by Golf’s governing bodies argue that a new rule change would “proportionately” reduce the distance balls travel and have a “minimum” impact on recreational players.
The T&A and USGA had previously proposed a Model Local Rule (MLR) to give elite tournaments the option to use balls that would travel about 15 yards less.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers and his USGA colleague Mike Whan confirmed that the MLR would apply in their own events, particularly the Open Championship and US Open, respectively.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods supported the proposal but the PGA Tour and PGA of America opposed it and it was strongly criticized by top equipment manufacturer Acushnet and the likes of Justin Thomas, who plays their market-leading Titleist balls.
I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball rolling back. It will make no difference to the average golfer and puts golf back on the path of sustainability. It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the last twenty years.…
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) December 3, 2023
In response to what Slumbers called “virtually no support” for the MLR, the T&A and the USGA are revising the speed at which the balls are tested, which will render the current versions non-compliant.
The change will apply at elite level from 2028, but also for recreational players from 2030.
Keegan Bradley said during last week’s World Hero Challenge that he had already tested a possible version of the new ball and claimed it was 40 to 50 yards shorter with his driver, saying it was “monstrous” to have impact of the new rule on amateur players.
However, Slumbers told the PA news agency that such “emotional numbers” were completely inaccurate as he described the reasoning behind the change.
“We didn’t have much support for MLR, we thought about how best we can achieve our objectives, bringing a little more skill back into the game, slowing down the distance and our environmental sustainability concerns, without a huge impact on the. a recreational game,” Slumbers said.
“We can’t do anything, we can share the game – which was MLR – or change the game for everyone. We always said that doing nothing was not an option.”
The club speed at which the balls are tested will rise from 120mph, which was implemented in 2004, to 125mph, and the distance limit remains at 317 yards, plus three concession yards.
“Over the past six months we’ve had a lot of golf balls sent to us that could comply with the MLR so we were able to test and understand how a ball would perform at the fastest clubhead speeds with the different rules. ,” said Slumbers.
“The impact on the game is as follows: For the fastest swing speeds it will be 13-15 yards, for the average Tour speed between nine and 11 yards and for the average recreational player less than five yards.
“We also know that as the clubs get shorter, the impact will be towards zero because the clubhead speed drops.
“We think it’s proportionate and it’s targeted and the impact on the recreational game is minimal and certainly not the emotional numbers that have been discussed over the last few days.”
Reaction to the change has certainly been mixed, but Slumbers gave short shrift to any suggestion that additional “notice and comment” periods be introduced.
“This is a rule change, a change in the rules of golf equipment standards,” said Slumbers, who acknowledged that the PGA Tour and PGA of America would prefer the status quo.
“There is a process that we have agreed with the whole industry and we have followed that diligently.
“It’s taken five years to get to this point and we’ve listened, but we feel we’re at the end of that process and the reality is that the rule change won’t come into effect until January 2028.
“This is a significant period of time and we have given more, as we were talking about 2026 before.
“Regulation is not easy, but our responsibility is to look to the future and ensure that the game is properly structured for the long term and we believe this rule change is part of that.
“I think it’s an important moment for the game and it’s a positive moment for the game.”
In addition, the governing bodies will monitor how drivers can become unconfirmed through regular use and will research the performance of clubs with off-center hits.
The PGA Tour and PGA of America gave a qualified welcome to the news as they resisted the increase in test club speed.
“Throughout the process we provided feedback to the USGA and the R&A and are pleased to see some of our recommendations reflected in this latest announcement,” the PGA Tour said in a statement.
“However, we believe the proposed increase in test clubhead speed to 125mph is inconsistent with the rate of increase we see when analyzing PGA Tour radar data.
“In conjunction with guidance from the Player Advisory Council, Player Directors and the Policy Board, we will continue to share our feedback with the USGA and the R&A.”
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan went a bit further in a memo to players, published by Golf Channel, saying: “We do not support… the increase to 125mph, believing a more moderate adjustment is appropriate.”
A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: “We are grateful for the amount of time and effort that the game’s governing bodies, The R&A and the USGA, have spent on research in this area.
“They are the rule makers of golf, so we respect their decision.”
