Ball rollback a hot topic

By Neville Idour

Ball rollback a hot topic

The bottom line for the golf ball rollback is that from 2028 the ball will be limited to travelling 290 metres (317 yards) with a swing speed of 201kph (125mph) for professional golfers. For amateurs the rule will apply in 2030.

The decision has been greeted with a variety of reactions from horror to about time.

World golf governing bodies The R&A and the United States’ Golf Association (USGA) are the organisations who are behind the decision.

Mike Whan, the USGA chief, has been at pains to quell the alarm from some quarters. He said: “We are not trying to stop distance gains, just slow down the pace of them. Nor is it to bring back older courses into hosting majors.”

Whan does not believe cutting up to 14 metres from the longest hitting male professionals and just five metres from the recreational players is anything to be up in arms about. He also realises that this will not stop players doing all they can to increase distance and that the biggest hitters will still be just that.

“If we do nothing now, in 15, 20, 25 years and we are another 20 metres longer we really can’t fix it in the short or longer time frame.”

So how have distances increased over time?

In 1995 players like longer hitters Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle were hitting their drives 240 to 260 metres. Today the longest hitters Cameron Champ, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young and others all average around 296 metres, give or take a metre or two. The average distance for an average male golfer is around 200 metres. Clearly distances increase over time as human strength, fitness and size increases.

The bifurcation of the ball, one for professionals and one for amateurs, makes no sense according to many. Why differentiate?

If an amateur plays in a professional tournament as many do, and on rare occasions have won, will they now have to use the amateur ball that does not go as far?

PGA Tour player Keegan Bradley says it will be major. He said: “It feels like the wrong time to be doing this when by 2028 the game may be starting to feel settled again.”

It is estimated the longest hitting professionals will lose up to 14 metres while average hitters will lose 10 metres. Average swinging female professionals will lose six metres. As far as amateurs are concerned some say it is solving a problem that doesn’t exist in the amateur game. The average amateur male will lose four metres while the average female will lose two metres. Irrelevant surely.

The apparent stupidity of changing the ball for amateurs is starkly emphasised by the statistics. Apparently the average driving distance based on 20 million shots in 2018 for men was 226.4 yards yet by 2022 it had reduced to 225.9 yards. Same for women, 179 yards in 2018 down to 177 yards in 2022.

Rory McIlroy is not in favour of the rollback for amateurs but is in favour of it for professionals. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee believes the governing bodies are out of touch with the average golfer. He maintains only a small number of people are in favour, a few tour players and former players compared to 50 million global golfers, 28,000 PGA of America members and most touring professionals against it.

“Let’s appreciate the athleticism of the best,” Chamblee said. Another golf scribe said: “The universal rollback is the equivalent of using a wrecking ball to crush an ant.”

Perhaps forgotten in this debate are the manufacturers. What is their response? In most cases somewhat negative. One can only dream of the logistical challenges in producing two ranges of completely new balls for two markets. Will ball prices skyrocket?

Titleist called bifurcation “a solution in search of a problem.” Callaway said it would not have chosen to roll the ball back. Bridgestone preferred no impact for recreational players. TaylorMade said “The decision is disappointing. We feel the rollback is simply disconnected from what golfers believe is best for the game.”

So what will come next? Will the driver be the next target? The R&A and USGA are already looking at the possibility that hitting the driver has become too easy for professionals. They might look at changing driver faces to ensure only clean centre of the face hits get the best results. The mind boggles at the dangers to spectators from off centre hits by all the big hitters and not so big if that happens.

However, a number of professionals would support a rollback of the driver. Lee Westwood and Adam Scott feel the heads have got too big and too forgiving. Scott said: “The ball is the ball but the driver has gone from being the hardest club to hit and now it is the most forgiving.”

So what do we make of all this? Is it too late to think a little longer on this whole issue? It is probably clear something has to be done. But does it have to be so drastic and cause so much angst and upheaval. As so many players, fans and others in the golf industry say, the game has never been better in so many ways.

When we consider the effect the changes are going to have, particularly for manufacturers and even golf courses with their setups would it not be simpler to just stop ball development for distance where it is now and do the same for drivers. Problem solved at least for the next few years.

When it comes to golf courses, super long is not the answer. Why can’t courses be set up for the top professional events so they don’t always reward the longest hitters? It isn’t difficult. Maybe narrow some fairways, some deeper bunkers, grow the rough, tight pin positions. Shorter, risk-reward par fours are always intriguing. At a recent Webex Series event in Australia the three leaders in the final round all bogeyed a short 300 metre par four. Who can forget The Open in 2023 when the relatively shorter hitting Brian Harman triumphed with skill at the wonderfully setup Royal Liverpool>

So there we have it … the pros and cons. If the current state of the game is okay then maybe the current ball and driver are also ok. Wouldn’t that save a lot of angst?