Latest news with #drivingdistance
Fox News
29-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
PGA's Jake Knapp 'not a fan' of golf ball rollback as he promotes new PXG driver giveaway
Golf balls are going further than ever before, resulting in the pros man-handling some of the world's best courses. Players are stronger and faster, as is the technology - and Jake Knapp, whose swing might be the smoothest since Fred Couples, is near the top of the driving distance list. Knapp ranks 31st in average driving distance, averaging 298.9 yards. In 666 drives this season, his golf balls have traveled over 113 miles. Knapp used that money driver, buttery swing and a hot putter to join the 59 Club earlier this year at the Cognizant Classic. However, because it is easier to make the ball go farther, rather than lengthening courses, the USGA has decided to begin rolling back technology in the ball in an effort to preserve the nature of the game. It is safe to say the 31-year-old is "not really a fan of the rollback stuff." "I think if we were going to change golf in any way, I think you could do a lot of different things that don't change a player's deal in depth perception and things like that. I've been playing with basically a golf ball that goes probably about the same distance ever since I was a kid. So it's like, you have all this feel developed over time, and then if you were to change it to go shorter. I mean, there's also things you can do in your equipment to make up for most of that anyway, so I don't think it's going to be as big of a deal as they think," Knapp said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. Knapp is doubling down on that stance after collaborating with both PXG and Pennzoil to give away a brand-new driver. From May 29 to June 25, consumers who purchase a Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic bundle at a participating Advance Auto Parts or Carquest retail location, in-store or online, can enter to win a limited-edition Pennzoil PXG driver. "I think having two companies are both just kind of at the top end of the spectrum in each of their crafts. When the opportunity came about, it just seemed like a no-brainer for me, and then when I heard about it, I thought it was something that I really wanted to be a part of," Knapp said of the partnership. If given the choice, Knapp would rather roll back the technology, rather than the ball itself. "I think if, personally, if there was a way that they were going to change it that I think could make it more difficult or kind of get what they want out of it, they could just make more regulations on clubs for professionals or Tour events and things like that, where they're maybe harder to hit, they're smaller, not as forgiving," he said. "There's things like that that I think would be better than rolling back the ball in my personal opinion." However, the Pennzoil PXG driver is not rolled back one bit. "It's one of the fastest drivers on the market right now. And then, not to mention, you know, the forgiveness on it is really second to none. You have a lot of weight in the back, nice big face that sets up square, gives you high ball speed, low spin, and hitting more fairways." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Do You Hit Your Tee Shots Longer Than Your Peers? Now You Can See.
Arccos tracks your tee shots with these clever sensors Apparently aging does inhibit our ability to hit a golf ball. This week, Arccos – the company that makes intelligent grip sensors for golf clubs – released its 7th Annual Driving Distance Report. In case you don't already know, Arccos records shot data from every golfer using its sensors – including distance, location, dispersion, etc. And because users – and there are a lot of them – provide their age and gender when they sign up, the company is able to amass super useful data about on-course tendencies. Captured in real time and verified using precise criteria, this data provides a transparent view of how amateur golfers perform off the tee. This report, for instance, compares more than 4 million rounds of male and female golfers' driving distance by age and handicap collected in 2024, to every year since 2018. The full Arccos dataset now includes over 1.2 billion shots across 22 million rounds played in 160+ countries. To ensure consistency and comparability, the analysis focuses exclusively on driver tee shots hit on par 4 and par 5 holes, according to Arccos, capturing total yardage (carry distance plus rollout) without normalization for conditions such as weather, turf or elevation. First off, despite their age or ability, men overall averaged 224 yards in 2018 and 224.7 yards in 2024. So we appear to be getting slightly longer. And women averaged 179.2 yards in 2018 and 176.2 yards in 2024. So it appears as if they are getting shorter. But I argue that this only means that more newbies are taking up the game, ever since the pandemic. And since these golfers are inexperienced, they're not hitting the ball long yet. And because they're eager to improve, they put Arccos sensors in their driver grips. So of course we're going to appear as if we are not getting longer off the tee. In reality, there are probably just more less-experienced players being included in this dataset – which of course skews the numbers. Low-handicap men (0 to 4.9) were both the longest and most accurate off the tee, averaging 250 yards and hitting 49.3% of fairways. In contrast, high-handicap men (30+) averaged 184.9 yards and found the fairway only 40.6% of the time. As for age, guys aged 15 to 19 averaged 241.6 yards (the longest age group) which was 51.1 yards longer than those in their 70s (the shortest group). And my personal driving numbers – and distance fall-off through the years – are consistent with the data. Another factor that struck me is that manufacturers push the longer-and-straighter message with their new drivers every year. So shouldn't we all be hitting tee shots longer, regardless of our handicap and age? But if one sign is encouraging to me, it's that I am slightly longer and more accurate than most people in my age group. But I'm also realistic in that I know that on any given day and in any type of weather, course condition and even altitude my numbers can change on a dime. One thing is for certain in these numbers: Older players are significantly more accurate off the tee. That's most likely because without crushing the ball, there's less of a right or left variation of ball flight. Or that they're just more experienced. Either way, it also explains why older people we play with often hit the ball straight and score better than us. Maybe we should all be striving for accuracy, as opposed to crushing our drives. But kudos to the people at Arccos for starting the conversation.
