I was struck by a recent posting on a golf forum. The poster claimed to have just tested six new drivers, all from different manufacturers, on the course. He hit dozens of drives before reaching an unsettling conclusion: All six drivers hit the ball the same distance. In the era of USGA performance limitations, have we already reached the point where there really isn’t much difference in drivers?
Granted, one person’s experience noted anonymously online isn’t exactly hard proof. But I can attest to having a similar experience this year, and it paints a disturbing picture.
The poster whose testing got my attention wrote that his best drive with each driver was within five yards of the best drive he hit with the other five drivers. The story was the same with his shortest drives. There wasn’t one driver that stood out as being appreciably longer or shorter than the others. Accuracy was also very comparable between the half-dozen drivers that were test-driven.
Personally, I’ve played multiple rounds with several drivers this year. In order, the drivers were the Callaway Great Big Bertha II, the Nickent 3DX, the MACTEC NVG, the Titleist 905T, the TaylorMade r5 Dual and the Callaway Big Bertha Fusion FT-3. There were plenty of differences in terms of look, feel and sound between the drivers. But the tale of the tape was approximately the same. The MACTEC was capable of the occasional drive that went 15 yards past the rest. The Nickent was longest on off-center hits. The FT-3 (currently in the bag) is the most forgiving and the most consistently long. But despite all the various tungsten screws, thin faces, composite bodies and discretionary weight being moved, there isn’t one driver that’s 25 yards longer than the rest.
In a way, this is exactly what the USGA and the R&A had in mind when they capped the coefficient of restitution (COR), characteristic time (CT) and clubhead size and dimensions of drivers over the past few years. Ostensibly, they did so to keep the Tigers, Phils, Long Johns, and Hammerin’ Hanks of the PGA Tour from turning the U.S. Open into a pitch and putt contest. But at every level of the game, they wanted to level the playing field by eliminating golf clubs and balls as a factor in how the game is played.
Undoubtedly, there are still drivers out there that will give you better performance than others. Some simply match your swing better than others. I’ve hit some drivers this year that were appreciably longer than what I’d used previously. But the age of non-differentiation is just starting. 460cc driver heads are just becoming the norm. Wait for the second and third generations of max-sized drivers. Within the next two years, nearly every new driver will be right at this size limit – and sporting the max COR and CT. And any performance gains could become miniscule.
What will differentiate these drivers all built using the same measurements? Forgiveness will be the big factor, as well as more minor elements such as feel and sound. And there will be gimmicks, like movable weights, and marketing hype. But already you’d be hard-pressed to find a driver from a major manufacturer that was much worse than the norm in terms of distance or forgiveness.
As equipment-savvy players, our best hope is to count on the continued innovation of club designers and engineers to overcome the shackles of golf’s governing bodies. What if there was a metal that provided more distance without needing a higher COR or CT? What if there was a design that fit within the size limits that was actually more forgiving or easier to hit on a strong trajectory? Some designers already think the next trend will be somewhat smaller driver heads that might have the same power and accuracy of today’s 460cc heads, that the laws of physics would have capped performance eventually even if the USGA didn’t. The bigger the clubhead, the higher the drag, of course.
But however we reached this point, we stand at the beginning of a new era. A time in which pro tour players will keep hitting the ball farther, thanks to top-drawer instruction, devotion to fitness and the motivation that multi-million-dollar paydays provide. As for the rest of us, who have enjoyed upgrading drivers and gaining a little more distance over the past few years, we might find that the USGA has killed the golden goose of technology. And in a sport that is perceived as being too hard, a sport where growth is stagnant, that is going to hurt the game.
Average golfers crave more distance off the tee. They don’t score any better when they find that distance, since hitting consistently good iron shots or making a pressure-packed 5-foot putt is still just as hard as it ever has been. The USGA just doesn’t get that most people don’t break 100, don’t obsolete courses with prodigious drives, and don’t even have a handicap. They just want to have fun, and golf’s governing bodies have decided to put a ceiling on a big source of enjoyment.
Custom fitting remains a way for individual golfers to eke out a few more yards of distance (sometimes much more) and become more efficient and accurate, and you can always improve your fitness and flexibility to increase swing speed. And don’t forget lessons. But how many recreational golfers have the time and/or discipline and/or money to follow through with those paths to longer drives.
I hope that there is a breakthrough technology on the horizon that will shake up the game and bring excitement – and more golfers – back to driver design. Of course, that will probably happen right around the time the USGA decides to roll golf ball distance back by 10 percent.
What do you think? If all drivers hit the ball the same distance, is that bad for the game? Or has the quest for distance gone too far? You know how I feel. I look forward to your comments.
The USGA and R&A have capped distance, and physics was about to kick in sooner or later anyway. The distance increase we saw in the past ten years coincided with titanium drivers, graphite shafts, widespread use of accurate launch monitors, and increased physical conditioning. Never before has the game of golf seen so many things combine at once to increase distance.
I’ve tried lots of drivers, and though I may know of some that can bust a drive 10 yards past mine, the key is whether it can do so consistently and with a ball flight that I like.