[widgeon13]

I believe ball technology has made a bigger contribution to hitting the ball longer and straighter than club tech, that is just my opinion. If you could get your hands on a (new) ball from 40 years ago, old balatta Titilest Black, if you bladed it once, you were through the cover and into the wound rubber. Today, you can't cut most golf balls, I don't care how bad you hit them. They are also harder than years ago. The new woods are made to hit the ball farther because of something called coefficient of restitution (trampoline face) of the club. That's the only reason for hitting metal. It's the same with metal baseball bats.