Found this Titleist propoganda at their website this afternoon.
Some reasons, in addition to space age golf balls and golf clubs, why today's tour professionals hit the ball farther and occasionally establish new course records:
Bigger, stronger and better-conditioned athletes
Today's professional golfers are bigger, stronger and in better condition than their counterparts of yesterday. Guys today spend many a free hour working out and pumping up. Don't let anyone kid you. Size is relevant. Everything else being equal, Phil Blackmar (6'7" and 245 lbs.) is going to be longer than Willie Wood 5'7" and 150 lbs.)
On-site swing doctors
Talented individuals such as David Leadbetter, Butch Harmon, Jim Flick et al, have made prolonged swing slumps a thing of the past. And let's not forget the role and contribution of current day sports psychologists such as Dr. Bob Rotella and Dr. Richard Coop.
Producing optimum launch conditions. Prior to the publication of the seminal work "The Search for the Perfect Golf Swing" by Cochran and Strobbs (1968), understanding of the optimum launch condition was limited to a knowledgeable few. Today every tour professional knows the variables that make up his launch condition 'fingerprint' and know to how to best combine these variables (launch, spin and speed) for maximum distance.
Near-perfect week to week course conditions
Today's tournament sites feature near perfect fairway and green conditions. Bad lies are a thing of the past. And the closely cut firmer fairways contribute to maximum roll off the tee.
More exposure to the game's greatest players
Yesterday's players were introduced to the game via Jimmy Demaret and Shell's Wonderful World of Golf. Today we have 300 hours of PGA Tour exposure per year and the 24 hour per day Golf Channel. Golf is an imitation experience. The more exposure you have to the greatest players in the world, the better chance you have to improve your game.
Competition and improved performance
In every athletic activity known to man, performance is getting better. For the player ranked #2 to become #1, player #2 has to develop superior skills and abilities compared to those possessed by the player currently #1. Competition leads to improvements in performance. In the real world this is also known as progress.
Yet in spite of all of the above and in addition to the space age golf balls and golf clubs available to today's PGA Tour players, the fact is that the average score on the PGA Tour has improved but one stroke over the past seventeen years. How can this be? Many are convinced that every player on tour averages 300 yards plus. Fact: Last year was the first time any player averaged over 300 yards plus. The 50th ranked player in distance averaged 272 yards. Many are also convinced that each week just about everyone shoots nothing but 64's and 65's. Fact: Last year the winner of the Vardon trophy averaged 68.98. The 50th ranked player in scoring averaged 70.60 for every round played. What's my point? My point is that the changes in the landscape on tour are not limited to golf balls and golf clubs. And in spite of the tour reflecting the progress befitting the end of the 20th century, that the game has not experienced the transformation into "Gattaca-golf"* that certain forces would lead us to believe.
There are those who believe that if we make everyone play with a golf ball that flies ten yards shorter and force everyone to return to smaller metalwoods, that this will change the competitive landscape on tour. The net effect would be Tiger Woods and Davis Love III hitting #5 irons into par fives where today they hit #7 irons and Justin Leonard and Billy Andrade would be hitting #2 irons and fairway woods into those same par fives where today they hit #3 and #4 irons. Have those USGA forces contemplating these changes to the equipment rules asked Justin, Billy and others in their peer group if they think technology is a threat to their game? They should. They might be interested in their response. *Gattaca. A futuristic city from the movie of the same name where DNA is managed to produce genetically perfect humans engineered to produce super human performance.
If this is the attitude the equipment companies are going to take, it indicates we have a very serious problem. To their credit, Titleist havn't marketing non-conforming equipment or challenged the rules: yet.