Enjoyed the article Matthew.
On Monday, I played in the USGA 4-Ball Qualifier. It rained a lot prior to the round and the course was already soft. So, there was absolutely no roll that day.
I'm 46 and my partner is 51. We have nearly identical games. We both typically carry our tee shots in the 250-265 yard range. My 5 iron goes 190 yards and his 180 yards (probably just a difference in loft).
We were paired with two high school seniors. Both were good players, but both were struggling to get any attention from division 1 programs. They routinely outdrove us by 30-50 yards. I think one of them flew his 2 iron past my driver.
Other than driving distance (and 2 clubs less per iron shot), our games were very similar. And, the only reason that I could find for the different distance was growing up in different eras. I grew up in an era where speed was not the single most important factor in golf. No one went all out, all the time. These two kids grew up in an era where everything, and most importantly the club and ball technology, says to go all out all the time.
These kids were not better athletes than me. In fact, I'm pretty sure they only played golf. I played every sport except American football. I played club/select soccer for years and very likely could have earner a college scholarship if I hadn't decided to focus on golf. My buddy grew up in South Africa playing rugby, cricket, etc. in addition to golf.
On the one hand, I don't care what happens at the pro level. Just eliminate the concept of a par 5 (there are basically no three shot holes for tour pros) and all the under par scores go up by 12-16 shots per tournament. The problem is there are thousands of younger players hitting the ball miles. Even in my recent club championship, which I won, I was outdriven in my last two matches by an average of 30 yards by two under 20 year old players.
There is a just a massive difference in distance based on what era you grew up in. It wouldn't be a problem if courses could easily be made longer and longer. But, that just isn't the case. Many courses that were built away from more urban areas are now in urban areas and are land locked (my club is a perfect example). Additional land is expensive. The maintenance of longer courses is cost prohibitive. Longer courses take longer to play. And, I don't remember having to be so worried about balls flying at me from others holes as I do today on older, more compact courses.
And, there's a reason many of my millenial friends have extra sets of clubs of wooden drivers and forged blades. They love playing the game with them.