‘Something Has To Give’ – Cantlay On Distance Debate

Patrick Cantlay is the latest player to speak about the game’s distance debate. The issue surrounding the distance players can hit the ball has been rumbling for years, and it’s coming into increasingly sharp focus. Many modern-day players regularly hit drives well over 300 yards, including American Bryson DeChambeau, who ranked first last year with an average of 323.7 yards.

Speaking at last week’s Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods proposed changing the ball to reduce hitting distances. Now Cantlay has had his say on the issue. Appearing on Talks at GS, a podcast produced by one of his sponsors, Goldman Sachs, the World No.3 echoed Woods’ comments, saying: “Theoretically, the golf ball needs to go shorter. Every golf course I go to has different tee boxes farther back than even four or five years ago when I visited the golf course.”

Last week it was revealed that there would be changes to the 11th and 15th holes at Augusta National for The Masters in April, with the holes increased by 15 and 20 yards, respectively, and Cantlay doesn’t think these kinds of moves can continue indefinitely: “It’s getting to the point where the tee boxes are already to the perimeter of the property, so much so that Augusta National has been buying up all the adjacent pieces of property so they can put more tee boxes and change the holes. That’s not sustainable. Not only that, if pace of play is one of your biggest concerns, how many golf courses do I go to on Tour where the tees are 100 yards back? They can’t keep going in this direction.” 

Cantlay explained that he thinks improving technology is at the root of the problem, and it’s having a detrimental effect on the experience of playing the best courses. “The technology isn’t only better, but young guys are trying to hit it farther and farther because the stats say the farther I hit it, the better I’ll play. I think the biggest shame is that I can’t go to Cypress Point and play the course the way the designer designed the golf course to be played. The biggest problem for me is when we lose the architectural integrity of the golf course. We’re to the point where that’s where we are. Something has to give.”

Golf’s distance debate isn’t new. Indeed, Woods – once one of the game’s biggest hitters – predicted back in 2017 that we’d see 8,000-yard courses in the not-too-distant future. With players like DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson all capable of regularly hitting drives over 300 yards, Cantlay’s comments are sure to keep the subject at the forefront of the authorities’ minds.