USGA Head: "It does make you wonder what golf courses will look like if we stay on this trajectory."
While new USGA President Mark Newell touched on concerns about distance at the association's annual meeting, Executive Director Mike Davis did the heavier lifting. Continuing his full-frontal attack on expanding golf's footprint, Davis largely backed up comments he made in 2017. 
Golf.com's Dylan Dethier reports from Miami on the key comments in Davis' address.
"We all love hitting the ball far, but distance is all relative," he said. "I remember watching Jack Nicklaus, when he really got a hold of one maybe it went 280. That was the long ball then, and the long ball now is a lot longer."
Any potential rules change limiting technology would be sure to cause a stir among equipment manufacturers, who Davis said will be consulted throughout the process. But he was clear that he sees the issue of distance as a threat to the game at every level.
"This isn't just about the male elite game," he said. "It just isn't."
It looks like the U.S. Open's return to Shinnecock, recently narrowed after low scoring at Erin Hills, will be a point of comparison for the USGA in trying to convince those on the fence:
"An astonishing, perhaps even sobering example close to home will be this summer's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills that will be played at over 7,400 yards," Davis said. "One hundred and twenty-two years ago at the 1896 U.S. Open, care to guess Shinnecock's total yardage? 4,423 yards. Now, don't read too much into that – I don't want to see a headline next week saying the USGA is proposing going back to hickories and gutta-percha balls in the future, but it does make you wonder what golf courses will look like if we stay on this trajectory."
Davis talked to Golf Live's Ryan Asselta regarding driving distance and while Davis slightly walked back some comments made to the Wall Street Journal, the overall take from these on-the-record comments is this: something is brewing.
Monday, February 5, 2018 at 08:51 PM
Reader Comments (20)
What Davis is saying today was evident years back. His organization ( a tribe of institutional inbreeding and gutless thinking) failed the game then and will likely fail it now. This is pure hot air for the benefit of headlines and attention.
They are mostly interested in keeping their coffers and gin glasses full, putting their public face (Davis) out to verbally appease, and their legacies of indifference and incremental change intact....little more. Any deviation from the script will be met with torturous rejection from the next exclusive club application. Little to see here...move along.
I wish "long ball's"' clairvoyance wasn't so depressingly brilliant.
Hey, "long ball" could you locate the barn door key for the USGA? They just noticed the horse is long gone.
Not really: Housing developments and "upscale" strip malls with tasteful landscaping.
Leave courses alone. Let scores go lower for the pros. It's just a number. The 90% of golfers who are average or below players will benefit from better equipment.
The only courses that get changed are those where members vanity demands that par is protected. Let them pay for it.
We'll see what moves the USGA takes, if any. I do think it's fair to ask the question "Is more better?"
And I think it's time to at least partially correct a misconception that's been floating around for a while. I don't believe there is more of a distance gap between tour pros and very good amateurs than in the past. I'm a single digit player (was as low a 1.5, now about a 7). I'm now in my mid 50s and in pretty good shape. I can still hit it 300+ with my new driver (1x or 2x a round) and my $4 ball. So every now and then I still want to play the back tees and see if I can *almost* do what the best in the world do. That has always been part of the appeal of the game for me. I don't kid myself - I can't hit it as far as Rahm or DJ, but guess what - neither can most of the guys on tour. Back in the 60s, very few pros could it as far as Jack. I can still get it out there with my contemporaries on the senior tour. My son is an accomplished competitive player. He and his 20 something buddies regularly hit it 325+ off the tee and outclub me by 2 or 3. I'd posit that the canard that there are two "very different" games for long hitting, low handicap amateurs and the touring pros is no more true today than it was 40, 30 or 20 years ago. Of course it's different for the average 20 handicapper. It always has been.
That long-lost key would be found with by colonoscopy...Try Walt Driver or Fred Ridley.
Btw.....I'd be happy with Mike Davis talking if it wasn't 99% jawboning. Mike isn't going to risk his cushy spot to convince the inbreds to actually spend the money and tell the OEMs to tone it back. Nor is he going to jeopardize his platter of memberships (PVGC, Seminole, Baltusrol?, Trump Bedminster) by doing much more than flapping the jaw.
It isn't?
Go to an LPGA event and see how far 80% of the field hits a driver. 230-240? And these are the finest female players on the planet.
It IS _just_ about the elite male game.
So the idea is pickelball golf - a much reduced distance ball (think gutty) played from tees that would measure 4500 to 5000. It would be played (by everyone) on a course a couple of afternoons a week. It would be favored by golfers who enjoy playing 18 in 3 hours. It would require small tees to be built to accommodate the "gutty" ball.
One would simply walk (drive) up to the designated Pickleball golf tee, and play away. I think that this would be great recreationally for a cross section of golfers - playing with a spouse, playing with only a few hours to spare, playing just for the fun of it.
I like your name; I don't like your remark.
By the way, I also play hickory - like you. Without wearing plus fours - like you.