After all the talk of drivers, we thought you would like to know the furthest distance that one has accomplished. The longest drive in the world was hit by 64-year-old Mike Austin at the US Senior National Open Qualifier in 1974. The 515 yard (471 m) shot was hit using a 43.5in steel shafted persimmon wood driver.To prevent extremely long drives from having a negative impact on the game of Golf, the R&A and USGA have recently announced new restrictions on the length of drivers. All driver clubs are now to be shortened from 48in to 46in. This is to prevent shots getting too long, and of course having to be made longer in order to keep up with the technology.