Think players are hitting it miles further than ever? Not according to the stats

DJ hammered a 382-yard drive at The Memorial Tournament

Ask any legend of the game and they’ll tell you the golf ball goes too far. 

“When are the USGA, the R&A and the PGA going to have more vision and cut the ball back by 50 yards?” says Gary Player. 

“The main culprit in slow play is the golf ball and the distance it goes,” says Jack Nicklaus.

It’s easy to see why people think the ball goes too far. 24 PGA Tour players have averaged over 300 yards off the tee this season. The overall average, combining all players, is nearly 290 yards, an all-time record high. Turn on the TV and you’ll see the likes of Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy hitting 400-yard bombs that bring championship courses to their knees. 

As a result, there have been calls for golf’s governing bodies to do something to control driving distance. Instead, they have produced a report suggesting distances may not be as substantial as they seem. 

“Hitting distance is, and has long been, a constant subject of healthy and spirited debate in golf,” said Mike Davis, executive director of the United States Golf Association. “We want everyone in the game to have access to the facts, to better understand the decision-making process and the research we use to ensure that our game is both enjoyable and sustainable for future generations.”

Some of the key findings from the report: 

– Between 2003 and the end of the 2015 season, average driving distance on four of the seven tours increased about 1%, or 0.2 yards per year.

– For the same period, average driving distance on the other three of those seven tours decreased about 1%.

– Looking at all of the players who are ranked for distance on the PGA TOUR and European Tour, the amount by which players are “long” or “short” is virtually the same – for instance, 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 added distance.

– The average launch conditions on the PGA TOUR – clubhead speed, launch angle, ball speed and ball backspin – have been relatively stable since 2007.