Is the game the same except for distance....

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

But, what if it is true.

It's hi-tech, with longer shafts, lighter oversized heads with weighting that makes the ball go straighter, thus you can swing harder/faster.

Limiting shaft length to say 43 or 44 inches, clubhead size to the 250 cc range and some other modificiations would slow down swing speed, ergo distance.  Combined with COR and spin regulation distance wouldn't affect golf courses as it has in the last 5-10 years.

[George Pazin]

Can't imagine there is any way of researching this (without devoting full-time) but am curious as to what irons were used to play to 200 yard par 3's in the 80's, 90's and today.

The few times I've watched a tournament as of late, I'm always sort of numbed when I hear Lanny say something to the effect of, "Jimmy, he got a lot of green to work with here on this 207 yard hole. He got a 7 iron in his hand and should be able to stick it in there tight." That is followed by a massive, completely balanced swing, with the ball getting lost in the clouds then dropping from the sky where it stops on a dime, about 10 feet from the hole.

The odd artifact from this is that announcers can't relate to players anymore. They criticise a guy for swinging too hard, hitting 7 iron from 180 or whatever, but for these guys, that's not even close to a max effort.

Can't remember who asked the question, but an improvement from 11.8% to 13% is not a 1.2% improvement because the math with percentages is different, and the wording is often sloppy as well. Plenty of non math geeks make this mistake, so you're in good company.

[Jim_Kennedy]

TEPaul,
Believe it or not, some guys on the LDA Tour achieve swing speeds over 140+ mph. My friend, a sometime participant in long drive contests, averaged just over 140 on a swing speed meter when he was here two seasons ago. Although somewhat wild he was able to put 3 balls out of 10 within 10-20 yards of our first green. There was no wind to speak of and no roll. The hole is an uphill par 4 of 420 yards.

He is swinging so hard that when he breaks a shaft it snaps off just below his hands.

[Doug Siebert]

Shivas,

I'm not sure how much tucking the pins is affecting the birdie numbers.  I think it would be much more likely to increase the number of bogeys rather than reduce the number of birdies.

Plus there are other factors going on, like the large increase in the birdies on par 4s and par 5s leading to lower scoring which means every player knows they need lots of birdies if they want to see the weekend.  So they may be MORE likely to aim on the pin, even when it is only 10' from the edge of the green, than they were 5 or 10 years ago.  If they aim at the pin more they will make more birdies in their good weeks and collect a nice check, and make more bogies and fly home Friday night in their bad weeks.

After all, everyone is more aggressive in their strategy off the tee on par 4s and par 5s (the FLOG effect) and I think it is hard to be aggressive on those holes but turn it off on the par 3s.  Those who are naturally conservative are weeded out of the tour before even reaching it -- judging from the scores I've seen there, I don't think a guy who plays conservatively has a chance at Q School.