NASSAU, Bahamas — At least one person says it’s monstrous. Others say they don’t understand the anger. But everyone has opinions.
The decision by the USGA and R&A to “roll back” golf balls universally at all levels of golf is now one of the most debated topics in the game. After three years of a “notice and comment” period in which governing bodies proposed a bifurcated system in which only professionals used a different ball, such strong opposition to bifurcation led to a universal decision.
In less than a decade, the golf balls you and the pros use will no longer be within the rules. But there is much more to analyze with this huge movement.
What does a ball kick mean?
Golf balls will be shortened to ensure they can’t travel as far, combating the long-term problem of increasing distance between players while golf courses remain the same length (or undergo expensive renovations to increase yardage) . Manufacturers will be required to make new balls that meet the new standards. The previous system tested balls at 120 mph, ensuring they did not exceed the 317-yard distance limit. The new rules increase the test to 125 mph, which would obviously send the ball further, meaning the balls must be slowed down. Longer hitters will lose between 13 and 15 yards, the USGA said, while LPGA players can lose between 5 and 7 yards. The average recreational golfer will lose less than 3 to 5 yards, according to the USGA.
Why are we doing this?
During the 2022-23 season, 98 PGA Tour professionals averaged more than 300 yards off the tee. Just 10 years ago only 13 did. The 75th longest player on tour this year, Kevin Roy, averaged 303.4 yards, or 31.5 yards more than his 1998 counterpart, Guy Boros. This is due to improvements in club and ball technology, raising concerns among many in the game that professional golf is becoming a worse product as players can take it so far that courses cannot keep up. rhythm. As Tiger Woods said Saturday: “We just don’t have enough property anymore.” Woods, as he pointed out, is hitting the golf ball longer than ever, despite all the surgeries he has undergone in the last nine years.
The governing bodies only wanted to make this change for the highest levels of golf, not wanting to affect the recreational golfer. But there was strong opposition to that idea, particularly among the PGA Tour and major equipment manufacturers, with many claiming that one of the beautiful parts of golf is that professional and recreational golfers all play with the same equipment. Those people, for example Patrick Cantlay, a member of the PGA Tour’s political board, also said the fork would mean manufacturers would have to spend millions of dollars developing multiple different golf balls for different levels.
Even that is debatable: Rory McIlroy responded to that point last week when he tweeted: “The game is already forked. Do you think we play the same thing as you?
I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball recoiling. It will make no difference to the average golfer and will put golf back on the path to sustainability. It will also help restore certain skills in the professional game that have been eradicated over the last two decades…
-Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) December 3, 2023
Perhaps part of the pushback against the fork was actually a fight to stop the rollback entirely, but R&A head Martin Slumbers told Golf Digest: “There are only three options: We can fork; you change the whole game; or you don’t do anything. And doing nothing is not an option.” Since opposition to the fork was so strong, the USGA and the R&A moved to reverse it for everyone.
This has met with considerable pushback online, but they are pushing for changes.
“There will be a lot of ambulance chasers and scaremongers who will make this seem much worse than it really is,” USGA CEO Mike Whan told The Golf Channel. “…I don’t want a few loud voices trying to get more clicks, more viewers, and more phone calls to cause a frenzy that, frankly, is not based on real facts.”
When will it come into effect?
The rollback begins for elite players and competitions in 2028, and begins to apply to everyone in 2030.
What does it mean for the recreational golfer?
You will need new golf balls. Eventually. The new rules won’t start for non-elite players until 2030, so you’ll have two years to watch the pros play with this setup before you have to settle.
One of the main problems some have with universal backspin is that most recreational golfers don’t hit it close enough for distance to be an issue. PGA Tour golfer Keegan Bradley told reporters in the Bahamas this week: “For the amateur world, hitting the ball shorter is monstrous. I can’t think of anything more stupid than that. “I don’t think that’s very smart at all, especially when the popularity of golf is literally growing in the wake of COVID.”
The tradeoff would be that courses can adjust tee boxes (and the cost of moving them up is much less than moving them back) and that length generally depends more on how far you go relative to the norm than on a certain number. . McIlroy also responded to points like Bradley’s, saying: “People who are upset about this decision shouldn’t be angry at the governing bodies, they should be angry at the elite pros and club/ball manufacturers because they didn’t want the fork.” “.
McIlroy also said: “It will make no difference to the average golfer and will put golf back on the path to sustainability. “It will also help bring back certain skills in the professional game that have been eradicated over the last two decades.”
Also keep in mind that the average golfer can make up for that distance loss through proper equipment installation, lessons, improved fitness, or not playing worn-out balls he finds in the bushes.
Golfers are expected to lose 5 percent of distance with the proposed golf ball recoil. (Neil Baynes/Getty Images)
What does it mean for PGA Tour professionals?
This is the part that is difficult to specify and perhaps the answer will not come until 2028.
The ultimate goal is to make golf a game that rewards hitting multiple types of shots and having success with every club in your bag. The concern is not literally that people have gone too far. It’s that certain courses become “drive the ball far and hit a short wedge,” which some say degrades the game. Many will always cite the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot, in which long hitter Bryson DeChambeau was able to hit long drives, not worry too much about accuracy, and still get up and down on his way to a big victory. This is obviously the extreme, but it is the simplest example of the problem.
Many professionals say there is much more to do with course design and configuration that could serve as a deterrent to the bomb-and-dig approach. Scottie Scheffler singled out TPC Sawgrass, Colonial and Hilton Head earlier this year as courses that have “withstood the test of time” with designs that penalize poor management. But other courses have removed trees and simply opted to let raw trees grow, which isn’t always enough.
Governing bodies probably hope that drives will move back about 15 yards and that more players will be seen hitting long irons onto the greens. Once again, the goal is to reward a complete game of golf.
Will it solve the problem?
Probably not, but it would be much harder to roll back the equipment (although the USGA and R&A also indicated they will continue testing “driver slip” and driver forgiveness for off-center hits) and the governing bodies thought something had to be done. Some of the best courses in the world, from Pebble Beach to St. Andrews, were at risk of being overrun by the direction of the game. Augusta National extended the 13th hole by 35 yards by purchasing the property behind the old back tees. Almost no other course can afford to do things like that.
There will always be unintended consequences of important decisions like this. Maybe it creates new problems. Maybe it creates a completely different advantage to take advantage of. But as Slumbers said, doing nothing was not an option, and in the short term, this could make professional golf a better product.
(Top photo: Ángel Martínez/Getty Images)
