Professionals will lose up to 15 yards from their tee shots but the roll-back will also affect amateur players
Golf’s governing bodies are locked in a row with the PGA Tour and the game’s top equipment makers after announcing their decision to rein back how far the ball can travel.
Minutes after the Royal & Ancient (R&A) and US Golf Association (USGA) announced that new regulations will affect both the professional and amateur game worldwide, the PGA Tour sent a memo to their members stating “we do not support today’s announcement”.
There was no mention of legal recourse from the PGA Tour and especially the DP World Tour, which said “we respect the decision”, but powers-that-be are clearly ready for a fight.
“There’s going to be a lot of ambulance chasers and alarmists to make this seem so much worse than it really is,” said Mike Whan, the USGA chief executive, “I don’t want a few loud voices that are trying to get more clicks and more viewers and more phone calls to drive a frenzy that quite frankly just isn’t based on fact.”
Ensuring that golf balls travel shorter distances is regarded as a radical, but much needed, step to protect classic layouts such as the Old Course. Top pros and weekend hackers will all be affected by the announcement – known as the roll-back. The rules will be introduced in 2028 for the pros and 2030 for the rest.
Golf’s law-makers expect that the new testing speeds on balls will curtail big-hitters by 13 to 15 yards, while they claim there will be “a minimal distance impact, of five yards or less, for most recreational golfers”.
In the same announcement the R&A and USGA also said they have plans to reduce the size of the sweet spot on golf drivers.
With the news leaking last weekend there was no surprise at Wednesday’s announcement but that does not mean that anger was in short supply. But backed by the greatest two male pros perhaps of all time – Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – and by Rory McIlroy, the most recognisable of the current world top 10, the R&A and USGA are determined to hold firm.
They are in charge of the Rules of Golf and if anyone – from professional tours, to elite amateur events, to the tens of thousands of golf clubs across the world who hold weekly medal competitions – wish to adhere then they must ensure that only conforming balls are used in competition.
“We are convinced that this decision is one of the key ways of achieving a sustainable future for golf, protecting the integrity of the game and meeting our environmental responsibilities,” Martin Slumbers, the R&A chief executive, said.
“The measure we are taking has been carefully considered and calibrated while maintaining the ‘one game’ ethos deemed to be so important to the golf industry. Importantly, it also keeps the impact on recreational golfers to an absolute minimum. We are acting now because we want to ensure that future generations can enjoy the unique challenge of golf as much as we do.”
Slumbers referenced the industry’s opposition to the initial plans which would effectively have brought in separate rules for the elite players and recreational golfers. The R&A and USGA have long stated that “doing nothing is not an option”. So everyone gets to play under the same regulations.