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On the eve of the 2024 U.S. Open, United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan reaffirmed his organization's intentions to continue to rein in the dramatic increases in hitting distance golf has experienced across all levels of play - and especially at the elite levels - in recent years.
Last December, the USGA and R&A jointly locked in their intentions to roll back the distance a golf ball is able to be hit by an estimated 5%, with golf balls needing to satisfy new testing parameters in order to be used in competition starting in January 2028 and taking effect for all golfers in January 2030.
Whan added a glimpse at potential future regulations in the USGA's annual pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.
"I would say comfortably speaking for both Martin [Slumbers, head of the R&A] and I, we had and have real interest in figuring out a way to provide a difference as it relates to the driver, as well.," Whan said.
Far from any official statement of intentions, Whan nevertheless signaled that the USGA's efforts to right-size golf equipment regulations in order to preserve the world's great championship golf courses for future generations of competitors are ongoing, and that last year's resolution on the golf ball is not the end of the project.
In the wake of December's announcement on the golf ball, voices across golf arose to point out that the driver also needs to be addressed. In the last quarter of a century, it has bloated in size up to a limit of 460 cubic centimeters. Contemporary drivers have huge sweet spots and space-age materials in both clubhead and shaft that can catapult a golf ball farther downrange with control than was ever thought possible in the past.
When he won the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, Payne Stewart averaged about 255 yards off the tee, which was slightly below the field average. Fifteen years later, 2014 champion Martin Kaymer averaged slightly above field average at 305 yards - a colossal 50-yard difference.
On Wednesday, Whan did not commit to a specific plan or timeline for driver regulation recommendations, but acknowledged that they have been on the USGA and R&A's minds before they focused mainly on instituting new golf ball regulations.
"We shelved it for now because we thought it was time to make a decision and put it on there, but we didn't retire the idea," Whan said. "We just didn't, quite frankly, have an idea that we believed was worthy of going to the market yet. But I would just put a 'yet' on that statement."
Commentary: Bringing challenge back to driving will make the game more fun to watch
Having grown up playing golf through the era of seemingly ever-expanding driver heads, count me as completely in favor of the USGA and R&A assessing the size and trampoline effects of driver heads. For the vast majority of the history of golf, the longest club in the bag also happened to be the toughest to hit straight. All it takes is common sense and a moment's thought to see that the club with the biggest downrange potential (reward) should require more skill to keep in the fairway (risk).
But for nearly two decades, at least at the elite end of the golf spectrum, the driver has been easier to hit than any other club. With modern drivers nearly three times as large as 3 woods, of course the sweet spot is going to be colossal, relatively speaking. So big, in fact, that great players are now incentivized to chase speed and distance almost indiscriminately, because they know what would have been a catastrophic mishit with the drivers of yesteryear is going to be eminently findable today.
This over-preferencing of power has made golf's talent pool less diverse. Modern U.S. Open champions like Payne Stewart or Corey Pavin simply could not hope to compete with their precise, wily styles of play. That's wrong, and it's great that the USGA and R&A know it needs fixing. It cannot be a coincidence that companies like TaylorMade have recently dabbled with 300cc "mini-driver" builds. I wonder if equipment companies can sense a future where 300cc is a new maximum driver head size. In such a future, great drivers would be able to separate themselves from mediocre ones far more than they can now. Hitting long, straight drives would be a properly exciting shot, rather than one we are being taught to take for granted because it is becoming all too common.
What would future regulations on driver head size mean for regular golfers? In my opinion, the USGA and R&A would likely enact an across-the-board rollback for all golfers. If that sounds upsetting to you, you should register your discontent not with the governing bodies, but with the PGA Tour and PGA of America, whose vehement opposition to bifurcation on the golf ball led directly to the USGA's across-the-board ball rollback position.
Whan made this point crystal-clear in Wednesday's press conference. "Our actions were we came out and were pretty strong in the idea of an MLR, an individual ball that we played at a higher level and nothing at the recreational level," he said, adding that the PGA Tour and PGA of America both put golf ball bifurcation "on the top of their list of concerns."
In response to this pushback, the USGA and R&A enacted an across-the-board rollback, which I would assume will be exactly what happens when the governing bodies address the driver. "I think not only do we respect their opinions," Whan said of the PGA Tour and PGA of America, "but their opinions fundamentally shaped the final outcome."
Are you for or against regulating driver head size and its distance capabilities? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments (5)
Why change the equipment. Most non pro golfers can’t hit a ball out of their shadow. For the pro golfer make the courses more difficult. Tighten the landing area by bringing in the rough.
The game of golf isn't challenging enough for the average recreational player and the time it takes to play 18 holes doesn't take enough time. Let's change the equipment, make it more challenging, and take upwards of a full day to get in 18 holes. I don't think the courses would mind cutting their traffic down 50%.
Hi Chuck - which takes longer: walking 6,500 yards or walking 7,500 yards? If you want golf to take less time, you should be in favor of anything that incentivizes golf courses getting shorter. If you want golf to take all day, by all means, keep rooting for courses to get longer and longer!
You keep saying driver head size. That is not the issue. The sweet spot is. The sweet spot should be reduced to match the size of the ceramic inserts used in the old wooden clubs. Not just the driver. This should have been done when metal woods were first introduced. Major League baseball did it right when aluminum bats came out and required MLB use wooden bats. There are probably many players on the PGA tour that would not be there if the sweet spot reduced. A great example is when a player hits a 350 yard drive in the fairway and then has a wedge to the green. But either misses the green or is on green but far from the hole. I recall Jack Nicklaus seeing that and saying he doesn't understand how bad the wedge shot is. I say it is because the player is not really great. The massive sweet spot on the driver makes up for an OK swing allowing player to swing all out and get away with it.
Leave the game alone, narrow fairway's, longer ruff.