Bryson driving it 375 yards, 650-yard par 5s reachable in two, classic courses becoming obsolete; the issue of increasing distance within elite golf has been a point of discussion for more than 20 years.
The governing bodies (The R&A and USGA) have observed and monitored increasing hitting distances in elite golf over the last two decades and have stated repeatedly that they feel the proven increases are detrimental to the game – that they reduce the requirement for a breadth of skills and necessitate the lengthening of courses, which is a threat to the long-term sustainability of the sport: longer courses requiring more land and increased resources.
With that in mind, The R&A and USGA launched a comprehensive Distance Insights Project in 2018, which involved extensive review, research, testing and consultation. In February of 2021, the governing bodies announced they were looking at the possibility of a Local Rule to allow the specification of a requirement for the use
