Shorty
Boomer Boy
Look no further than the Scottish Open a couple weeks ago. They had some rain early, didn't mow the fairways much, weather was a little cold for the final round... Not one player in the top 50 averaged 300 yards off the tee. Only 2 guys even came within 10 yards of averaging 300. I saw Noren and McDowell both nail drivers on #1 right down the middle of a flat hole without much wind - one was 258 and other 264.
Olds love to grumble, and technology has certainly improved, but it's just a piece of the equation. Players are better, stronger. Courses are firmer and faster. Club fitting improvements allow players to understand optimal launch statistics and get closer to them than before. And yet amateur handicaps aren't getting any lower, and short-knocker Jordan Spieth won two majors last year before Dustin Johnson won his first in almost 30 attempts.
There's no single thing you can do - not rolling back the ball, not reducing COR, not limiting shaft materials - that would have as drastic an effect as altering course conditions. Just having bunkers that were actually hazards in the Open was refreshing. In the U.S. players aim for bunkers.
Good points, but Jordan Spieth is not exactly a short-knocker. He's currently tied 42 on tour in driving distance at 295. That's seven yards behind Jason Day, which is about half a club.