Golf Digest's Annual Hot List

2009-01-20

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By Steve Pike
 
Golf Digest's annual Hot List for equipment in 2009 has hit the stands and inside comes this from Digest's Mike Stachura regarding the impact of today's high-tech equipment on handicaps:

"Despite decades of naysayers and experts alike suggesting that the average handicap is not dropping, has not dropped and never will drop, the fact is, it has. Let's say that again: The average handicap of all golfers - men, women and children - has decreased consistently for the past 15 years. The average handicap today is two strokes better than it was in the early 1990s, according to research provided to Golf Digest by the USGA's Golf Handicap & Information Network (GHIN). This decrease coincides with a remarkable decade of equipment innovation that has brought us titanium drivers in every shape and size, game-changing hybrids and oversize putters."
 
There are others at work, too, that went unmentioned, such as player participation, meaning that the numbers of people in the game has decreased each year for most of the past 15 years. Could be that higher handicap players are dropping out, leading to proportionately more scores being counted from lower handicap players. That's assuming higher handicap players - 20 and more - ever took the time to record their scored for handicap purposes in the first place.

That said, high-tech equipment, such as 460cc titanium drivers that can be made with draw, straight, or fade biases, certainly have had a big impact. Today's players also have access to such things as launch monitors, a golf instructor, seemingly, on every corner, and advanced exercise routines that if done properly, can make even the softest golfer bigger, stronger and faster.

Oh yes, there's this pesky thing known as the golf ball. While titanium drivers, hybrid clubs and oversized putters get most of the hype - as well as regulation from the U.S. Golf Association - no piece of equipment has changed the game for better players and average players, quite as much as the golf ball.

There is no more "one size fits all" approach to golf balls as there was even less than 15 years in the dark ages of Titleist Tour Balata balls for professionals and better players Top-Flite, a.k.a. "Rock Flight" balls for all other players. The advent of multi-layer balls and urethane-covered balls has helped players with the slowest of swing speeds "dial in" a ball for them and make it perform the way it was designed.

So if you want to know the real reason why handicaps are down the past 15 years, check that sleeve of balls you're playing. Let’s just hope the USGA keeps its hands off.