USGA, R&A propose golf ball restrictions for pro tours
The United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) have announced a proposal that would require the use of certain golf balls to limit hitting distances on the professional tours.
The use of a Model Local Rule (MLR) would come into effect from January 1, 2026; however, it will have no impact on the game at a recreational level.
A proposal notice was sent to golf equipment manufacturers on March 13, who can provide feedback on the notice until August 14, 2023. The changes “require use of golf balls tested under modified launch conditions, reflective of (the) longest hitters” at the elite level.
Changes have not been made to the ‘Equipment Rulemaking Procedures’ since 2011, yet golf has arguably seen more change in the last five years than it has in the last 50. As the technology and innovation used in the development of new golf equipment improves, so does the access professional players have to the best sports science and fitness coaching in the world.
In just over 10 years, reigning FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy has improved his average driving distance from 310.1 yards to over 326 yards. The flow-on effect of this is the increase in the distances McIlroy can hit all clubs in his bag.
While there has been relatively little increase in the average driving distances of the biggest hitters in professional golf over the last 20 years (Hank Kuenhe led the PGA Tour going at 321.5 yards in 2003), the tour-wide numbers have surged significantly. Two decades ago, PGA Tour players were sending it 285.9 yards on average; in 2022-23, that figure stands at 297.2 yards.
The stats are even more compelling when you look at the sheer number of long hitters on tour these days. In 2003, only nine PGA Tour players averaged more than 300 yards off the tee; this season, no fewer than 83 players are eclipsing that mark.
USGA CEO Mike Whan noted “predictable, continued increases will become a significant issue for the next generation if not addressed soon”, maintaining they are being “guided first and foremost by doing what’s right by the entire game”.
The “issue” Whan refers to is the gradual increase in the hitting distances of professional players and its impact on the future of the game. As hitting distances increase for players on tour, so does the need for longer golf courses to provide a genuine test for the game’s elite.
R&A CEO Martin Slumbers spoke on the issue, declaring a “pressure to lengthen courses” needs to be addressed while the sport works to retain “its unique challenge and appeal”.
Part of this “challenge and appeal” is the requirement of professional players to carry an array of clubs in their bags, and possess the skills to use them, in order to play the game at the top level. As distances have increased, there has also been a decrease in the importance of certain clubs and skills.
As it stands, even when playing the longest of holes on a tour course, players are often only required to hit middle to low irons for their second shots, making it easier to score well. That also means fairway woods, long irons and hybrids are becoming less relevant as approach clubs, with many players needing them for only the longest par-fives.
Experts suggest the average cost of building a golf course is $14 million with some costing as much as $25 million, with approximately 140 to 180 acres of land being required to build the course and facilities.
Instead of building bigger courses and facilities for the professional tours, the governing bodies have proposed changes that threaten to create a divide between the professional and recreational levels of the sport.
Their proposal has been met with mixed reactions. Acushnet – the owner of Titleist, manufacturer of the self-proclaimed ‘#1 ball in golf’ – responded to the USGA and R&A via social media.
“One of golf’s unifying appeals is that everyone in the game plays by the same set of rules, can play the same courses and with the same equipment,” Acushnet said on its Instagram page.
“Golfers can watch professionals and compare themselves to the world’s best, aspiring to hit the same shots.
“This bifurcation would divide golf between elite and recreational play, add confusion, and break the linkage that is part of the game’s enduring fabric.”
David Maher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acushnet, doubled down by saying “the proposal of golf ball bifurcation is in many respects a solution in search of problem”. He added that equipment manufacturers such as Titleist wanted to “actively participate in this conversation with the governing bodies”.
The great debate about the hitting distances of players on tour escalated in 2020 after Bryson ‘The Scientist’ DeChambeau made enormous changes to his body, and by extension his average hitting distance, to win his first major championship at the 120th US Open.
While the changes to his body could not be regulated, changes DeChambeau made to his equipment prompted R&A chief Slumbers to explore options that were not “person specific”, with an eye towards keeping the “balance of skill and technology” in the game of golf.
The news comes only a few weeks out from this year’s Masters Tournament (April 6-9), an event which offers a prime example of the concerns the USGA and R&A are trying to address.
In 1997, when Tiger Woods broke through for his first major win, the famed Augusta National layout measured 6,925 yards from the tips – only 125 yards longer than it was in 1940. But in 2019, when a 44-year-old Woods claimed his fifth Masters title, the course ran out at some 7,475 yards.
Tiger is a $41 outsider to win the 2023 Masters, with McIlroy and Spanish star Jon Rahm – both among the top 10 in driving distance on the PGA Tour – sharing favouritism with world no.1 Scottie Scheffler at $9 with online bookmakers.
