Increasing Athleticism! Then How Are Geezers Picking Up Yards?

With the tour in town I haven't had a chance to read the USGA/R&A distance report, so I'm relying on Mike Stachura's take at GolfDigest.com. It's fascinating to see that those suggesting distances are changing were labeled distance "truthers", implying a conspiratorial element.

That description is even more peculiar given this:

To clarify, the PGA Tour driving distance average has grown by 2.8 yards from 2013-’16, or 0.7 yards per year. In that same time frame, the PGA Tour Champions has seen a 5.7-yard increase, or nearly 1.5 yards per year, while the Web.com Tour is up 2.1 yards since 2013, or better than half-a-yard per year.

So the not-flatbellies of the PGA Tour Champions have picked up five yards in four seasons--once an eye-opening number--yet we are to believe athleticism is driving many increases as opposed to the manufacturers and Trackman out-maneuvering the governing bodies?

The Distance Report specifically breaks down distance into several groups, including the percentage of 300-yard drives as tracked by the European Tour and PGA Tour. Most notable is how the PGA Tour with 31.2 percent of its drives longer than 300 yards in 2016 shows nearly a 17-percent increase since 2003.

When the 2003 Joint Statement of Principles was issued by the organizations it discussed the skill word, the significant word and the statement did not care what caused increases. A 17 percent increase is, apparently, not significant.

As well, the number of players averaging more than 300 yards for the season has increased. In 2003, that number was nine. That figure was 13 in 2008, 21 in 2011 and 25 in 2014. By 2016, it had tripled to 27. This year’s number (38) is actually about 20 percent fewer than a year ago (47).

But back to increasing athleticism. From the USGA's John Spitzer:

“We do not have a trigger and there’s no contemplation of one, but clearly even if you look at this slow creep of one foot a year and attributed that to athleticism, in 20 years you’re going to have a seven-yard increase,” he said. “Athleticism is still going to increase and at some point it may need to be addressed, just not as an equipment issue but as a pure distance issue long term.”

How did the Joint Statement of Principles fail to address the long term?

USGA & R&A Declare Distance Gains Not Happening, And Positively No One Is Taking Them Seriously At This Point

These kids today? So cynical!

I remember the good old days when the USGA and R&A would dump one of their heaping piles of horse manure on our laps and it would be me, a few architects and the late, great Frank Hannigan calling them out. Well, thankfully while I was busy chasing some fun stories around Riviera today, others gave away time they'll never get back in their lives to point out just how absurd our governing bodies' latest report appears.

Before we get there, For Immediate Release:

USGA and The R&A Publish Research on Driving Distance in Golf

FAR HILLS, N.J. and ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND (February 15, 2017) -  The USGA and The R&A have published their annual review of driving distance, a research document that reports important findings on driving distance in golf.

Introduced last year, the review examines driving distance data from seven of the major professional golf tours, based on approximately 285,000 drives per year. Data from studies of male and female amateur golfers has also been included for the first time.

Key facts noted in the paper include:

Between 2003 and the end of the 2016 season, average driving distance on five of the seven tours has increased by approximately 1.2%, around 0.2 yards per year.

For the same time period, average driving distance on the other two tours studied decreased by approximately 1.5%.

Looking at all of the players who are ranked for distance on the PGA TOUR and PGA European Tour, the amount by which players are “long” or “short” has not changed – for instance, since 2003 the 10 shortest players in that group are about 6% shorter than average, while the 10 longest players in the group are about 7% longer than average. The statistics are not skewed toward either longer or shorter players.

The average launch conditions on the PGA TOUR – clubhead speed, launch angle, ball speed and ball backspin – have been relatively stable since 2007. The 90th-percentile clubhead speed coupled with the average launch angle and spin rate are very close to the conditions that The R&A and the USGA, golf’s governing bodies, use to test golf balls under the Overall Distance Standard.

Mike Davis, executive director/CEO of the USGA, said, “We appreciate the collaboration we have received, industry-wide, to access and review this data to benefit the entire golf community, which can be used to both educate golfers and advance the game.”

Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said, “In the interests of good governance and transparency it is important that we continue to provide reliable data and facts about driving distance in golf.

“Driving distance remains a topic of discussion within the game and the review provides accurate data to help inform the debate.”

Furthermore, Governor William J. Lepotomane chimed in: "Gentleman, this study is the finest of its kind ever published!"

Now, I write to you from Riviera where, when I started hitting balls on the driving range tee in the late 80s, a 10-12 foot fence was in place. Then it went to 40 or so feet in the 90s, 80 feet in the 2000's and since 2012, for the PGA Tour's annual February visit, a special extension is added to raise the driving range fence to 120 feet.

The same fence extension will be needed this August when the U.S. Amateur comes to Riviera. Here's guessing the USGA would not appreciate an invoice to cover the cost of installing a temporary addition since, after all, today's report says recent distance gains are a figment of our imagination.

Reading today's report, GolfChannel.com's Will Gray writes more presciently than he probably realizes given that the USGA leans so hard on its outside PR firms to spin certain news:

As any PR firm can attest, statistics are a versatile tool. Choose the right data points, frame the right time period, and you can quantify support for nearly any argument. Such is the case with this study, the second in as many years released by the game’s governing bodies and one that simply continues to miss the point.

And I enjoyed this key point by Gray:

The study’s data focuses not on distance outliers, but instead on the large swath in the middle where, for the PGA Tour, the average drive reportedly lingers around 290 yards. But those top-end outliers have become increasingly noticeable in recent years as more and more marquee players launch towering drives.

A whopping 27 players cracked the 300-yard average last season on Tour, 15 more than the 2010 season and 18 more than in 2003. Individual drives over 300 yards, which made up just 26.56 percent of tee shots in 2003, accounted for 31.14 percent last season.

Then there’s Rory McIlroy tweeting out other-worldly Trackman data, Dustin Johnson bending Oakmont to his will and Henrik Stenson lifting the claret jug by relying not on his driver, but instead his trusty 3-wood.

And don’t forget about Ariya Jutanugarn, who powered her way to LPGA Player of the Year honors while barely touching her driver in 2016, mostly hitting 2-irons off the tee.

Those are data points that the study fails to address, although the findings insist that PGA Tour players hit driver on “measured” driving holes more than 95 percent of the time last year.

James Hahn even took to Twitter to agree:

Interesting. But does the study show what clubs were used off the tee? A drive off the tee could be with 3 wood or 2 iron. #misleading https://t.co/8zBjU6iKNA

— James Hahn (@JamesHahnPGA) February 16, 2017

Rex Hoggard talked to players and equipment reps at Riviera and noted the skepticism about the USGA/R&A launch conditions take.

According to multiple equipment representatives from various companies, the average golf ball spin for a driver on Tour is down about 500 rpm from ’03, while the average launch on drives is up between 2 and 4 degrees. Without getting lost in the science of the golf swing and new technology, lower spin and higher launch means more distance and it’s the players with the highest clubhead speed that enjoy the greatest benefit from this evolution.

Put another way, more clubhead speed is the byproduct of better athletes, not better equipment, and modern technology can be maximized for these players, which at least partially explains why the number of players averaging 300-plus yard drivers has tripled since 2003.

“You have kids like Justin Thomas who are using their bodies in ways that we weren’t taught and they swing for pure distance with their drivers,” said Johnson Wagner, who only half-jokingly refers to himself as a “dinosaur.”

“I think it’s working out, it’s launch monitors, it’s coaching. I don’t think it’s equipment; the clubs are what they are and have been for the last 10 years. It’s just everything and there’s nothing you can do.”

Oh don't be so sure!

Muirfield's Membership: Savage Brand Of Self-Satire?

The Honourable Company will be voting again later this month to potentially admit female members and The Guardian's Marina Hyde has moved beyond the bothered stage, having shifted to enjoyment of the club's stubborn ways. (Thanks to reader TM for sending.)

A majority of members have voted in favor of allowing females to join. But as Hyde recounts, the holdouts, who have prevented the move from occurring and Muirfield to rejoin the Open rota, are viewed...lightly.

On club membership, I am an unapologetic Marxist (Groucho, not Karl), and since the R&A have rightly removed Muirfield from the Open rota, this spectacle has become much more self-harming than anything else. Indeed, the good gentlemen of Muirfield should be under absolutely no illusion: watching their twice-yearly insistence on making pillocks of themselves is a hundred times more entertaining sport than anything that could be viewed on their course. If they feel they must persist in this particularly savage brand of self-satire, then it is not for us to impede their journey.

Public Service Reminder: The DJ Local Rule Is Now Available

There have been many victims but none more famous than Dustin Johnson, therefore it's as much his local rule as anyone elses. Happy New Year DJ!

The full text of ball-accidentally-moves-on-putting-green rule. The USGA is also offering a video explanation and infographic on the rule and available for North American courses.

Granted, the accidental movement problem is generally only a regular issue at greens Stimping over 12 or where HD cameras are watching play.

Still, invoke the local rule, please...

Local Rule! Intent! The R&A And USGA Wisely Relent On Accidental Ball Movement

The governing bodies have long resisted introducing the question of intent to the Rules of Golf. They've also been loathe to introduce Local Rules because players have shown a tendency to not understand read them and not all courses get the message (but they do often lead to progressive Rules shifts).

But with one smart gesture preventing the game from three more years of silliness (until the next Rules of Golf update), they've introduced a local rule that eliminates a penalty for accidental ball movements. While it'll inevitably be dubbed the Dustin Johnson rule, there were many victims along the way.

Josh Sens at Golf.com scored an exclusive (well, embargoed) interview with the USGA's Thomas Pagel who wisely doesn't shy away from the motivation.

"Oakmont certainly did bring the matter to a lot of people's attention, and it did prompt us toward further conversation," Pagel said.

Phil Casey with this account of the change and quotes the R&A David Rickman:

"It was certainly a very difficult case but within the rules environment it was more the repetition of incidents rather than one or two which was of greater concern.

"We had one or two situations at the Open which happened the following month, a couple at the Olympics.

The full press release:

New Local Rule Eliminates Penalty for a Player Who Accidentally Causes a Ball to Move on the Putting Green

FAR HILLS, N.J. (Dec. 8, 2016) – The USGA and The R&A today announced the introduction of a new Local Rule that eliminates the penalty when a ball is accidentally moved on the putting green.

The Local Rule will be available for any committee in charge of a competition to use starting Jan. 1, 2017. It will be adopted by the USGA and The R&A in all of their championships, qualifying competitions and international matches.

“Eliminating this penalty responds to the concerns we have heard from both golfers and committees about the difficulties in applying the current Rules when a player accidentally causes a ball to move on the putting green,” said Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status, said. “This change is a good example of the type of Rules Modernization changes we hope to implement after completing our fundamental review of all of the Rules. We are looking for ways to improve the Rules by making them easier to understand and apply.”

David Rickman, executive director - Governance at The R&A, said, “For the past several years, as part of The R&A and USGA’s Rules Modernization initiative, we have considered the penalty for a ball that is accidentally moved on the putting green. Both Rules Committees agreed that it needed to be changed and decided that in this particular case it was important to act now, through a Local Rule, rather than wait for the next overall set of revisions to the Rules of Golf.”

The Local Rule has been welcomed by all of the major tours worldwide, and the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America and the Masters Tournament are among the golf organizations that will implement the Local Rule for all future events, beginning Jan.1, 2017.  

If a committee wishes to introduce this Local Rule, the following wording is recommended:

“Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:

When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.

The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.

This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.

Note: If it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.”

For more information about the new Local Rule, including explanatory diagrams, videos and a detailed question-and-answer document, please visit www.usga.org/2017localrule.

Now we just have to get the word out to all golf courses, though this is really largely an issue where High Definition television and people who don't hit the ball any longer than they did five years ago converge with greens Stimping 14.

Report: USGA, R&A Proposing Club Shortening

Mike Stachura reports on the October notice sent to manufacturers proposing the shortening of maximum club length to 46.5 inches to combat a distance explosion that isn't happening, but apparently would be the deal-killer should all elite players go to 48 inches.

Stachura writes:

The notice makes the case that a universal switch to the current limit of 48 inches by professional players would result in an increase in driving distance of “as much as six yards.” They did not note any potential change in accuracy. It is generally believed that longer golf clubs are less accurate, especially at driver length.

Once again, anything not to touch the ball.

As Stachura notes, less accuracy comes with longer clubs, so why restrict someone from a longer club? Particularly when the Joint Statement of Principles was once concerned with protecting accuracy?

It's similar to players choosing to go to 64 degree wedges, where the increased chance of missing offsets any distinct and consistent de-skilling of the game.

R&A Lowers The Open Prices For (Some) Millennials!

Last year they rolled out their festival housing concept to not much enthusiasm while still charging a lot for tickets. For the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale, the R&A is hopefully setting the stage for more organizations to target younger ticket purchasers. Now, if we could just get the R&A to also offer a nice weekday ticket for seniors...

For Immediate Release:

GOLF’S OLDEST CHAMPIONSHIP EVEN MORE OPEN FOR NEXT GENERATION OF FANS

21 September 2016, St Andrews, Scotland:  Tickets for The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale will go on general sale tomorrow, 22 September 2016, at 9:00 am with a variety of different ticketing options and early season prices available.  For under-25s, The Open is more accessible than ever with Youth Tickets extended from 16 – 21 years of age to 16 – 24 year olds and The R&A is once again providing free camping accommodation for Youth Ticket holders.

Sports fans should have 16-23 July 2017 firmly in their diaries as Champion Golfer of the Year, Henrik Stenson will look to defend the title he won in record-breaking fashion following a gripping duel with Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon in 2016. The world’s best golfers will join him next summer at Royal Birkdale as they compete for the most coveted prize in golf, the Claret Jug.

More than 200,000 spectators are expected to come together across the magnificent dunes of Royal Birkdale, arguably The Open’s best viewing course.

Spectators can secure their place at The Open from tomorrow at TheOpen.com and take advantage of early season pricing. Adult daily tickets will be available from £15 for Practice Days (16-19 July) and £60 for Championship Days (20-23 July).

Fans will enjoy £5 off the price of their ticket if they purchase with a MasterCard – the official card of The Open.

Weekly tickets, covering the whole Championship - Sunday 16 to Sunday 23 July - are available for £230 before 28 February, a saving of £105 on the daily ticket prices for the full week.

A limited number of Twilight Tickets will also be on offer providing access to the evening action from 4:00 pm onward on Thursday and Friday of the Championship for only £25.

The Open offers a number of incentives to welcome the next generation of golf fans to the Championship, including the Kids Go Free initiative, which provides free admission to children under the age of 16.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said: “We are very much looking forward to another exciting Championship next summer when The Open returns to Royal Birkdale for the tenth time. The course offers a tremendous viewing experience for spectators and it has produced many of The Open’s finest Champions including Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Peter Thomson and Padraig Harrington.

“Our aim is to deliver the best possible experience for golf fans and to ensure that the Championship remains affordable and accessible. There are few sports events in the world where fans can get so close to the star names. Innovations including the Sky Open Zone practice area and player Autograph Zone will return in 2017. Reduced early season pricing, our Kids Go Free policy and free camping accommodation for under-25s are also part of that commitment.”

A limited number of official hospitality packages are also available providing the very best on-course locations to experience The 146th Open, including the exclusive Claret Jug Pavilion at Royal Birkdale’s first tee and the stylish, relaxed atmosphere of the Champions Club.  For more information visit www.TheOpen.com/Hospitality.

Tickets will go on sale from 9:00 am BST tomorrow, Thursday 22 September. For more information, to purchase tickets and for full ticket terms and conditions please visit www.TheOpen.com/Tickets.

Kostis: "The USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn."

If you can get Golf.com to hold still for a second and stop playing irrelevant videos, this Peter Kostis piece on the current state of golf's rules is worth a read.

Strong words here on how the rules seem to no longer be our friend, but instead, the golfer's enemy:

In addition to updating the "Ball at Rest Moved By Player, Partner, Caddie or Equipment" rule (18-2), which went into effect at the start of this year, the USGA also decreed that you may no longer post scores for handicap purposes if you play by yourself. It's another example of the governing bodies looking over our shoulders, like Big Brother. Apparently, they don't consider golfers to be trustworthy. So we have an issue: Golf is either the pristine, righteous game they proclaim it to be, or it's not—in which case the USGA and R&A look like ambulance chasers, eager to find fault with you at every turn. The latter mentality mocks everything the game is supposed to stand for.

Rota Fun: Clubs May Be Getting Annoyed With Stingy R&A

Lewine Mair in Global Golf Post considers the Muirfield situation and, it turns out, that the vote over female members might have been tainted by members feeling the R&A hasn't been generous enough.

Included in the overheard gripes: only one free pass per member. She also talks to a member at another rota course and it's not just the famous club in Scotland that feels the R&A, enjoying plenty of revenues, should be more generous with the courses hosting The Open.