2011, but recreational golfers were still free to play those clubs. In fact, if you still have a pre-2010 groove wedge, you can legally play it until 2024!
So, if you are among the golfers who recently bought new gear and are waiting to get it, the USGA and R&A are not about to outlaw your new driver. The golf balls you buy today, and in the months and years to come, will remain legal.
The USGA and R&A have created a new Model Local Rule, possibly paving the way to bifurcation by another name.
Tuesday’s announcement came as no surprise to the golf industry. We knew this was coming. The USGA and R&A have created a Model Local Rule to give tournament organizers the ability to limit the length of all non-putter golf clubs from 48 inches down to 46 inches starting Jan. 1.
That was the easy one. Now comes the hard part.
The USGA and R&A want to reign in distance because they see a trend of golfers hitting the ball farther and courses having been made longer over the past several decades. The game’s governing bodies see that as unsustainable and destructive for the game. However, they also want to maintain a single set of rules for everyone and remain steadfastly against the concept of bifurcation. The same rules should apply to Justin Thomas, Nelly Korda, you and every other recreational golfer.
So how do you change the rules and equipment standards to limit what Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Tony Finau do without making things tougher for the weekend players who buy gear, book tee times and, in the end, finance the sport? How do you keep Korn Ferry Tour players from cutting the corner on long dogleg par 5s and going driver-wedge into the green without making the game less fun for everyone else?
Perhaps the USGA and R&A tipped their hand with Tuesday’s announcement and gave us a clue. The answer could be semantics. You simply don’t call it bifurcation and instead create tools to produce different playing environments for varying levels of players.
Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior managing director of governance, confirmed to Golfweek that the new Model Local Rule governing club length would be in place in June at the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. It will be in place at all of the USGA’s championship events, and the folks in Far Hills, New Jersey, and St. Andrews, Scotland, must love that the PGA Tour and LPGA will adopt it, too. Pagel said the USGA will go to events to educate players about the Model Local Rule and answer questions well before the USGA hosts its national championships.
However, the USGA and R&A stated that the Model Local Rule is intended to be used only at elite events. You will still be allowed to use a 47-inch driver at your local member-guest or club championship next summer. It’s bifurcation by another name.
Yes, very few players use a 47-inch or 48-inch driver, so this Model Local Rule will not affect many people, but you can see how Model Local Rules could be handy for curtailing distance. If they so choose, the governing bodies could introduce more Model Local Rules that, if implemented, mandate the pros and elite amateurs use golf balls that don’t fly as far as those available at retail or driver faces that are not quite so springy as those the rest of us might buy.
Phil Mickelson has expressed his irritation over the Model Local Rule that limits club length in elite competitions. (Jamie Squire/Allsport)
Except for one sticky problem: Equipment companies will hate making clubs or balls to conform to a series of Model Local Rules. They will want to fight it.
Creating clubs and balls to fit new, less-efficient specifications would be expensive and take time away from designers and engineers paid to make gear that companies can sell. Weekend players will not want to buy a driver that Xander Schauffele has to use in PGA Tour events that has been slowed down to conform to a Model Local Rule. No one will want to buy a less aerodynamic Titleist Pro V1 that Jordan Spieth is forced to use. And if Titleist has to make such a ball to conform to a Model Local Rule on the PGA Tour, it will need to make thousands of those balls for staff players.
Plus, as anyone who recently has tried to buy a new set of irons or have their clubs re-gripped can tell you, golf equipment makers are facing supply chain issues. Product is scarce and delayed, and that unfortunate circumstance may continue for months or years. Model Local Rules that mandate distance-reducing gear for elite golfers would create another logistical headache for manufacturers who already are scrambling.
Mike Whan, the new CEO of the USGA, worked in the golf equipment industry before taking the helm at the LPGA Tour as its commissioner, his previous post. He knows all the problems. Still, in a July interview with Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, he did not sound afraid of a tussle with equipment makers.
“Everybody evolves not only to make the game better, but to make sure it’s great for the next 100 years,” Whan said. “It’s important. I won’t lie to you and say it’s going to be popular, but it’s important and I think it would be irresponsible for us not to relook at something that the last significant look was 1976.”
Mike Whan took over as CEO of the USGA in 2021. (Copyright USGA/Robert Beck)
He added, “I feel like if you want to critique the USGA, the fair critique is why not before now? I think that’s a fair critique. But why now? I think you’re stretching if you don’t think at some point we need to make sure we establish some new parameters.”
Using more Model Local Rules to reduce distance at the pro and elite amateur levels could be messy, but it might work. The LPGA Tour, which does not have a distance problem, could ignore them and carry on using the same gear as recreational golfers while PGA Tour, Korn Ferry and other elite men’s tours force the guys to play with distance-reducing clubs or balls.
See bifurcation in reality, just not in name.
In February the USGA and R&A announced they wanted to research things such as the limitation of ball efficiency, golf ball sizes and weights, reducing driver size and volume, and reducing the spring-like effect in faces and moment of inertia in clubheads. The comment period for those research reports ends Nov. 2, to be followed by a lot of number crunching and meetings.
If history is a guide, we might learn more about what the USGA and R&A intend regarding distance in January or February. Tuesday’s announcement of a Model Local Rule to reduce maximum club length is not a part of the central drama. We have plenty of time to get some popcorn and find a comfy seat before the real show begins.
The new rule likely will be enforced only at elite competitions and won’t reduce driver length for recreational amateur golfers.
The U.S. Golf Association and the R&A jointly announced Tuesday morning that a new Model Local Rule will be made available starting Jan. 1, 2022, that reduces the length of non-putters from 48 inches to 46 inches.
The rule is likely to be put into play only at some elite competitions and is unlikely to ever be enforced for regular amateur play. Consider it an option for the U.S. Open and not a driver-length cap for your member-guest tournament or weekend game.
Yes, this is what Phil Mickelson tweeted about twice in August, but a reduction in the maximum allowable length of golf clubs has been in the works for several years. In October 2016, the USGA and R&A sent notices to equipment makers stating that the game’s governing bodies were researching and considering a reduction. In February, the USGA and R&A asked club makers again for feedback concerning a reduction in the maximum club length. That comment period, which includes comments on other possible local rules intended to curb distance including rollbacks on balls and clubheads, ends Nov. 2.
Phil Mickelson tees off to begin his final round of the 2021 Constellation Furyk & Friends at the Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. Photo by Garry Smits/Florida Times-Union
“We have been looking at this specific rule regarding club length for a while,” said Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior managing director of governance, in an exclusive interview with Golfweek. “Ultimately, we put it on pause as we undertook the Distance Insights project. But as we and the industry continue to work through Distance Insights and look at potential distance reductions going forward, it is just the right time to be proactive.”
Creating a Model Local Rule allows golf tournament organizers to put special rules in place for their events. In this case, event organizers can choose whether to allow clubs longer than 46 inches to be used or not. The USGA and R&A stressed that this Model Local Rule is intended to be used only at elite events, not at the local level to govern recreational and club golfers.
For example, the PGA Tour might implement the rule and not allow players to use a 47-inch or 48-inch driver – either of which is currently allowed – at the Players Championship, Honda Classic or Farmers Insurance Open, while the Augusta National Golf Club might not to chose to implement the Model Local Rule, allowing participants in the Masters to use such a longer-than-stock driver.
A handful of touring professionals use drivers that are longer than 46 inches, including Mickelson, who tweeted that he uses a driver that is 47.5 inches long. Other pros have switched to shorter drivers, sometimes as short as 43.5 inches, to maximize control.
Decades ago, most stock drivers at retail were shorter than 44 inches. The advent of lighter graphite shafts and larger titanium and carbon-fiber clubheads allowed manufactures to make longer drivers that were still relatively controllable and more forgiving than old-school wooden and early metal clubheads. A longer club can produce more speed and more distance, so long as the player can find the center of the clubface or some impact point near it.
Pagel would not speak on behalf of the R&A, but he made it clear the USGA – which runs the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur and several other top events for elite golfers – knows what it is doing next season.
“It’s something that we believe in, so our plan would be to implement this in all our championships in 2022,” Pagel said. “Now, that does not include qualifying, but certainly at the championship proper this local rule will be in effect.”
So, if you have aspirations for qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club or the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, you can use a driver that is over 46 inches in length during qualifying rounds. But if you make it into the championship event, you will need to use a driver of 46 inches or less. In the near future, Pagel said, golfers attempting to qualify for national championships and USGA events will need to use clubs that conform to the Model Local Rule.
The vast majority of recreational golfers and tour professionals use a driver that is less than 46 inches in length, so this Model Local Rule will not affect them. Club Champion, which has 85 club-fitting locations across the United States, recently told Golfweek that only about 5 percent of all the drivers it sells are longer than 46 inches.
This announcement of this Model Local Rule will not surprise people within the industry, and it definitely is not something that is going to close the debate regarding distance. The ruling bodies reported in 2020 that modern distance plays too great a role in golf and that current rates of distance gains were unsustainable.
“When this topic was discussed several weeks ago, I think there was some perception that, ‘This (cap on overall club length) was a part of the Distance Insights project and that the governing bodies had invested a lot of time and energy into Distance Insights, (and) this is what you came up with?,'” Pagel said. “This is not the solution to Distance Insights. This is not even a solution. This is just an area where we want to be proactive as the industry continues to explore and have these discussions and dialogs around distance, the role distance plays in the game and what it means for the game going forward.”
The swing coach and former CBS golf analyst feels the root of the distance debate is misunderstood and equipment should not be changed.
After years of looking at golf swings through the trusty Konica Minolta BizHub Swing Vision camera, I have learned to see things differently than most people. So, with the distance debate raging once again, it should come as no surprise that I see things differently than a lot of people.
About a year ago, the U.S Golf Association and the R&A announced that they feel distance and the trend toward bigger golf courses is a long-term problem for the game, and they want to take steps now to reduce the impact of distance on golf.
I live and teach in Scottsdale, Arizona, so I understand that water is a precious resource, and no one would argue that using more fertilizers, chemicals and water and increasing the cost of maintaining golf courses is a good thing. Still, I think one of the central premises of the USGA and R&A’s argument for reducing distance is entirely backward.
Most people think golf courses in the United States got longer over the last few years because technology advanced and equipment got better allowing players to hit it farther. The courses had to get longer to keep the shot values and the challenge, right? I think it’s the other way around: Equipment was forced to get better and enable golfers to hit longer shots because courses got longer.
The third hole at Pinehurst No. 2 (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
Consider this: Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Augusta National, Shinnecock Hills, Pinehurst No. 2, Oakmont, Pebble Beach, Winged Foot and Merion were all built before 1932 during the golden age of golf course design. They demand creativity, the ability to hit shots in different directions and dictate golfers maintain control of the ball at all times. Their designers, men like Alister MacKenzie, Donald Ross, Charles Blair Macdonald, Seth Raynor, George Crump and Harry S. Colt, concentrated on making amateur golfers solve problems and think. That’s why those layouts can be so challenging. Riveria Country Club, which hosted last week’s Genesis Invitational, is another example of a classic venue with an original, unique style. The players loved it again this year, as they do every year.
Peter Kostis
Unfortunately, starting in the mid-1960s, when courses started being ranked by publications based on their difficulty, things changed. Golf course architects felt that to make courses harder, and therefore more prestigious, they had to make them longer. The people who wrote the checks for those courses also started coveting those rankings and the chance of hosting elite events. They wanted bigger, longer courses too, and in the 1970s, developers learned to love bigger venues because they created more room for houses.
But a huge reason why golf courses got longer in the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, which rarely gets discussed, is the rise of “player architects.” During the golden age, designers made courses to challenge amateur players like themselves and members of local clubs. When big-name players and former pros started designing courses, they typically prefer to build things that challenge the world’s best players. In their minds, that means the course has to be stretched to “championship length”. All of this happened while we were using Persimmon woods and balata golf balls.
For years, I’ve said that if you want golfers to learn how to hit the ball farther, put them on bigger courses. They’ll learn, they’ll figure it out. That’s precisely what happened. As courses got longer, players started to emphasize length more than shot shaping and accuracy. Like Formula One race teams that modify their cars to suit that specific week’s track, golfers developed swings and manufacturers made equipment that launched the ball higher and made it spin less, maximizing distance to attack long straight holes.
So, in my opinion, that’s the origin of this issue, and it is essential to understand that if we are going to consider potentially changing the game.
To put all the blame on manufacturers and advancements in technology is wrong. Consider this: In 2019, Bryson DeChambeau had a driving distance average of 302 yards. Last season it jumped to 322 yards, and heading into last week’s Genesis Invitational, his driving distance average was up to 329 yards. Now, with all due respect to the companies that make Bryson’s driver and golf ball, there has not been a game-changing technology advancement over the last two years that can account for his 27-yard increase off the tee over 24 months.
So, while technology is better, it is just one thing that elite golfers now rely on to hit the ball farther. Improvements in fitness and nutrition, better coaching, launch monitors and better custom fitting are also helping pros hit the ball farther. Are the USGA and R&A planning to govern those things too?
While I don’t have a problem changing the maximum length of clubs from 48 inches to 46 inches, I don’t understand why the USGA and R&A want to change how they test golf balls. They recently proposed optimum testing between launch angles of 7.5 degrees and 15 degrees with varying amounts of backspin (2,200-2,500 rpm).
No one, not even Bryson, Rory or Bubba, can hit a ball with a 15-degree launch angle and only 2,200 rpm of spin, yet, under proposed test conditions, if a robot can and the ball goes too far, the ball will be deemed non-conforming. Personally, I think this is a way for the USGA and R&A to lay the groundwork for a ball rollback.
There is also a proposal to adopting a Local Rule that would allow tournaments to mandate that elite golfers use distance-reducing equipment in specific tournaments. Ultimately, that would be expensive for brands and recreational players. Think about it, pros like Adam Scott, Jon Rahm and Tiger Woods would not have to pay for distance-reducing gear, but manufacturers would have to spend a lot of money to research, develop and manufacture those clubs and balls. In 45 plus years of teaching, I have never had a student say that he or she wants to hit the ball shorter, so I can’t imagine weekend players will buy that stuff. That means brands will pass the added costs associated with reduced-distance gear on to consumers in the form of higher prices on the clubs and balls that amateurs want to play.
By the way, if the ball is rolled back or changes are made that reduce distance for everyone and golfers all move to more-forward tees, what are local clubs expected to do with abandoned areas? I have yet to hear the USGA or R&A’s thoughts on that. There are about 40,000 golf courses worldwide, and I would suspect all of them would still need to water, mow and maintain those areas to some degree, so golf’s “footprint” would not shrink by much.
Look, for obvious and terrible reasons, golf attracted a lot of new players in 2020. Many people also returned to the game because it’s fun, safe, challenging and a great way to spend time with your friends. Why on Earth would we want to make it tougher just for the sake of maintaining the challenge for pros on 50-75 courses around the world?
If the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, European Tour and all the other professional tours ceased to exist because the style of golf was boring and fans didn’t want to watch it anymore, “golf” would continue. The sport is in a great place. Please be careful to not mess it up.
This next generation of golfers and golf leaders is already comfortable addressing the status quo in golf. Add distance to that list.
Golf is a game built on tradition. It’s a sport defined by respect and rules of etiquette that span attire, behavior and care for the course. During a culture-shifting year like 2020, these norms were challenged.
Clubs like Augusta National and professional golfers like Cameron Champ promoted diversity and initiated conversations about making the sport visually represent the United States, but these actions only mark the beginning of a cultural and demographic shift that is overdue.
That’s where the next generation steps in.
This next generation of golfers and golf leaders is already comfortable addressing the status quo in golf. Members of Generation Z, born from the late 1990s through the mid-2010s, are already thinking about how the sport is changing and how they want the game they love to be perceived by future generations.
While all under the age of 30, their insights and experiences speak of where the sport is headed in the areas of distance, traditional fashion and most importantly, diversity.
This is part two of a three-part series analyzing Gen Z’s perception of the changing landscape of golf.
Distance, Bryson and the LPGA
An often-used word in the 2020 season: Distance. Another very popular word: Bryson.
You might have heard, but this year Bryson DeChambeau transformed his body and his game, adding 20 pounds before the Tour’s COVID-19 break in March and another 20 before the June restart. The 2015 U.S. Amateur winner spent two to three hours per day lifting in the gym and consumed 5,000 to 6,000 calories a day to achieve an athletic build unlike anyone in golf.
The plan was questioned for its effectiveness, but the distance DeChambeau achieved proves its brilliance.
In the 2018-19 season, DeChambeau ranked 24th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (.421) and 34th in driving distance (302.5 yards). In the 2019-20 season, he rose to first on the Tour in each category.
Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the ninth hole during the second round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. (Photo: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports)
So far, DeChambeau, who had five Tour titles before his transformation, has been unrepentant of his experimentation and results. That’s what Josh Koch, 2018 and 2019 World Long Drive Championship qualifier and speed and distance coach, loves most about DeChambeau being the face of the distance debate.
“I think when guys get to the top level a lot of times there’s a level of complacency and rightfully so,” Koch said. “A lot of guys are afraid to kind of mess up what got them there and I don’t blame them. There is some truth to that. But his fearlessness of trying to keep pushing the bar and he’s not afraid to mess up or fail. I think that’s the thing I love the most about it: the fearlessness.”
After his 40-pound weight gain, DeChambeau won his first major in September at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. During his post-round interview, the 27-year-old recognized a few people who inspired him to work to achieve the impressive distance he has this year: World Long Drive competitors Kyle Berkshire, currently No. 1 in the world; Justin James, No. 4; and Koch.
“They all inspired me to try to go harder at (gaining speed and distance),” DeChambeau said of the World Long Drive competitors in September. “They’re the ones breaking the barriers. I can see what is possible so that inspires me to keep pushing the limits.”
Koch is impressed with how DeChambeau has trained his body, gained speed and produced results. But even more, Koch loves what DeChambeau is doing for the sport – loves that DeChambeau’s hard work, sense of adventure and creativity are making the game fun.
It can be intoxicating, especially for young players.
“It’s the sex appeal of golf. It really is,” Koch said. “No matter where you’re at, this is the crazy thing, I don’t feel like anyone really ever feels like they’re fast enough. I’ve never heard someone say they wouldn’t mind gaining a few more miles per hour of speed. With where the stigma was going, it’s like where is the ceiling going to be at? … I think that’s in part to this Bryson Effect and basically, the millennials growing up who are chasing because the reality is speed is longevity. Not only does it keep you more competitive now but it also keeps you playing the game longer.”
In 2019-20, DeChambeau averaged a Tour-best 322.1 yards off the tee. The Tour average was 296.4 yards. In his three appearances this season, which includes two majors, the distance of his average drive jumped to 337.8 yards. In the 2020 season, Cameron Champ was runner-up in distance (322.0) followed by Ryan Brehm (315.3), Rory McIlroy (314.0) and Grayson Murray (313.8), respectively.
While DeChambeau has dominated the distance conversation, it’s a topic on the LPGA, too. Rookie Bianca Pagdanganan led the tour in distance (283.071), with Maria Fassi a close second (282.173). The 23-year-old Pagdanganan is not a protein-shake pounder like DeChambeau. Imagine what she could do if she pulled a Bryson.
Distance is proving to be a big differentiator on the LPGA. All of the top 10 in distance are under 30 years old and only three in the top 20 are 30 or older.
Ryan Ruffels of Australia hits off the 18th tee in the third round of the Utah Championship. (Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Ryan Ruffels, who currently plays on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour and was 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour in distance last season (318.3), said he’s always played long so emphasizing distance was a part of his game before DeChambeau’s transformation took it to a new level. However, he saw firsthand how important distance is becoming in the LPGA when he caddied for younger sister Gabi, a senior at USC, at the Pelican Women’s Championship in November.
“I told my sister, she’s got a tremendous opportunity to dominate on the LPGA tour because there’s starting to be a few here and there,” Ruffels said. “Obviously Lexi (Thompson), Maria Fassi and people who are starting to bomb it and have some success. If you can be one of those people on the LPGA tour, I think there’s a tremendous opportunity to dominate because I don’t think anyone’s really quite done it yet to the level that let’s say Tiger did it in the early 2000s and Bryson’s doing it now but they just separate themselves completely in that category.”
While Hailey Borja, a sophomore on the University of Michigan’s women’s golf team, and Ruffels agreed that women typically hit the ball straighter than men, the emphasis on distance could propel the women’s game to a place it has never been. Ruffels would obviously like that person to be his sister, who won the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur and was runner-up at that event in 2020, but thinks the star who could change the women’s game is just on the horizon.
Borja said she’s primarily focused on hitting the ball straight rather than hitting bombs, but the conversation of gaining more distance is a common one among college golfers.
“It’s definitely being thought about,” she said. “I am one of the more average-to-shorter hitters so me and my coaches have definitely been working on strength and conditioning for me as well as getting my club speed up so I can hit the ball farther.”
Koch, Ruffels and DeChambeau are all unsure about where the game is headed, but they recognize Pandora’s Box has been opened. And they’re not afraid.
Young golfers see the results of DeChambeau and top LPGA stars, and with access to the same technology like TrackMan, pressure plates, biomechanists and trainers, young golfers are willing and able to copy those gains.
“Now that golf’s being viewed as an athletic sport and there are more athletes playing, the reality is if you get more athletes swinging the club, they’re going to be able to swing it faster and then someone else is going to be able to do it,” Koch said. “I think there are a lot of factors … definitely the biggest one is just a testament to where coaching and the technology available has evolved to people under 30.”
The year began with the release of the Distance Insights Report, a joint effort by the USGA and R&A. In a 102-page document which includes data and information from 56 different projects, golf’s governing bodies determined distance is playing an excessive role in the game and causing the sport to go in an unsustainable direction. Those conversations about the future of the game will continue into 2021.
When asked how DeChambeau’s gains impact the tradition of the game, Koch noted golf has been challenged with the approach of a new young star before, and he made the sport better. Woods, who began playing professional events in 1992, long before Borja or Ruffels were alive, ushered in an era of entertainment in golf resulting in the highest annual increase in rounds played in the U.S. (63 million) in 1997, when Woods won his first Masters title. DeChambeau is proving to be a similarly impactful player in that he has changed the narrative for what a player needs to do to be successful.
Tiger Woods celebrates after sinking a 4 feet putt to win the 1997 Masters. (Photo: Stephen Munday /Allsport)
“We’re always going to be trying to get stronger, fitter and more athletic, and Tiger inspired this whole generation to do this and we’re going to keep going after it,” DeChambeau said after the U.S. Open. “I don’t think it’s going to stop. Will they reign it back? I’m sure. I’m sure something might happen. I don’t know what it will be, I just know it’s always going to be an advantage.”
What the governing bodies do, or don’t do, in terms of rolling back the performance of golf balls or dialing back the distance of drivers remains to be seen. These questions were put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic, but the USGA and R&A are expected to release the next phase of their report in late 2021, at the earliest. Any changes that result could not realistically take effect for years.
Koch knows the increased focus on distance is now part of the game. DeChambeau proved this new strategy is possible, and more than that, it’s fun.
“As the game gets younger it has to keep appealing to different demographics. It’s like anything, unfortunately, stuff changes and gravitates over time,” Koch said. “Right now it’s exciting. As far as the purists go, they should, in my opinion, want what’s best for the game and what’s best for the game is that distance and that debate is creating some excitement around the game …
“At the end of the day, if there’s that buzz it’s going to get people watching. If it gets people watching that, essentially it’s going to grow the game for future generations.”
