A PROPOSAL TO ROLL BACK THE GOLF BALL AT THE ELITE LEVEL HAS BEEN A

BY E. MICHAEL JOHNSON

1972

Spalding introduces the two-piece Top-Flite distance ball.

1976

The USGA’s ‘Iron Byron’ robot measures golf balls’ initial velocities and distances. Struck at 109 miles per hour, balls must travel no farther than 296 yards.

1979

TaylorMade introduces the first commercially viable metalwoods.

1984

The USGA adds ‘springlike effect’ language to the Rules of Golf.

2004

The USGA implements rules restricting clubhead size to 460 cubic centimetres and COR (a measure of face springiness) to .822 with a test tolerance of .008.

2003

TrackMan — a Doppler-radarbased launch monitor, helps optimise the launch conditions of professional golfers.

Average driving distance on the PGA Tour surges to 285.9 yards. Hank Kuehne leads at 321.4. Nine players average 300 or more, and 55 others top 290 yards.

2005

The USGA sends an email to ball manufacturers soliciting prototype balls that fly 15 to 25 yards shorter than current USGA limits.

2006

The Ohio Golf Association conducts a tournament that requires participants to use a ball made to carry 10 to 15 yards shorter to highlight the burden on facilities to lengthen their courses.

2002

Augusta National adds more than 285 yards by extending half the holes in what is dubbed ‘Tigerproofing’ the golf course.

The USGA and R&A release a joint-statement of principles that puts distance firmly in the crosshairs of future regulation: “Any further significant increases in hitting distance at the highest level are undesirable.”

Twenty-one players break the 400-yard barrier, including David Duval, with a 454-yarder.

2011

Average distance on the PGA Tour eclipses 290 yards for the first time. Five players top 310 yards, and 21 players average over 300 yards. More than 100 players have an average of more than 290 yards.

2018

After a period of slow to flat distance increases, the PGA Tour average leaps from 290.0 in 2016 to 296.1 in 2018. Sixty golfers top the 300-yard mark.

Long Time In The Making

Golf’s distance debate is not new. In fact, pros and everyday golfers have been questioning the length the golf ball goes for more than half a century. The recent proposal by the USGA and R&A to roll back the distance the golf ball goes for players at the elite-competition level was not spurred by one moment in time but rather by the cumulative effect increased distance has had on the game. Here’s a look at some of the more seminal moments that have led to this tipping point.

1988

For the first time, metal drivers outnumber persimmon drivers on the PGA Tour.

1990

The Open Championship is played at the Old Course at St Andrews at a length of 6,933 yards.

1992

The longest recorded drive on the PGA Tour is 372 yards by Mark Calcavecchia in the first round of the NEC World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio.

1997

Tiger Woods wins the Masters by overpowering Augusta National. He hits pitching wedge into the par-5 15th for his second shot during the final round and requires only a 9-iron to reach the par-5 second green during the third round.

2000

Tiger Woods changes to the Nike Tour Accuracy, a multilayer, solid-core ball with a urethane cover, and wins seven of his next nine events.

Titleist introduces the Pro V1 — its first multilayer, solid-core ball with a urethane cover. Within two weeks more than 100 tour pros are playing multilayer, solidcore balls with urethane covers.

The average driving distance on the PGA Tour is 272.7 yards. John Daly is the leader at 301.4 yards.

1999

Chris Smith hits the first recorded 400-yard drive on the PGA Tour: a 427-yard bomb at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

1998

New USGA president Buzz Taylor says the skill of pros combined with high-tech equipment “threaten obsolescence of many of golf’s historic venues”. At the US Open, the USGA says it is developing a test for “trampoline effect”.

2022

Bryson DeChambeau attempts to clear a lake to drive the 555yard par-5 sixth at Bay Hill during the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He had the distance (370 yards) on one drive but was wide of the target.

The Old Course at St Andrews measures 7,313 yards for the Open, nearly 400 yards more than in 1990. Seventy-seven players hit drives of 400 yards or more on the PGA Tour, and 723 tee shots travel 375 yards or more. Average driving distance hits an all-time high of 299.8 yards. Drives of more than 320 yards — the USGA test limit — account for nearly 20 per cent of all measured tee shots.

2023

The USGA and R&A announce a proposal for a Model Local Rule that can be applied in elite competitions starting in 2026. The proposal effectively would roll back the distance the golf ball travels by 15 to 20 yards. The proposal would not impact everyday golfers.