News

Jason Day says any move to curtail distance would hurt the game

Published

8 years ago

Oct 12, 2018

Recently, there has been plenty of debate regarding whether or not action ought to be taken with regards to the distance that the golf ball is traveling in the modern game. Earlier this year, Dustin Johnson hit a 489-yard drive at the WGC-Dell Match Play, and with the constant innovations in technology in the golfing world, there is a belief among some groups that the distance in the modern game is out of control and in danger of making some old courses obsolete.

One of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, Jason Day, weighed in on the discussion in an interview with Golf Digest. He has made it clear that he doesn’t want any restrictions when it comes to distance in the game. The Australian was adamant that fans of the game want to see the ball hit as far as possible, and any attempt to curtail this would see a drop-off in viewership.

“Do I want the ball to go shorter? No. Why? Isn’t it fun watching Dustin Johnson crush a drive over a lake 300 yards away? No one wants to see someone plod it down the right and not take it on. That’s boring. If you push trying to rein it in too far, then people will stop watching golf. People want to see risk.”

Day ranked 17th in driving distance for the 2017-18 season, averaging 309.7 yards off the tee. The former world number one also believes that the focus should be on modern course designers, and not equipment manufacturers, who he criticizes for creating longer courses.

“The problem is the architects—some of them, anyway—decided that because the ball is going forever, they need to make courses longer to make them harder,” he said. “No, you don’t. Just be a better architect.”

The distance debate is not likely to go away any time soon. Do you agree with Day’s stance, or should measures be taken to rein in the distance that professionals are currently hitting the ball?

Let us know your thoughts.

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11 Comments

Justin

Oct 16, 2018 at 7:16 pm

You could also start to make the fairways VERY narrow around the 300 yard mark. This would make the players decide whether to hit it 280 yards into a 40 yard fairway or 320 yards into a 20 yard fairway. This would a create a larger risk/reward scenario instead of letting them smash it 350 with no serious penalty for being in the rough or trees. This is only 1 solution out of many.

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Nathan

Oct 15, 2018 at 1:50 pm

I’d love to see tighter fairways, longer rough, more dangerously sloped (if not faster) greens. Long can be good, but I want to see the pros drive it dead straight (or shaped) every time. I want to watch purity not power.

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McFadden

Oct 13, 2018 at 8:41 pm

I agree with Day and the other comments on here. Start putting fairway bunkers 300 yards out from the tee too.Also nothing more boring than a flat and straight 200 yard par 3. Id rather see more par 3s like the Postage Stamp and #12 (Golden Bell) at Augusta. Like Day said we like to see risk/reward situations and put a premium on accuracy. It wont totally eliminate the guys from bombing it and would make it more exciting when the do decide to go NLU style!

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Kevin

Oct 13, 2018 at 7:49 pm

Day is absolutely right that architects making longer courses is making the problem worse. On a shorter more imaginatively designed course that goads you into hitting shots that are actually riskier than they look (Tobacco Road, Sanford, NC a Mike Strantz masterpiece is a wonderful example of this) you actually level the playing field more. Tobacco Road maxes out at 6800 yards, but big hitters, short hitters can all play to their strengths in highly entertaining ways. A shorter golf course also lets you see the real gap between the best players and the posers….

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- thánh
  
  Oct 14, 2018 at 11:11 am
  
  Great article for the beginners like us . I am a new in this game and enjoying the adventure.
  
  Reply Report comment
BL

Oct 13, 2018 at 8:11 am

Anyone else notice Jason Day has a new Accra shaft in that driver?

Reply Report comment
BD57

Oct 12, 2018 at 10:00 pm

Harbor Town holds up well, year after year, and it is not “monster long.”

Grow the rough, narrow the fairways, make accuracy mean something.

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Scheiss

Oct 12, 2018 at 5:24 pm

Jason, it’s not the architects’ fault.
It’s your PGA Tour, its set ups that are at fault.
There is not a course out there that couldn’t grow the grass taller. Including the fairway, that could be softened up – a lot.
The fairways need to be softer and narrower.
The rough needs two more inches – at every course.
That’ll solve everything.

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Brian McGranahan

Oct 12, 2018 at 5:23 pm

Look what they did to the guys in France. Just make more courses like that. Every PGA event needs knee high rough pinched in at 300yds. That will solve everything.

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Justin

Oct 12, 2018 at 3:06 pm

The winning score at the 2013 US Open at Merion was +1 and the course played a mere 6900 yards each round. The cut after the second round was +8 and a there were only a handful of rounds under par in the entire tournament. This is definitive evidence that course design and setup has a much larger effect on scores than does course length. It is obvious that championship golf can easily be played on these historic golf courses and that great designs will always challenge the best players in the game regardless of driving distance. Trying to put limits on the golf ball seems to misunderstand the problem entirely.

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Travis

Oct 12, 2018 at 1:58 pm

I agree, a course doesn’t have to be longer to be more challenging or to accommodate longer hitters.

Reply Report comment

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Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.

PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole

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Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype

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Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
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Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
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A party on the green!

Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk

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