NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Who would you guess led the PGA Tour in average ball speed this past season?
Both casual fans and experts might point to Bryson DeChambeau, a player who clocked in with an average clubhead speed faster than 132 mph. That shattered the previous record of 128.18, set by Ryan Brehm in 2017. Since 2010 there have been six seasons in which the clubhead-speed leader didn’t reach 125 mph, so an average that tops 132 mph is stunning.
However, clubhead speed and ball speed are two different variables. Clubhead speed measures how fast the clubhead is traveling when it reaches the ball. Ball speed measures how fast the ball travels just after impact. While faster clubhead speeds generally result in faster ball speeds, there isn’t an exact correlation.
In short, a more efficient swing with lower clubhead speed can produce faster ball speed than a faster swing that does not consistently catch the center of the face as often.
Despite DeChambeau enjoying such a massive advantage in clubhead speed – he finished ahead of second place by nearly 5 mph – it was runner-up Cameron Champ who produced a slightly faster ball speed than DeChambeau. We are talking fractions here. Champ reached an average ball speed of 190.94 mph and DeChambeau came in second at 190.72, but that still shows how crisply Champ can hit the ball without swinging out of his shoes.
During the BMW Championship at wide-open Caves Valley, DeChambeau swung for the fences and finished runner-up in an epic playoff with Patrick Cantlay. But it was Champ’s decision to use a 1-iron, the old chicken stick with a modern twist, that produced downright silly launch monitor numbers.
The Ping i500 1-iron, a 15-degree, hollow-body iron with a high-strength, maraging-steel face, carried 292 yards. It launched at 7 degrees with a 176.5 ball speed. To put that into perspective, there were 53 PGA Tour players who did not reach an average of 292 yards off the tee last season with their driver – and that is total yardage, not just carry. On a firm fairway, it’s reasonable to think that Champ could hit his 1-iron well beyond 300 yards.
On one hand, the ability for a player to hit an iron and a wedge into a 500-yard par-4 is an impressive feat of modern technology, player fitness and overall training.
On the other hand, the inevitability of more players working with manufacturers to develop similar clubs could have disturbing effects. Among them would be longer players being able to take less risk off the tee while still putting a scoring club in their hands. The game could be less exciting in that circumstance as longer players gain an even greater advantage than they already enjoy.
That element would be course-dependent as many venues, Caves Valley included, simply ask players to hit the ball as far as they can with little concern for hazards. However, for courses like Harbour Town, Colonial and Sedgefield, a long iron traveling that far could be a game-changer.
Sean Fairholm