Since Tiger Woods and his long-distance driver burst onto the scene in 1997, golfers have been hitting the ball farther and farther, and courses have been lengthening holes to mitigate the advantage, in a way that is economically and environmentally unsustainable. But this week at the U.S. Open, the United States Golf Association will introduce a course at Pinehurst No. 2 that aims to challenge big hitters without increasing distance, with firm, fast conditions, smooth domed greens and long tee shots. The USGA hopes this will show that the course can stand the test of time. The U.S. Open could be a key turning point in the arms race between golf and sports science and technology.
If these tactics are successful, they could bring about changes far beyond major championships and the PGA Tour. USGA chief executive Thomas Pagel says the need to counter increasingly long driver shots goes far beyond the professional level. “You have the college game, you have state amateur tournaments, you have state opens, you have PGA sectional events, and all of these golf courses have to increase their distance to keep up.” The need to keep the sport challenging enough at the top level “is an issue that affects thousands of golf courses around the world,” Pagel says.
Pinehurst No. 2 is a course with a long and storied history. The course is also landlocked, meaning there is little room to expand beyond its current footprint. In fact, the North Carolina course plays to 10 yards. short The course is longer than it was when it last hosted the U.S. Open in 2014. The USGA is committed to keeping “golf hallowed grounds” like Pinehurst No. 2 in play, and will return to the North Carolina course four times over the next 25 years, but these traditional venues are under threat as the ball flies farther than ever before. Over the past decade, the average driving distance on the PGA Tour has increased 10. It is increasing every yearDriving distances have increased by about 10 yards since the last Open was held at Pinehurst, and drivers are hitting the ball 30 yards further today than they were in the early 1990s.
That’s partly down to the players: Today’s pros, and top amateurs, have become the epitome of fitness, with muscular arms and powerful legs that push off the ground and spring upwards as they swing, increasing the distance the ball can travel. To achieve this effect, men and women alike are adopting a new set of techniques modeled after a similar golf swing that Woods employed early in his career.
These have coincided with advances in technology. Launch monitors, which use Doppler radar — the same technology used in speed guns — measure the physical properties of the ball at the point of contact, providing players and coaches with a variety of data, including swing speed, ball launch angle, ball flight speed, amount of ball spin and, of course, distance. These devices give golfers the data they need to change their technique and hone their tools to hit the ball farther.
“Reducing spin and maintaining launch on drivers and irons will greatly increase distance,” says Chris Voshall, director of product development at sports brand Mizuno. Over the past 10 to 15 years, Voshall says, launch monitors have helped players understand the relationship between “launch angle, spin rate and a golfer’s ability to generate ball speed.” As well as informing technique, he says, this has created more athletic players, pushing them to swing faster to put more power on the ball. Additionally, these monitoring devices have allowed sports companies to focus on launch and spin rate to optimize products that generate distance, he says.
