In the wake of the British Open and all the controversy surrounding the way the Carnoustie links was set up two weeks ago, attention has been focused once more on the effect of modern equipment on the Royal and Ancient game. Are its custodians losing control? Is brutal course presentation the only protection against advanced technology?

A fascinating response to these questions has come from Frank Thomas, technical director of the USGA and the man mainly responsible for the controls on equipment imposed on both sides of the Atlantic. "I don't think we can preserve the game, but we must protect the challenge," he said.

This was Thomas's way of accepting the inevitability of progress. Otherwise, we would be stuck with the situation as it applied 100 years ago when, incidentally, the game was considered to be at its peak.

During recent browsing, I came across the August 1949 issue of the USGA Journal, in which the renowned American golf course architect Robert Trent Jones wrote an article titled "How the Modern Ball Plays". One of his conclusions was that an increase of seven yards had taken place in the length of the average drive between official tests made in 1940 and those made in 1949.

Tests taken on the fifth hole at the Canterbury GC during the second day of the 1940 US Open showed that the average drive of the complete field was 253.4 yards. The average drive for the entire field on the opening day at Medinah in 1949 was 260.2 yards. Equally interesting was that several players, including the legendary Jimmy Thompson, had recorded drives of 290 yards at Medinah where, incidentally, Sam Snead's effort was 280.

Fifty years on, Thomas insists that the game's authorities have not lost control over the game through advances in technology. But he acknowledges that an inevitable price has to be paid for progress.

"In our desire to travel around the country, we invented automobiles, the most efficient and effective way to transport ourselves," he said. "What followed was that we had automobile accidents. So, even though the automobile was a marvellous invention, accidents account for 40,000 fatalities in the US every year. That is what I call the revenge effect."

He went on: "Distance is something that has concerned us in the USGA for a long time and we have been working on controlling it. It has been a problem from as far back as 1898, when the wound Haskell golf ball was introduced, prompting claims that the average drive would soon be 300 yards.

"Our objectives in the USGA are clear. We want to try to preserve the integrity of some of the great old golf course designs. It is a tough thing to do, and I'm not sure we will succeed, but it remains one of our objectives.

"Another reason is to avoid contributing to an increase in the cost of play. If we have to continue to increase the length of the golf course, it is going to cause a problem. And we don't want to contribute to slow play. Most important, however, is to protect the challenge which attracts us all of us to this wonderful game."

The USGA work closely with the Royal and Ancient on such matters. Indeed it is the American body which is responsible for the equipment testing which will decide, ultimately, what is permissible for play on this side of the Atlantic.

But having come off second-best in a major legal battle with Ping, the USGA are also aware of the dangers in taking on big business. For instance, regarding the so-called trampoline effect, whereby the golf-ball gets an extra kick off the face of a large, titanium driver, Thomas said: "We set the standard and, believe it or not, we now have somebody who says, `You are limiting my right to make a living and the interests of my shareholders' need to be protected. If you disapprove my club, I'm going to come after you legally'.

"We are going to stand firm, because here is somebody who really doesn't get it. We are protecting the challenge that the game offers. We are protecting the needs of golfers. We are not going to let somebody spoil this game."

Turning to golf course preparation, Thomas claimed: "I would like to see some sort of recommended standard of what the turf should be, with regard to the softness and the length of turf, specifically for fairways. We now have turf conditions that are almost perfect, and we keep striving for shorter and more manicured fairways. This bothers me."

Regarding equipment: "We now have about 2,000 golf balls on our conforming list, and last year I made rulings on 715 different clubs. Every year we get a new batch of interesting clubs.

"For example, the air wood is a club with a little valve in the back of the grip, with a hollow shaft and a hollow head. What you do is pump it up with 90 psi and it is meant to give you 20 extra yards. The problem is it leaks a little and on the way to the golf course you need to take your clubs to the gas station and fill them up." Thomas gave another example: "To play the game of golf, some say you have to keep your head still. We recently had dark glasses submitted with a small, clear, horizontal strip right in the middle of the left lens and a vertical, clear strip on the right lens. The idea was to line up the ball by looking through the clear section with each eye. If you moved your head, you would lose sight of the ball.

"Then there was the putter wipe which obviated the need for cleaning the face of the putter on your sock or slacks. All you had to do was remove a toe spike from your shoe and, before replacing it, attach a plate which was angled and had some bristles protruding forward from the plate. You couldn't walk very comfortably with this thing attached to your shoe, but at least you had clean pants."

Meanwhile, from all the statistics Thomas has been collecting, he believes the general golfing public would be surprised at his findings. For instance, he claims that the average statistics from the USPGA Tour regarding greens in regulation and accuracy haven't changed much in the last 30 years.

Greens may be improving, but actual putting expertise has declined. From 1968 until 1994, driving distance increased by about one yard every four years. Thomas conceded, however, that there has been an increase of eight yards over the last four years, which he acknowledges has something to do with equipment.

But from an overall perspective, he is satisfied that the game's custodians are moving sufficiently fast to control technology with technology. "We have recently adopted the first performance standard for golf clubs," he said. "We are working on a more sophisticated standard for golf balls. In the process, we are not trying to stifle innovation, specifically for the average golfer."

The USGA's man at the coalface concluded: "We understand why people play the game of golf and, through our respect for the game, we are determined to protect the challenge."