Is today's golf ball flying too far or courses getting shorter?

Hands up, if you think that golf balls today fly too far! Just as I thought, only three hands went up; Dismas Indiza, Brian Njoroge. Certainly, this holds no truth for the rest of us. 

For those who have followed the distance debate for the past 20 years, the big news this month on distance was yet another justification or vindication of the argument, depending on which side you are on. 

The Bluejackets at golf’s ruling bodies, the Royal and Ancient and the United States Golf Association have their golf knickers in a knot over this never-ending debate. Their Distance Insights Project released on February 4, 2020, offers no directions forward. 

But it does note that the 90th percentile of courses, as expressed by longest courses, has increased from about 6,100 yards at the start of the 1900s to 7,200 yards today. 

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Besides increased costs to build and support longer courses, the report says that such courses are simply too long because even forward tee boxes have been pushed back. 

That affects even players who use forward tee boxes because, “they may have little chance to reach various greens in regulation even with their longest and best drives and approach shots, and therefore are not offered the same type of playing experience as others on the same hole.” 

That seems to contradict the performance of the Tour Pros. Which is why the report seems to simply highlight the disparity between elite male-hitting distances and those achieved by recreational players.

It appears that the greatest proportional distance gains have been seen among elite players swinging in excess of 110 mph.

It doesn’t help that Rory Mcllroy drove the green last week at the World Golf Championship in Mexico with a massive 421yard drive. Granted, the air up there is thin, 7,000 yards above sea level. But, the number still stands. 

The distance issue goes back to the turn of the century when some flat-bellied kid of colour came on the Pro golf scene and condemned all others to play for the second position in any competition he entered.

This kid was damn long! His 300-yard drives were routine. To him, Par-5 holes were just baptized long Par-4s. He landed on them too frequently and for him, eagles were par for the course, pun intended. 

To tame the Tiger, the Blue Jackets came up with a concept called Tiger-proofing that called on lengthening courses. It backfired big time. The kid went back to the gym, pumped more weights and joined the Navy Seals to up his fitness. 

Just like the other Formula One drivers cottoned onto Michael Schumacher’s secret on the big advantage of being superfit before jumping into the cockpit, the flat bellies hired fitness trainers and soon started giving Tiger a run for his drives.  

The rules guys only realised their blunder at the 2000 US Open held at the legendary Bethpage Black, where they only cut the long rough from 250-yards. 

Everybody struggled, except the six-packed flat bellies and the single outlier one-pack, John Daly. Quite often, he was the only one who found the fairways, as the other golfers lost on accuracy as they went flat out on their drives in order to reach the fairway.

Before long, courses started being overpowered by the long hitters. Par 5s became Par 4s, long Par 4s became driver-mid iron holes while short Par 4s, the commonest golf configuration in the world, became Drive-chip- and-putt holes.

Some classic mid-length courses that had stood the test of time were in danger of becoming obsolete. Courses like Pebble Beach. So they pushed the Pro Tees way back to the tips, right next to the fence.

Most courses, due to their configuration, did not have that option.

Others like Augusta, who had the luxury of deep pockets, bought off the parcels of land surrounding their course in order to build new tees there.

That has not stopped either. At this year’s Masters, watch where the new Tee for hole number thirteen which has been Bubba-proofed. The new tee is across the road!

In the meantime, golf manufactures went into overdrive to design and produce the balls and clubs that would help produce the longest drives. Those who played golf in then will remember the self-designation by Topflite as the longest ball.

That is also the time the ever-innovative Ely Callaway company came up with a driver with the hottest face on earth, the Big Bertha ERC. Golf balls flew of this face like a trampoline.

This insane increases in the driving distance had to be stopped. So back to the drawing board they went. Since they could not tame the kids, the only option was to cut down the performance of the equipment.

But there was one big problem. If they cut down the ability of equipment to achieve those huge distances by the Tour Pros, the regular golfer would be unable to drive the ball anywhere near the 200-yard mark.

No problem, they said. Let’s have two sets of golf clubs and balls; one for Tour players and another one for Amateurs. In short, bifurcation. You could have heard the pin drop at the mention of the B-Word. Then be deafened by the loud din that followed as golf equipment manufacturers said a resounding No! to the proposal.

You see, a major attraction of any sport is the regular player comparing his performance to that of the Pros, the best in the field. Once that allure is lost, the sport is as good as dead. That is precisely what ails motorsport. Bifurcation would kill golf.

A sort of compromise was arrived at where golf balls were restricted not to take off at more than a certain speed when struck with a designated test club. The trampoline effect on golf club faces, especially Titanium faced drivers, was also limited to a Coefficient of restitution of not more than 0.83.

So far so good, you would think. But think again. According to the annual Distance reports, while there were years when average driving distances on Tour went down, the overall trend has been a gradual increase over time.

Counter report

So what next? Are these increases in golf drives unstoppable, like reggae? Not that the increases are bad for everybody. The report says that the average driving distance among amateur recreational golfers has increased 16 yards since 1996 to 216 yards.

This is going to be one tough call. Days after the report came out, David Maher, the Big Kahuna at Titleist jumped out, guns blazing and issued a counter-report, the  Perspective on the Distance Insight Report.

And for good reason. His bonus at the end of the year has a direct correlation with the number of golf balls and golf clubs he sells that year.

According to him, the big increase we have seen in the last few years are not due to balls and distance, but because of the ever-evolving golfing machines these pros have become.

And he has a point. Phil Mickelson is quoted as saying he is driving the ball as long as he did in his youth, twenty years ago.

On the other hand, Jack Nicklaus has long advocated for rolling back the ball.

Golf balls can easily be phased out as happened in 1990 when the smaller USGA ball was outlawed. You didn’t even notice, did you?

Rolling back golf clubs will not be as easy. Clubs are sturdy and last for long. They would have to do a gradual phase-out, the way U-grooves were phased out and V-grooves became standard.

U-grooves were banned for Pros in 2010. Amateurs have until 2024. They figured by then, everybody will have changed their wedges and irons. Luckily, the manufacturers played along.

What you may not realize is that you may already be compliant if you have bought new clubs in the last ten years. This is because manufacturers no longer produce wedges and irons with U-grooves. Aha! Caught you!

I would bet that the final distance limitation decision will not be agreed on easily, but it is coming sooner than later. I also expect it to be on both balls and clubs.

A local rule may also be in the works. The one thing they can’t rule on is your body. Hit the gym and track, guys! 

Lip outs: Golf is tough, even for Pros. At the Genesis invitation held in February, Harold Varner III drove an embarrassing 128 yards, Tiger drove his a massive 295 yards but wayward, straight into a trash can and it took Ryan Palmer six shots to get out of a bunker. 

[email protected], @pigamingi1