Five Clubs Pod With Jack Nicklaus Discussing Governing Bodies On Distance: “I don’t really know what they’re doing”

Gary Williams discusses the past, present, and future of the game with 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus as his 82nd birthday nears.

As most know, Nicklaus has been on top of this topic for around fifty years and some of his comments in the podcast suggest he’s exasperated at the state of affair, especially with the upcoming 20th anniversary of the “joint statement of principles” on distance. He also discusses the water issue and the disparity now between the professional and amateur thanks to equipment best suited for high swing speeds.

Nicklaus tells Williams the USGA said they were going to get the issue addressed two years ago, then COVID paused the process and again more recently, “nothing happened.” He concluded, “I don’t really know what they’re doing” and ultimately asked, “How long is going to take them to 'research’ the issue?”

We do know the current comment period ends this May, with a likely hint of some plans to do something. So in that sense there is some optimism a stand will be taken, though far too late.

The distance talk starts around the 15:00 mark: