Post Game

Does rolling back the golf ball really change the game?

COMMENTARY BY TONY DEAR • CG EDITOR

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, or turned the internet off in early December, you’ll be aware that, since our last issue in December 2023, the USGA and R & A have decided to limit the distance a golf ball can travel.

In testing, the governing bodies’ robots are currently programmed to swing a club at 120 mph with the limit a ball can travel set at 317 yards (with a three-yard tolerance). Also, the launch angle in this test is set at 11 degrees with 2,200 rpm of spin. In the future, the clubhead speed will increase to 125 mph with the 317-yard limit and all the other parameters remaining the same.

According to the USGA, it means the elite, male golfer will lose nine to eleven yards with a driver. The average drive of women tour pros is expected to drop up to seven yards, while you, me, and the rest of the world will probably hit it five yards shorter. Some dispute these numbers, saying a low single-figure handicapper may lose something closer to 10 yards. But it’s generally conceded the high-80s/low90s shooter will barely detect any difference between the distance he/she hits it now and how far they hit it in 2030 — when the rule change comes into effect for everyone (elite competitions will enforce the new rule two years earlier).

Judging by the furor that followed the announcement, rolling back the golf ball is an extremely sensitive issue. Numerous polls have shown that many golfers feel negatively toward the decision, and we know there will be readers for whom it seems utterly appalling, not to mention poorly timed given the wave of popularity golf has experienced since COVID-19. It’s understandable; humans rarely enjoy having anything taken from them.

But we can’t help feeling some of the reaction was a little drastic, especially from people threatening to stop playing golf altogether. Let’s put it in perspective and give the issue of how far we hit a small ball with a stick during our leisure time its proper significance. Let’s not even suggest we’re going to quit the game we love so deeply, and which allows us to spend such quality time with our family and friends. They’ll lose the same five yards we might, and no one at our level (non-Tour standard) will be getting any noticeable advantage over anyone else. Though it may feel almost personal to some, let’s also remember the USGA and R & A, are acting in the best long-term interests of the game.

Mike Whan of the USGA and Martin Slumbers of the R & A knew very well this would cause a great deal of conversation. But they stood firm. In the past, both had said that golf could no longer do nothing while its footprint continued to grow. They were looking 40-50 years ahead, attempting to halt the slow but perceptible creep towards a game where choice of equipment, not development of skill, determined who won.

They saw golf taking too long, costing too much, and having too great an impact on the environment. “While thousands will claim we did too much,” Whan has been quoted as saying, “there will be just as many who say we didn’t do enough. But from the very beginning, we’ve been driven to do what is right for golf. We would be failing in our responsibility if we didn’t take appropriate action now.”

It’s also worth noting Padraig Harrington’s comments.

The popular Irish golfer said the hostility towards the rule makers was predominantly an American thing. “We love the R & A in Europe,” he said. “In Ireland, we all know a course that has had to change its holes because the ball is just going too far. And it’s not just the pros, it’s young guys — people we want to bring into the game. They can really hit it, and when they miss, they miss big. It’s dangerous, and the course can’t get insurance. I know there’s a bit of pain for the majority, but it’s for the greater good of the game.”

In 1990, the USGA and R & A agreed that the golf ball must be 1.68 inches in diameter (the size of today’s ball). Until then, golfers outside of USGA-governed countries had played a 1.62-inch diameter ball whose properties made it significantly longer than the 1.68-inch ball used in America. Overnight, British, European, Australian, African, South American, and Asian golfers lost 20-25 yards off the tee.

People were upset, sure. I remember my dad grumbling about how much shorter his drives were. He didn’t let it take away his love for golf, however, and it wasn’t long before he, and everyone else, had adapted. I think we can too.