Why it's time to start chasing distance By Nick Heidelberger for Clubhouse Collective
The best golfers in the world have always been the longest hitters. But Bryson Dechambeau’s recent power clean of the proverbial bar is the first to make waves that ripple into the amateur ranks, and for one main reason: Bryson didn’t arrive long, he became long.
Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Tiger Woods, John Daly, Jack Nicklaus, to name a few, showed up on our TV screens with game we can only replicate on the XBox, so we never tried to on the course. But Bryson, while he arrived with a game we may never try to copy, didn’t boast unfathomable distance when he became a household name. It was Bryson 2.0, the version that we saw after the 2020 COVID shutdown, that turned our heads and dropped our jaws. Not only did he transform his body and engineer his game around being as long as possible, but he showed us exactly how he did it on Instagram.
All of this happened in the middle of the COVID golf boom, and for the first time in a long time, golf is cool. And what’s cooler than hitting the ball a mile? To a golfer, not much.
When it comes to chasing distance, there have been more cautionary tales than success stories. With the evolution of launch monitors like TrackMan, golfers today have access to every metric imaginable, particularly speed, distance and smash factor. So is chasing distance a good idea? Actually, yes.
Andrew Elaimy, PGA, the head golf professional at the hidden gem University of Idaho Golf Course in Moscow, Idaho, advocates power first, precision later for golfers of all ages. RELATED: Listen to the At The Turn podcast dedicated to distance with Andrew Elaimy, PGA!
“A junior golfer who is under 10 years old, the number one thing that they can do is swing as hard as humanly possible, have fun with it, and then obviously we can straighten it out later if they still enjoy the game,” he said. And for adults? “If anything, I think it makes more sense for guys like you and me who are just trying to make as many birdies as possible and shoot in the 70s, just swing hard and get as much distance as possible. The reason why a PGA TOUR pro might not do it is because of the rough, the greens are firm and fast rolling 13 or 14. You go out to your local golf course, is the rough that big of an issue? If anything I think amateurs should be doubling down and hitting it as far as possible.”
Anecdotally, hitting it farther means better golf. Bryson and DJ rank first and fifth driving distance on the PGA TOUR, respectively, and also won the last two majors. And the guy in your Thursday night league or Sunday foursome who’s hitting it 20 yards past you is probably also in your wallet every week. But taking it one step farther, the untrained eye might think Bryson has abandoned the rest of his game. While he ranks first on Tour in driving distance and strokes gained: off the tee, he’s 147th in driving accuracy, 125th in scrambling, 115th in greens in regulation and 60th in putting. Does this seem like a recipe for success? Well, it is. In the stats that matter most, strokes gained: total, and scoring average, Bryson ranks first and second, respectively.
Those short game stats, however, are slightly misleading. Bryson is actually driving the ball so far that many of his approach shots into par 4s are inside of 50 yards, and thus fall into short game categories. Although this doesn’t explain that suspicious GIR number, which is under 70 percent. The numbers support transitioning to a power game, but most golfers aren’t analyzing numbers. They’re just looking for a few hours of fun. And what’s more fun than hitting the ball a mile?
“For the fun aspect of it, and the playing better aspect of it, swinging hard is huge,” Elaimy said. “Obviously people are going to have to get the ball in the hole at some point and understand that chipping and putting are part of the game, but this new charge that Bryson has led has made people excited about golf they way that they used to be excited about basketball or baseball.”
Consider the green light given to swing hard, chase distance, and obsess over speed. Dive into those TrackMan numbers, and pride yourself in being the longest in your group, league or club. You’ll might play a little better, and you’ll definitely have more fun.
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