Much has been written about the impact that technology is having on the golf industry. It's a complicated issue that affects all segments of the industry - equipment manufacturers, tour professionals, amateur golfers, course designers, course owners, daily-fee courses, country clubs, tournament hosts, golf associations - and many others.

So, where are we going, what is being done, what can be done, what should be done? Although the answers to these questions are not going to happen overnight, they are worth discussing.

Technology has effectively created a larger gap between better players and average amateurs than there has ever been. However, technology alone is not to blame for this. There are many other factors at play that have contributed, including better fitness, nutrition, training and instruction.

I believe that better instruction - specifically the emergence of the video analysis - has contributed as much, if not more, than technology. Hi-tech analysis of the swing, which teachers like David Leadbetter pioneered a decade ago, has shown us what really happens during the swing and has allowed golfer's to achieve much better mechanics and much better matching of equipment to an individual's swing.

If you look at the swing mechanics of PGA Tour players today, they are far superior to what they were twenty years ago. The real proof is at the collegiate level today, where you have players that have never known anything but modern teaching methods - they didn't have to re-learn and dispose of bad habits that some of the older PGA Tour pros have had to do over the past years. These players, as they hit the professional ranks in the next few years, will display a level of swing mechanics that has never before been seen.

They will also be in better physical shape given the current (and future) training methods involving weight training/conditioning and stretching.

The next wave of professionals will also have much more competitive experience at an early age due to the development of numerous tournament organizations over the past few decades. And, since golf has become a "cool" sport for young people, you have better athletes participating at a young age. Years ago, the best athletes in high school rarely played golf - today, some of the best teenage athletes are skipping out on football, basketball and baseball and focus on golf full time.

The convergence of all of these factors - technology, instruction and fitness - has, and is going to, produce golfers that will achieve unprecedented levels in the years to come.

I believe the single most important thing that can be done to level the playing field among professionals, where today the "bangers" have the biggest advantage, is for the USGA to set a minimum spin rate on the golf ball that is much higher than what balls are achieving today.

There have been golfers in every generation that were capable of achieiving swing speeds in excess of 120 mph, which is where Tiger Woods, John Daly and many others are. However, they had a difficult time controlling the flight of their ball, and it's accuracy, because the balls spun a lot more. I'm sure that you will be reading a lot more about this subject in the coming years.

Until then, feel free to add your own thoughts on how you believe technology is affecting the game.