Monty: "There is a one-dimensional quality to it that was never the case back in my day."

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GolfDigest.com’s John Huggan talked to Colin Montgomerie about a wide range of topics and since this is a state of the game blog, I’d be remiss in now sharing this which includes some vintage third personspeak. But that should not take away from the essence of what he’s saying:

“And it has gotten worse since then,” he continued. “Not worse. Although that’s me saying that it has. Now they’re hitting wedges. I see them all on the range. There’s 131 of them this week—because I’m 132nd—and they all seem to play the same game and in the same way. There is a one-dimensional quality to it that was never the case back in my day. I know I sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but golf never used to be one-dimensional. It’s not the same now. It’s all about brute force.”

Indeed, like so many of his generation, Monty bemoans the relative lack of nuance and subtlety present in modern-day tour golf. He yearns to see players “holding up” mid-irons against left-to-right breezes, displaying the artistry that has been lost amidst so much science.

“I don’t think ‘peak Monty’ would do as well on this tour as he did when he played here full-time,” he said. “I would have to find a way to add more distance, just to compete. Nick Faldo would be the same. And so would Luke Donald, even more so. Luke holed everything for 18 months and got to World No. 1, which is hugely commendable. But how he did it was never going to be a sustainable formula. Not now anyway. Luke couldn’t survive now. And neither would I. I’d have to adapt. I’d have to become one of those guys on the range hitting the ball the same way as everyone else.”

OEM's Launch Latest AI-Infused Tungsten Cartridge Speed Frame Jailbreak Stealth Twistface Carbonwoods Guaranteed To Go Longer, Straighter

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As we inch closer to a decision based on the Distance Insights Study, just about any decision will lead to from Carlsbad even as they stare at record profits, give little back to the charitable side of the game and account for maybe 10% over the overall golf “business”.

So with that inevitable sobbing to come, perhaps as soon as May, the January 4th launches by Taylormade and Callaway—with their partners at the independent media operations hoping they’ll buy ads—will be good to file away for safe keeping.

Traditionally when any form of rulemaking is discussed to keep certain skills and courses relevant, the manufacturers claim they’ve maxed out the technology. When they want your $600, the technology is breakthrough, stealth, AI infused and almost guaranteed to add distance and lower spin.

The various golf publications peddled it all as usual. There was this from a Taylormade engineer to keep in mind as they phase out Titanium for the next great innovation, speaking to Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura.

THE DEEP DIVE: The titanium face driver, the golf industry’s staple since the mid-1990s, has run its course. So says TaylorMade’s team of engineers who in fits and starts over the past 20 years have been pursuing something they say is not merely entirely different from titanium, but of course, fundamentally better. As Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation, puts it, referencing the famous “S Curve” for innovation, “We knew the S curve for Ti was ending and the S Curve for carbon-composite faces was beginning.”

Kind of like the bubble shaft! Until it wasn’t.

Look, these are good people who have to come up with something to differentiate their product. But the numbers also do not lie: the engineers are very good at what they do and know how to arm today’s elites with equipment they hit longer by just going on a launch monitor and testing.

So this spring when their bosses, only thinking of shareholder value, claim distance has peaked and how there’s nothing to see here, just remember January 4th’s claims and supporting coverage.

Even Tiger chimed in as part of launch day:

And Callaway has introduced a new Chrome Soft that you guessed it, goes longer even though the ball has hit its limit whenever the USGA and R&A are thought to be changing any equipment rules.

From Andrew Tursky at Golf.com, after explaining how Callaway studied its off-core Chrome Softs to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But there was this regarding the new Chrome Soft X:

So, Callaway listened. Without changing the spin profile at all, Callaway was able to increase driver ball speed by 0.7 mph due to the new core in the 2022 version.

And regarding the new and improved Chrome Soft X LS:

According to Callaway, the new Chrome Soft X LS increases driver speed by 0.8 mph, reduces driver spin by 130 rpm, and reduces iron spin by 120 rpm compared to the previous version.

"There will be solutions but this is not that solution. What they are, we’re not sure yet, but this is not it."

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Mike Stachura covers a lot of ground on the driver length “Model Local Rule” here, including early signs of more players going longer, the supportive stance of the PGA Tour, and the overall theme of this as a proactive move instead of reactive.

If that wasn’t clear, this from the USGA’s Thomas Pagel leaves no grey area about what lies ahead.

“We’re committed to our desire to stop the cycle of increased hitting distances. We have the long-term health of the game in mind. How is the game healthy 20, 50, 100 years from now. That’s something we \remain committed to. We know elite players can achieve distance increases through using a longer club, and as an industry as we go through the critical conversation about the long-term health of the game and what role distance plays with that, we just thought it was best to cap this now while we have the rest of that discussion.”

46 Inches: USGA, R&A Announce Local Rule Option For The Elites

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As I wrote yesterday in a Quadrilateral for all to see, the most interesting news in capping non-putter length clubs at 46 inches is not what it will do to distances, but what this means for distance politics.

Besides setting a precedent of different rules for “those running professional or elite amateur golf competitions”, we now get to see whether the “Model Local Rule” is adopted. Already, reports GolfDigest.com’s Mike Stachura, the PGA Tour has signed on despite what will amounts to a mid-season rule change, citing low usage of drivers longer than 46 inches. That’s a huge Rules of Golf endorsement from the Global Home. And while they won’t say it, this is bifurcation of the rules. Yes, the big, nasty B word!

Next up, we’ll see what Augusta National, the PGA of America and various other tours say. Golf Digest reached out for comment and only the PGA of America replied, saying a decision will be made before their 2022 events.

For those keeping track of such things, the 48-to-46 capping came six months and one day after the end comment period ended (it had been extended a month to April). A similar comment period ends on a range of more substantial distance questions posed by the USGA and R&A, so put Tuesday May 3, 2022 down in your calendars.

Here is the rule, length tolerance and penalty language.

For Immediate Release:

THE USGA AND THE R&A ANNOUNCE NEW MODEL LOCAL RULE OPTION FOR LIMITING CLUB LENGTH

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (Oct. 12, 2021) – The USGA and The R&A have announced that a new Model Local Rule (MLR G-10) will be available beginning on January 1, 2022 to provide those running professional or elite amateur golf competitions the option of limiting the maximum length of a golf club (excluding putters) to 46 inches. 

The proposal was announced in February 2021, which opened a notice-and-comment period to allow the industry the opportunity to provide feedback as part of the equipment rulemaking procedures. The comments received from the golf industry, including players, professional tours and equipment manufacturers, were carefully considered before the decision to proceed with the new MLR was reached.

New acronym alert!

The USGA and The R&A issued an Area of Interest notice in 2014 indicating that research was being conducted into the impact of club lengths of more than 48 inches on hitting distance and whether that limit remained appropriate.

Only took seven years to reach the finish line…

A proposed change to the limit was subsequently put forward in 2016 but was put on hold in 2017 when the Distance Insights project got underway.

Mike Whan, chief executive officer of the USGA, said, “We’ve worked closely with our industry partners to ensure the future for golf remains strong. Admittedly, this is not the ‘answer’ to the overall distance debate/issue, but rather a simple option for competitive events. It’s important to note that it is not a ‘Rule of Golf,’ and as such, it is not mandated for the average, recreational golfer. Rather, this is an available tool for those running competitive events.” 

Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said, “We have taken time to consult fully with the golf industry, including players, the main professional tours and equipment manufacturers, and have considered their feedback carefully. We believe this is the right thing for the game at this time and will provide tournament organizers with the flexibility to choose for themselves within the framework of the Rules. We are working hard to maintain an open, collaborative and considered dialogue with these key stakeholders as we continue to evolve the Equipment Standards Rules to ensure they reflect the modern game.”

And they still won’t be happy.

The proposals submitted in February for changes to the testing method for golf balls and the testing tolerance for spring-like effect are still under consideration. The governing bodies plan to consider feedback on these proposals in line with the responses to the broader Area of Interest – Research Topics notification, which are due by November 2.

Whan Expands On USGA's Role In Distance Debate, Provides Timeline Update

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New USGA CEO Mike Whan continued his busy interview schedule, this time, appearing on the Fried Egg podcast with Andy Johnson to talk distance.

This is not going to please those who feel restoring lost skill or design dynamics is needed:

“I think we’re going to establish some guidelines. I think those guidelines are probably going to slow some of the pace of progress over the next 10 or 20 years.

But are [equipment manufacturers] going to figure ways around that to continue to push the envelope? I’m actually counting on it because I think that’s what makes the game exciting. I also think that I have a responsibility to make sure that, when you look at [this issue] over the next 50 years, the decisions we made to control some of that pace didn’t obsolete every course in the country.”

As previous generations of the USGA leadership have felt but ultimately were unable to back-up with action.

Regarding timing:

”I think at this time next year, next summer, we’ll be talking about some real specific suggestions, recommendations, and be going through the same process [of taking feedback]. In the beginning, we put out the distance results. We then talked about some of the areas we want to look at. We’ve listened to feedback. I think, come this off-season, we’ll take all that feedback in and try to determine some specific directions. And then we’ll do the same thing. We’ll put it out there and let people [give] feedback.”

The suspense is not killing us.

He’s taken an interesting tact on where courses are built going forward, which I think would have been practical for his predecessors some time ago to acknowledge. Today? I’m not sure enough are going to be built for this to matter, but the sentiment is appreciated:

“More importantly, do you think there’ll ever be an urban golf course built again if it needs 8,600 yards to build the golf course? People say to me, “Well, you don’t need 86 [hundred] unless you’re building a golf course for the top elite.” But I’ve never met somebody who’s got a plan to build a golf course who doesn’t want to have a course that can host major championships. I just don’t think we want to make this game only a suburban game, only a game for the wealthy.”

Whan also spoke of finding a place in the equipment rules that have engineers working hard to circumvent the rules in the spirit of innovation and “energy”. Kind of like they’ve been doing for the last thirty years.

“But I think my job is to make sure that there’s as much energy about the future of this game three years from now as there is today, and 20 years from now as there is today. I want engineers to wake up every morning and say, ‘I see the rules that he put in place, but I’m going to spend a lot of hours today working on how to get excitement even within that space.’ I can’t throw a wet blanket over that or I’ll lose one of the things that makes this game truly exciting and great. If I see a package under the Christmas tree that looks like a golf club, I’m just like anybody else: I get pretty excited about ripping it open because maybe there’s two strokes of handicap in that box. And I don’t want to lose that excitement.”

Shop to drop (your handicap)!

Of course, that’s been the approach of the last few decades and average handicaps have not dropped substantially but costs have gone up. And until the pandemic, the number of people playing has steadily dropped under this approach. One born out of feeding the desires of public-traded companies, not necessarily the majority of golfers.

You can listen to the full pod here:

"Patrick Cantlay won $15 million using golf equipment that is up to seven years old"

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Once the Ryder Cup is behind us all signs point to the distance discussion heating up and Golfweek’s David Dusek added some fun grist with this story on Patrick Cantlay’s bag.

It seems the FedExCup winner is playing old stuff which is the endorsement industry equivalent of stepping on the first tee with dirty toilet paper stuck to your shoe.

In most other worlds it would be a compliment that something made not that long ago was still so functional it delivered a $15 million payday for its user. Heck, most timeless brands take pride in the timelessness of the product.

But this it a planned obsolescence business driven by appeasing perceived Wall Street demands and the whole permanence thing is bad for business. Always something to remember as the whining begins this fall about stifled innovation , the end of growing the game, infringing on the rights of athletes, blah blah blah…

It’s quite a sob story until you realize someone played great golf with what most manufacturers consider antiquated equipment.

Yet if they were offered some bifurcation to free up the opportunity to innovate? They won’t like that either.

Shock Finding: You're Only As Athletic As The Driver You're Playing

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Golf.com’s Andrew Tursky “wanted to see how much driver technology has actually increased distance over the years” and conducted a test to find out.

He took five Taylormade drivers from different years over to True Spec Golf—company man!—and used a Foresight launch monitor to gather his data.

While you should hit the link to understand his approach and results, the biggest takeaway involved the leap from the 2004 R7’s Quad carry distance, which jumped 22.1 yards from 264.2 to 2021’s SIM2’s 286.3. The overall distance jump of 25.4 yards from 285.4 to 310.8 Tursky found would suggest:

(A) it’s not all the ball

(B) His athleticism really fluctuates as he changes clubs, not coincidentally

(C) The helping agronomy also was totally inconsistent between shots

Anyway, nice research on how different drivers react.

Phil Still Upset About Possibly Losing 1.5 Inches Off His (Driver) Shaft, Now Wants The Golf Ball Targeted

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Interesting twist in Phil Mickelson’s crusade against a proposed rule change yet to be proposed as far as I know: change the golf ball.

Last week he randomly took on the notion of a 46-inch shaft limit and this week, with his tennis court and palm trees as a backdrop, continued his battle for the everyday golfer against an unproposed proposal.

This week he starts off with some batty analogy about New York City crime rates and ice cream sales. Don’t close out the window so fast.

While I love that he’s advocating a ball that moves more (again) by “not having the ball be perimeter weighted,” he does admit more sidespin means more balls might be hit offline. “

“Just an idea to start addressing the real issue,” he said.

I’m fairly confident limiting the driver shaft at 46 inches—the standard shipping length for his Callaway Epic—will be much more palatable to the masses than a ball curving a bit more. But hey, at least he’s generating conversation and his old friends in Fairhaven will just love this.

The full video:

Phil Worried About Losing An Inch-And-A-Half Off His (Driver) Shaft

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It’s unclear what set off Phil Mickelson but presumably he’s been informed of possible rule changes involving the length of drivers. And he’s not happy with what he’s hearing:

I’m not sure this is the vindication he was looking for, but Mickelson received this endorsement from Keegan Bradley:

Sad to watch is correct.

Sad that at a time golf is thriving without any sign that an improvement in technology can be attributed to the growth, at a time players are posting absurd scores at the BMW, at a time Mickelson is struggling to make a Ryder Cup team in the year he won the PGA, and at a time his preferred manufacturer’s stock length is under than the possible length in question, thus dispelling the whole injury arguments, this was not his best-timed attack of the USGA.

But there is a positive! Check out the replies and how many people are pushing back at the idea of “hitting bombs” as the soul of the game. Oh there are still plenty of tools looking for his attention and clueless about the topic, but far fewer than we might have seen a few years ago.

The USGA has not commented.

If you need more context on Mickelson’s driver length concerns dating to last fall, Kyle Porter has a summary here.

The Quadrilateral: Oakmont Adds Clarity To Distance Debate

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Oakmont’s 10th and 11th holes (Google Earth)

Oakmont’s 10th and 11th holes (Google Earth)

USGA CEO Whan On Distance: "It would be irresponsible for us not to relook at something that the last significant look was 1976."

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Thanks to reader JT for Beth Ann Nichols’ interview of new USGA CEO Mike Whan that was posted July 13th, the week of The Open Championship.

It’s an odd bit of timing given that you’d think they’d not want to stampede on the R&A is having its big week. Either way, I doubt many saw it due to the poor timing. However, Whan makes a few noteworthy comments before the headliner on distance.

  • He started the job in mid-May and called word of his July 1 start as “a nice media headline.” That’s because the media did not know otherwise.

  • He’s says it’s “embarrassingly past time” for the USGA to jumpstart a “USA Development Team” for young women golfers. “It doesn’t come as a shock me that in my 12 years I think I saw maybe 11 weeks of a U.S. player being No. 1 in the world,” he said. Making the USGA into a talent development organization would certainly be a huge leap in philosophy and yet another eye-off-the-ball move. The U.S. currently has seven women in the world top 25.

On the distance debate he’s taking a smart approach probably shaped by the legal team he’s been meeting with since mid-May: why not review the 1976 Overall Distance Standard?

I’ve said this many times, but the last time really that the USGA (looked at it), in an attempt to establish a maximum distance with perfect launch conditions, was 1976. Think about any other sport or any other business, if the last time you really looked at the farthest standard was 30-plus years ago. The NBA didn’t have a three-point shot or a shot-clock; football’s goal post was on the goal line.

Everybody evolves not only to make the game better, but to make sure it’s great for the next 100 years. It’s important. I won’t lie to you and say it’s going to be popular, but it’s important and I think it would be irresponsible for us not to relook at something that the last significant look was 1976.

I feel like if you want to critique the USGA, the fair critique is why not before now? I think that’s a fair critique. But why now? I think you’re stretching if you don’t think at some point we need to make sure we establish some new parameters.

Nothing to complain about there. Well, in most communities.

Bryson's Bagman Opens Up on Subpar Pod, Shares A Few State Secrets

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I couldn’t find a listing on Golf.com for the latest episode—maybe in case staff member Bryson DeChambeau logs on. Mercifully there are multiple podcast outlets where you can listen to caddie Tim Tucker discuss the big breakup with hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.

Besides apologizing for the Rocket Mortgage eve quitting and talking about his new life up at Bandon Dunes running a long planned luxury shuttle service, Tucker reveals how the old boss could be “very demanding” (no kidding!) and this which could be seen as a state secret reveal.

From GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner’s interview highlights:

“That to me is one of the most important things we’ve done – green density,” Tucker said. “Understanding I’m hitting a 7-iron with 6200 (rpm) spin landing into a 2% slope, it’s gonna run out four yards on a 6mm green density. That’s important and it’s predictable.”

Kids, don’t try this at home. Just play a practice round and trust what you feel under your feet.

Video: Brandon Stone Takes A Hickory Test

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You may recall Brandon Stone’s wife got him some Longhorn-themed hickories during what turned out to be a victorious 2018 Scottish Open win. While he was mostly enamored with burnt orange grips applied at the Jack White shop in Gullane, the South African and Texas Longhorn went on to take his hickories to the Old Course.

I mention all this to point out he was not going into this sampling session for GolfTV without hitting hickories before. His strikes with the old irons are particularly impressive. And so is Stone’s swing, no matter what club he’s hitting.

"I’m still trying to understand why bifurcation scares everybody as much as it does."

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There is plenty to chew on in Mike Whan’s conversation with Alan Shipnuck for GolfDigest.com. But mostly it’s nice to see the incoming CEO is trying to understand why rules bifurcation is the golf administrator version of gonorrhea.

The key exchange with Whan, who starts July 1st:

For the men’s professional game, do you need to limit the distance players are hitting it?

If we’re talking about the men’s professional game, I’d be surprised if people don’t believe that some degree of reining in wouldn’t be good for the game long-term. I haven’t had those conversations with everybody yet, but I will. I’ve read the Distance Insights study, but I don’t know if the need for change really trickles down to other levels of the game. I question if we need change for the average player. I’m still trying to understand why bifurcation scares everybody as much as it does. I’m not really sure why.

Welcome to the club!

Ball Goes Too Far, Files: The Story Behind Harbour Town's Bryson Range Extension

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GolfDigest.com’s Shane Ryan documents the silly saga at Harbour Town where they had to combat long drives by erecting a temporary fence contraption to protect fans, workers and anyone near the 8th green.

It would have been $100,000 if they could even do an unsightly permanent extension and a temporary solution as Riviera must undertake annually for the Genesis.

Ryan talked to superintendent Jonathan Wright about the headache and costs of concocting a solution for the 400-yard club, only to have Bryson DeChambeau WD from the RBC Heritage.

"It was the most stressful part of our week," Wright said. "It was a bit of a process, man."

He and Morgan Hyde, the vice president of operations at the tournament, estimate that the total cost of the net and the lifts and the various smaller equipment needs ran to about $20,000, and that's not counting the roughly 30 hours of man hours it took to get it fully operational.

If you're a fan of futility or the universe laughing at your plans, you'll love this next detail: According to reports from the ground, players are still hitting balls over the net.

Which is why, when Wright heard that DeChambeau had withdrawn from the tournament, he didn't know quite how to take the news. Should he be disappointed or relieved?

"I would have liked the guy to be here because he's one of the top players in the world, so it hurt my feelings a little bit," Wright said. "But at least we knew we were a little bit more secure with spectators, you know?"

Let’s hope the CBS drones don’t get caught up in this fakakta mess: