News
USGA finds “unusual and concerning” distance increases in annual report
The USGA and R&A released the whispered-about report expressing concern over the largest increase in driving distance on professional tours in a decade, Monday.
The report is clear about the substantial uptick in distance off the tee in 2017
“The 2015 and 2016 editions of the distance report presented the increases in driving distance since 2003 as a slow creep of around 0.2 yards per year. The 2017 data shows a deviation from this trend. The average distance gain across the seven worldwide tours was more than 3 yards since 2016.”
It is also unequivocal about the problems posed by such gains
“Increases in distance can contribute to demands for longer, tougher and more resource-intensive golf courses at all levels of the game. These trends can impact the costs to operate golf courses and put additional pressures on golf courses in their local environmental landscape. The effect of increasing distance on the balance between skill and technology is also a key consideration. Maintaining this balance is paramount to preserving the integrity of golf.”
However, per the press release, further review/no immediate action is the order of the day, even though the statement that the organizations “remain committed to the spirit” of the so-called line in the sand (the 2002 Join Statement of Principles), which clearly stipulates action should the distance boom continue.
As Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura points out after a close read of the report, not only are we seeing all-time highs in driving distance across all tours, and a 2.5-yard increase in distance on the PGA Tour since 2016-2017, but the percentage jump from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018 thus far is more than 10 times the average annual uptick in pro golf from 2003 to 2016.
USGA chief Mike Davis and R&A head Martin Slumbers have ramped up the alarmist narrative in recent months, with Davis calling distance increases “horrible” for “all golfers.” Even so, as mentioned, the governing bodies are not currently taking any action.
“Building on the extensive research we have undertaken in recent years, we will conduct a thoughtful conversation about the effects of distance prior to making any specific proposals. We remain open-minded and our absolute priority is to ensure that all key stakeholders are involved in an open and inclusive process, and that we move forward together in the best interests of golf at all levels. There is no fixed timetable, but we will commence this process immediately and endeavor to reach a conclusion as promptly as possible.”
Here is the PDF of the full report from the governing bodies.
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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.
From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Akshay Bhatia – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Matthieu Pavon – WITB – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
- Rory McIlroy – 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
Pullout Albums
See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.
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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
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Dave Portnoy places monstrous outright bet for the 2024 Masters
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GMatt
Mar 7, 2018 at 12:05 pm
Again, the USGA is out of touch with 99.99% of the golfers in the world. Why are they concerned with distance of maybe 1,000 touring pros in the world when the distance of millions of normal amateur golfers hasn’t really changed, same as handicaps….
For an organization that is supposedly around to grow the game, they sure are doing their best to stagnate it a best. What is increasing distance? (not necessarily in order of importance) agronomy-better turf conditions than in years past, better equipment, lower spinning ball, bigger and more athletic players. So I guess in addition to rolling back the ball, the USGA should limit strength and size of us players, they should roll back the care of the course to goat pastures of years past, they should take over the equipment companies and tell them to no longer innovate and improve golf clubs and balls.
Does this all sound absurdly stupid to you? Perhaps the USGA should listen to the very people they claim to represent and not cater to their own agenda. Both Matt Adams and Michael Breed this morning were extremely outspoken about this very subject
JThunder
Mar 6, 2018 at 11:25 pm
Instead of rolling back the ball, how about a limit on height and fitness of tour players?
If you want to protect par, just reduce the par by one on every PGA Tour hole.
JThunder
Mar 6, 2018 at 11:23 pm
If they want real numbers, maybe they should be measuring more than two holes per tournament. Seems like a lot can go wrong with that baseline, as I believe the PGA Tour and others are now pointing out.
Have they genuinely kept track of “driver use” on these holes over the years. Today’s top players seem to hit 3 wood less and less – Dustin, Justin, etc. It doesn’t take much to change a stat by 3 yards (at 300 yd drive ~ 1% gain) if a few pros go from 3wd to driver.
MT
Mar 6, 2018 at 4:32 am
Don’t know about you guys, but I hate one sided half the story reporting.
They state the 3 yards as some huge “Oh No”.
What they don’t mention is the average swing speed of tour players over the last 10 years.
To prove their point. They need to show swing speed staying the same while distance is increasing.
The data is all there and available. Swing speed vs ball speed vs distance.
Matt
Mar 6, 2018 at 10:29 am
Roll it back!!
This isn’t about hackers. If you carry it 220 or less off the tee, which something like 90% of golfers do, you won’t even notice a difference. You don’t compress the ball enough for it to matter. These changes will stop the 200 yard 7 irons and 330 yard drives. Bring back some shaping and skill. Shorten courses, so you can walk them, and play in less than 6 hours. The longer the ball goes the further off line it goes. Less time in the woods, less time waiting behind foursomes looking for balls. Etc. etc. etc.
Roll it back!
Matt
Mar 6, 2018 at 10:30 am
Didn’t mean to reply to your comment – just a general comment.
Steve
Mar 5, 2018 at 7:26 pm
I just took up golf this past summer. I am not very good, but I have learned that eventually I will know the distance for each club. I would think the pros should be much more efficient at that than I am, so who cares what the length of the course is.
Du
Mar 6, 2018 at 3:25 am
No need to lie, dude
DaveT
Mar 5, 2018 at 5:42 pm
My position is that the USGA is not interested in protecting golf; they are interested in protecting par. They’d do a lot more for golf if they ignored the 3yd/drive/year increase, and allow the Tour to amaze us viewers even more than they do now. That will sustain interest in the game on TV. I guarantee nobody I play golf with is going to threaten the viability of today’s golf courses. If you make the courses play longer (either by changing the courses, the ball, or the clubs), you’ll anger the vast majority of golfers.
Anthony
Mar 5, 2018 at 3:43 pm
3 yards? Better make the golf courses 8000 yards to combat that!
What a load of the proverbial!!!!
John
Mar 5, 2018 at 3:29 pm
For years the PGA and R&A have tried to tackle the distance issue by lengthening courses. Any fool can see that this merely plays into the hands of the bigger hitters. If I had anything to do with it I’d shorten the courses and bring the shorter guys into the picture. Make the course layouts reward skill rather than brute force. The old ‘drive for show, putt for sigh’ maxim still holds true but to a far lesser extent nowadays. Shorter courses might also address the nonsense of six hour rounds. Not by much probably but any reduction would be welcome.
John
Mar 5, 2018 at 3:32 pm
‘Drive for show, putt for dough’ obviously. Damn autocorrect!
Alfredo Smith
Mar 5, 2018 at 2:42 pm
SHANK! The only thing that needs rolling is a big fat doobie after reading this nonsense.
Patricknorm
Mar 5, 2018 at 2:33 pm
I’ve been to many PGA Tour events, and the one that I notice right away is how big most players are. 30 years ago the odd player was over 6’1” but today when you see a Tony Finau or Dustin Johnson even Matt Kuchar, they’re all over 6’3”. 30 years ago before Tiger came along and purses increased, those athletes may have tried other sports like tennis or basketball. Plus, you can’t dismiss the John Daly effect who gave kids permission to “ grip and rip” the ball. Today most players , when they drive the ball, are out of their shoes.
And then add in technology and better agronomy, well it was bound to happen.
joe
Mar 5, 2018 at 1:13 pm
Make the pro’s go back to persimmon, we’ll see who the best golfers really are…
Mikele
Mar 5, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Let’s go back to Radio Shack 64k RAM computers so we can see who the real computer users are.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Dr Troy
Mar 5, 2018 at 4:18 pm
Exactly….3 yards is nothing. Everyone needs to go chill out and move on to other world problems in Golf.
george
Mar 5, 2018 at 1:09 pm
No need to roll back the ball for us amateurs. Just outlaw the Trackman/Flightscope/GCQuad.
JD
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:43 pm
Yeah I’m sure the cost of extending a par 4 at Augusta is going to trickle down to the muni courses I play.
Rich
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:40 pm
WOW! Are you kidding me? The players are in better condition,use better methods in training,video usage and the equipment has better materials and technology designs while meeting the rules.. It isn’t the ball it’s the layout of courses .The course should be designed or altered to make it a PLAYER’s course ,MORE RUFF,SAND,TREES,WATER,SHRUBS GREENS that have more shape and contour deeper sand traps. The Tour had decided wrongly that people wanted to see lower scores when in we really want tougher courses .That’s why the British open ,US open are the best matches and watched by more people than the regular tour matches. IT’s ABOUT SHOT SHAPING, DECISION MAKING AND RISK TAKING !!!
Brian
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Maybe fairways shouldn’t be designed to allow a hundred yards of roll out?! Rather than dial back the golf ball, dial back the course set up a little. But this is what the USGA wanted, along with everyone else: to see the likes of DJ ripping the ball further than anyone has ever done before on national tv. Now that everyone is doing it, it’s not cool anymore and by golly we need to fix this “equipment problem”! No one stops to think for a second that with the heyday of the TW era, the youth who grew up watching him physically dominate courses are now in the tour and working out, getting stronger, and more physically dominate than ever before as a whole coupled with course set ups to allow it. But keep telling yourselves it’s the equipment and golf ball’s fault…
C
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:50 pm
My thoughts exactly. Rollout.
Mike Cuttone
Mar 6, 2018 at 12:57 pm
THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^WELL SAID
juliette
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:09 pm
I get it about distance. As someone more or less in the lowest percentile of distance compared to the mostly men who comment on golf wrx I should be the most opposed to changes limiting my distance. But I see Mike Davis’ point about resource utilization in an era where most of us agree that something is going on here with this Earth and this extreme weather. Needing more land for golf courses, more water, more fertilizer more more more more more is not the time to start being blind to this and caring only about how far your 6 iron goes.
Murv
Mar 5, 2018 at 12:22 pm
Yeah, we need to reduce golf ball distance to save the world from global warming.
Bub
Mar 5, 2018 at 1:24 pm
Good plan, that way anyone that doesn’t want to ‘roll back’ the golf ball can be accused of hating the planet and children.
Mikele
Mar 5, 2018 at 2:29 pm
Juliette – You aere wasting your time with that argument on this website. Your sincere concern will be deemed political by the cretin crowd here. You don’t really think they bothered to read the report, do you? That would put it into context and god forbid they should go beyond the headline or blurb.
youraway
Mar 5, 2018 at 5:56 pm
Perfect – absolutely perfect response.
Wyomick
Mar 6, 2018 at 7:39 am
Anybody want to bring up Hitler? I’m sure the long ball hitters that want to destroy the planet are related or st least guilty of his nefarious intentions. Good grief. Go away, far away from golf please.
dvers
Mar 6, 2018 at 10:57 am
Is this GolfWRX or CPAC? For a group that alludes to the “snowflakes” of the opposing ideology, commentators on many of these articles get irrationally defensive about a political claim that often doesn’t even exist. Golf isn’t exclusively for men with Rs after their names. Lighten up and/or take it to the Breitbart forums please.