I sincerely hope this article is all new to you because your life has been busy and you like to sneak in some golf along the way. In case you hadn’t heard there has been some agreement amongst the golf organizations to make for golf ball changes. As you would expect there are a wide array of opinions on this and while it is agreed upon it is several years away leading one to think there will be changes to the agreement.
What Are They Doing To The Golf Ball?
The PGA is basically making the ball fly shorter. The feeling amongst the parties involved in this decision is that the length the ball is being hit today by the tour pros allows them to overpower the courses and takes away the original challenges designed into them. As a good example of this Augusta spending over $25 million to lengthen the 13th hole. This was named at the time as trying to “Tiger Proof” the course. Frankly courses would run out of room trying to keep the scores within reason. The other choices courses could employ would be to “trick up” their courses by making the greens super-fast or grow the rough to untenable lengths. This will only hurt the pace the play.
How Are Golf Balls Measured Now And How Is It Changing
As you may know, the golf ball measurements are all done by a robotic swing arm to keep all of the variances out of the process. Since 2004 balls are tested with a swing speed of 120 mph, 2520 rpms and a launch angle of 10 degrees. This is supposed to produce a distance of 317 yards. As of January 2028 for elite players and January 2030 for amateurs, that changes to 125 mph, 2200 rpms and a launch angle of 11 degrees. Using the new parameters the ball cannot go longer than 317 yards meaning the golf ball performance has to be rolled back. By making these changes the USGA is simulating a more modernized approach responding to the actions of human golfers pushing the distance boundaries.
In summary the ball will be designed to not go as far in the future.
How Will This Impact The Pros And Recreational Players
It is the first change to those ball testing conditions since 2004 or 20 years. Since golf is measured by numbers, here are some of the USGA provided feedback ranges for all levels of golfers.
The longest hitters on the tour are expected to see a reduction of as much as 13-15 yards in drive distance. Average professional tour and elite male players are expected to see a reduction of 9-11 yards, with a 5-7-yard reduction for an average LET or LPGA player.
Contrary to much of the initial online reaction, most everyday golfers are set to only see a 5- to 7-yard loss in total distance on their drives, according to the governing bodies’ research.
For all golfers it is thought that it should not be too much different once you start playing your middle irons.
What Is The Timing Of This Change
Feedback from manufacturers throughout the “Notice and Comment” period resulted in authorities extending the timeline to allow for more innovation time. The rollback will therefore officially come into effect for elite players from January 2028.
Existing balls approved as conforming in 2027 will be eligible for use by recreational golfers until January 2030, creating two years of bifurcated rules, and providing manufacturers and retailers sufficient time to adjust.
What Are The Pros Saying About This Change
The ‘rage against the rollback’ crew
According to Brandel Chamblee, the vast majority of touring professionals along with 50 million golfers worldwide are opposed to the rollback. The American commentator spoke in opposition to Rory’s belief that the everyday golfer will not be impacted, arguing that these are the players who will be hurt most by the rule change.
“Because a few tour players through years of practice, thousands of hours in the gym, and yes, advances in tech, can carry the ball 283.8 yards (tour average for 2023) they want to penalize 50 million golfers, said Chamblee.
“Appreciate the athleticism of the best, but don’t punish the only people in the game who will feel the sting of this decision”, he added.
Rory McIlroy
“I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball rollback. It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability. I don’t believe an average golfer giving up 5-10 yards off the tee is going to have a material effect on their actual score, handicap, or enjoyment of the game,” said McIlroy.
He added: “It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the past two decades.”
Justin Thomas
“I think the USGA over the years has made some pretty selfish decisions. In my mind, they have done a lot of things that aren’t for the betterment of the game, although they claim it.
“The amount of time, and money that these manufacturers have spent trying to create the best product possible, and now you’re going to tell them and us that we have to start over for potentially if the PGA Tour, PGA of America, don’t adopt this local rule. So for two of the four biggest events of the year, we’re going to have to use a different ball? Like, try to explain to me how that’s better for the game of golf.”
Rickie Fowler
“To take the game and knock it back when it’s in the best position it’s ever been in, I don’t want to see it as the golf ball being necessarily the right move. I don’t see how when we’re at the best place the game has ever been.
“Oh, you love the game? Yeah. Hey, thanks for joining us over COVID. Now we’re going to make you hit it 20 yards shorter. Have fun. I understand both sides. But looking at it as far as the game and everyone talks about growing the game, I think it’s going to be a huge step back.”
Keegan Bradley
“For the amateur world to hit the ball shorter is monstrous. I can’t think of anything more stupid than that. I don’t think it’s very smart at all, especially when golf’s growing in popularity coming out of COVID.”
Bryson DeChambeau
“I think it’s the most atrocious thing that you could do to the game of golf. It’s not about rolling golf balls back; it’s about making golf courses more difficult. I think it’s the most unimaginative, uninspiring, game-cutting thing you could do. Everybody wants to see people hit it farther. That’s part of the reason why a lot of people like what I do.”
What about Tiger?
Tiger is in Rory’s camp on this one. The 15-time Major winner has always been in favor of bifurcation, citing how professionals in baseball have long used wooden bats while recreational players use metal.
“I think this should have happened a long time ago. We’ve been hammering the ball needs to slow down.
“I’ve been of the position if you play in a pro event or you have a ‘P’ next to your name, you should be playing a pro ball. If you have an ‘A’ next to your name and you’re playing an amateur event, you should use an amateur ball.”
Conclusion
Sorry but I don’t think even with the talk of an agreement that we have a conclusion yet. I understand both sides. No one wants to see super-fast greens that are unplayable and just slow down the pace of play. Also no one wants to consistently play from deep rough that zaps all hope of a good shot for the average player. Tiger was an advocate for a (P) Pro Ball and another (A) ball for Amateurs. Honestly I like occasionally playing the same balls as the pros play.
It is probably a character fault on my part but I tend to selfishly look at changes like this in that how does this impact me. Frankly, I don’t want to loose even 5 to 7 yards on my drives. That makes that second shot on long par 4’s tougher. It is easy for Rory to say that amateurs won’t miss the extra distance when he is hitting 325 yard plus drives.
In the same vein, (and I could be naive), I have a hard time believing that most of the courses we play will “trick up” their courses. There may be an agreement in place but I don’t think the final chapter has been written on this. Might make sense to check in with Golf Digest for updates. I will also update this as I find out anything new.
What do you think? Leave a comment to express your opinion.
Here’s a little transparency. Our website contains affiliate links. This means if you click and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission. Don’t worry, there’s no extra cost to you. It’s a simple way you can support our mission to bring you quality content.