Grandpa hit it how far!?

US President Donald Trump.

Phil Mickelson. One of America all-time great golfers. He has won 44 events on the PGA Tour, including five major championships: three Masters titles, a PGA Championship, and an Open Championship. But here’s an interesting fact you didn’t know about Phil. Back in 2000 when Phil Mickelson was 30-years-old, he had an average driving distance of 272 yards. Today as he approaches his 50th birthday, his average driving distance is 307 yards. Is this a testament to Phil’s hard work in the gym, strict diet and attention to detail? Maybe.. but also perhaps not. See this is a trend that is not specific to Phil. We can see this trend with lots of seasoned PGA tour players. Take Fred Couples, his average driving distance in 1997 was 283.5 yards 20 years later in 2017 he recorded an average driving distance of 295 yards. Bernhard Langer is another example he was hitting the ball 20 yards father in his fifties then when he was in his thirties (Mac Schneidermac, 2019).

Fred Couples Driving distance over time (Business Insider, 2017).

So what's happening here? Well, the main driving factor is the improvement of technology (excuse the pun). Better drivers and balls are allowing pros to hit it further than ever before. The introduction of aerodynamic driver heads, component weight and better graphite shafts by club designers give today's golfers a massive edge over pros of the past (Steve Silverman, 2014).

However, the main development that is making balls go further is the balls themselves. The world of golf ball production was revolutionised in 2001 by Titleist when they released their Pro V1 golf ball. The inside of a golf ball isn't a hugely exciting read so I'll quickly gloss over what made this ball so special. Mostly before 2001 golfers had to make a choice with their golf balls, they could go for:

a) a golf ball with a hard inside which allowed the ball to travel further.

b) a golf ball with a softer inside which didn't go as far but allowed more accuracy and spin around the greens and with irons.

Most golfers went for the second option. However, the Pro V1 had a solid multilayer core which allowed it to do both. It's hard inner core allowed it to travel further and its soft outer core meant golfers could still control the spin of the ball (Mac Schneidermac, 2019).

Inside of a Pro V1.

So the question is; are all these long drives good for the game? I, for one, love a big drive. The driving of golfers such as Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy is genuinely something to behold. But are these big drives putting old iconic courses at the risk of becoming obsolete?

Take the 13th at Augusta. One of the most iconic holes in golf:

The Old Way The Bubba Way

Traditionally pros would play it as you see in the first picture. They drove out to the right and lay up with their second to avoid the water around the green. But in 2014th Bubba Watson took the line you can see in the second picture, making this iconic and tough par five into a simple game of chip and putt.

Classic courses are doing the best to hold their own by putting tee boxes further back and making greens faster. They still do pose a significant challenge to the pros, which is a true testament to them, but for how long? Again looking at Augusta, the average winning score at Augusta is getting lower. From 1934 through 1989 the average winning score was -7.29. Over the last 10 years, the average winning score is less than -11 (David Dusekl, 2019 ).

As technology continues to advance will magnificent scoring at Augusta such as Tiger Woods 18 under become the standard winning score? Will a 50-year-old Rory McIlroy be averaging 400 yards on the 2040 PGA tour? Probably not. But advancements in technology is something that golfing unions should be wary of.

What should the unions do? One option is to let the technology keep advancing while extending existing courses and building new 7000-yard coursers. Another option is to put a tighter restriction on golf balls, allowing little room for advancements. Some, such as golfing great Jack Nicolas, are even calling for heavier golf balls to be introduced.

What do you think? Has technology gone too far in golf? Leave a comment below!

Fact: The longest drive ever recorded on tour was 515 yards. The drive was hit by a man named Mike Austin back in 1974! He had a 25 miles an hour wind behind and used a persimmon headed club.

References:

Mac Schneidermac, 2019 https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18308027/golf-ball-distance-debate

https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.101.html

Business Insider, 2017 https://www.businessinsider.com/fred-couples-the-masters-driving-distance-2017-4?r=US&IR=T

Mac Schneidermac, 2019 David Dusekl, 2019 https://www.vox.com/2019/4/12/18308027/golf-ball-distance-debate

David Dusekl, 2019 https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2019/04/07/winning-masters-scores-are-trending-lower/

Steve Silverman, 2014 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2033812-eight-technologies-that-changed-the-world-of-golf#slide1