Professional players could be forced to use equipment to make the game tougher

Top professional golfers may be forced to use equipment that makes the game tougher to play while recreational amateurs would employ clubs and balls developed to make good shots easier to hit.

As golf's governing bodies wrestle with ever increasing distances achieved by top pros such as Bryson DeChambeau, separating the elite game from the one played by humble hackers looks the favoured option.

In an updated list of «areas of interest» published today, the rule makers suggest that the «sweet spot» on drivers used by top pros could in future be reduced to make sure that the longest drives are only achieved by the most accurate swings.

«This is opening up the next stage of the dialogue so we can look at a solution together,» Professor Steve Otto, the R&A's chief technology officer told the BBC. «This is a complex problem that requires a complex solution.»

A «Distance Insights Report» released by the R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2020 concluded that long term increased hitting distances are detrimental.

DeChambeau, the currently injured US Open champion of that year, blasts his drives on average more than 320 yards and is by no means alone in smashing his ball vast distances.

The authorities are also considering dampening the springlike effect of metal club faces that help propel the ball off the tee. They have already shortened maximum shaft lengths for all clubs apart from putters from 48 to 46 inches.

Now there is the prospect of seeing leading players having to use drivers with a size reduction to the club head itself.

«They would potentially move to smaller heads,» said Otto. «But it's how they perform, it is about making the sweet spot tighter, reducing the forgiveness.

»So if you hit the centre of the