Frank Thomas, who retired recently after 26 years as technical director of the USGA, was responsible for more than 5,000 decisions on equipment conformity, many of them related to new, space-age materials. "The whole objective has been to maintain the integrity of the game," said Thomas, who passionately believed that a player's skill should be the primary factor in achieving lower scores. Against that background, it is interesting to note that when the US Tour began keeping statistics in 1980, the average drive was 256.8 yards. This year, only three out of 195 players averaged less than that.