Distance is king. And its place in golf’s future is a top topic at Augusta National

Length is king on the golf course and every player — whether it’s Bryson DeChambeau or a junior with his or her first set of clubs — conducts a never-ending search for more distance.

The mantra: Swing hard, harder and hardest, and never mind the direction.

“Whoa,” the purists cry. “That’s not the way the game should be played.”

“Yeah,” the long bashes counter, “but every game has changed.” Indeed, the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football that produced 7-3 scores has given away to offensive binges; basketball has developed a love affair with the 3-point shot; and worshiping at the altar of analytics makes baseball a head-scratching puzzle.

So, golf, whatcha gonna do?

“You don’t want to take a treasure like Augusta National and make it obsolete,” Golf Channel personality Rich Lerner told The State. “A drive and a flip wedge on par-4s? There’s got to be a balance between progress and preservation.”

But can there be a meeting of the minds?

DeChambeau has become the poster guy of the long ball, thanks to his reinventing himself physically and searching for more and more clubhead speed. His mammoth drives set up short irons to greens on holes designed for longer shots to the putting surfaces.

But he’s not alone. Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy pack plenty of punch, and a player named Taylor Pendrith ranks second to DeChambeau on the PGA Tour’s current driving distance chart. The statistics reveal 120 Tour guys are averaging at least 300 yards on the measured driving holes.

The value of power is nothing new in golf. Jack Nicklaus emphasized the advantage in the early 1960s and prompted Bobby Jones’ remembered quote: “He plays a game with which I am not familiar.”

But that was Jack and the rest. Now, young guns such as Matthew Wolff arrive in golf’s major league and hammer the ball into the next county, a skill that has helped him to earn top-5 finishes in the last two major championships.

Differences in technology, physical training and coaching techniques play obvious roles in players’ development, and no one blames them for their quest to succeed. Indeed, the oohs and aahs from fans suggest admiration for the long ball.

Said DeChambeau: “I think people realize that hitting it farther is definitely an easier way to play the game. ... But at the end of the day, I’m only going to play under The Rules of Golf, and I will always try and do my best to play under those rules in the best possible way.”

Still, those who appreciate shot-making prowess over power cringe and wonder if some famed golf courses will no longer present a challenge for the game’s best? Indeed, reporters quizzed Dustin Johnson this week at the Masters and wondered if Augusta National had become a par 68 layout for him.

So, whatcha gonna do?

After years of head-in-the-sand responses that only paid lip service to the increase in distances and the threat to traditional courses, golf’s ruling bodies — the U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews — have conducted studies and plan to reveal their findings in the spring.

They’ll need the touch of Solomon to find an equitable solution.

If they institute guidelines that restrict technology, manufactures will squawk — and perhaps take legal action — if the action impacts them negatively. The players with lucrative contracts to promote equipment will join the chorus of dissenters.

Purists will rejoice.

But ...

The governing bodies want to grow the game, and putting the reins on distance would haunt the recreational golfer.

“I think we are at a crossroads as relates to this issue,” Augusta National and Masters chairman Fred Ridley said. “... I’m hopeful that with the work and the studies that have been ongoing for sometime ... I do think we’re coming closer to a call for action.

“All I can say is that, as it relates to our golf course, we have options, and we will take the necessary action to make sure we stay relevant.”

But there’s a rub: Few courses have the resources of Augusta National.

“We’re seeing things we never thought we would see,” Gary Player said Thursday after joining Nicklaus to hit the ceremonial first shots of the 84th Masters. “And let me tell you, we’re in our infancy. You’ve got players coming along, I don’t know how many years’ time, that will carry the ball past where DeChambeau ends up now.”

Nicklaus chimed in, saying he did not want separate rules for players of different skill levels and offered a theory about how technology could solve the “distance problem.”

“I don’t know what they’re developing; I haven’t been privy to that,” he said. “But my guess is they’re developing a golf ball that the faster the club head speed, the progression is less as you go down. I don’t know whether that’s the right word or not.

“But if you swing at 125 miles an hour, you’ll be limited to this. If you swing at 100 miles an hour, you won’t get as much. You won’t lose as much distance. If you go to 90, you won’t lose hardly any distance at all. In other words, a progression working down so the average golfer is not hurt, but you try to rein in the longer hitters so you’re not ruining every golf course that’s there.

“I’m guessing that. I just really don’t know. And I’m not sure that you’d get an answer from the USGA at this point because I’m not sure they know either.”

Wolff, who finished second in the U.S. Open and fourth in the PGA Championship, said his goal is not to overpower a golf course.

“It just so happens that sometimes I can do that because I do hit the ball far, but golf is so much more than hitting the ball far,” he said.

The thing is, overpowering a golf course is reserved for the most skilled players. The back tees of most courses grow cobwebs until the pros come to town.

DeChambeau believes golf courses will adapt to the distances the Tour pros hit, and, he said, “that’s going to be defined by the rules.”

Longer, more penal rough? Tighter fairways? More penalty areas?

“There’s plenty of guys out here who don’t hit it as far as me who still contend,” DeChambeau said. “Austin Cook, the week of the Shriners, he still contended (losing in a playoff for the title). I was hitting if forever that week, and he beat me. So, again, it’s not just about driving. ... Obviously length helps, but there are ways to play into other players’ hands compared to me.”

Proof? Check scores and statistics from the first round of the Masters on a day that rain made the greens more receptive to longer shots.

DeChambeau averaged 334.6 yards on the measured driving holes, but he spent considerable time hacking his ball out of the trees. Larry Mize averaged 247.4 yards off the tee on the same holes and led the field in fairways hit. Both posted 2-under-par 70s.

But Mize would trade. Distance is still king.