If golfers in the United Kingdom were expected to give a sharp intake of breath upon hearing about the proposed rule change that would give the elite amateur and professional golfers a ball of their own that travels less far than present balls, then you would have been disappointed. If you thought word of the “model local rule†as proposed Tuesday by the USGA and the R&A, the game’s two governing bodies, would set tongues wagging and be all anyone was talking about in golf, you would have been wrong. On this side of the Atlantic, it was greeted with little more than a polite silence.
There is general acceptance that hitting distances have increased significantly in recent years. Perhaps the best example came when Bryson DeChambeau hit a 417-yard drive on the par-5 fifth hole at Whistling Straits in the 2021 Ryder Cup. “We’ve crossed the Rubicon with regards to hitting distance and where it is going,†said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. “It’s our responsibility to propose changes to protect the long-term integrity of the sport.â€
The main reason there was so little reaction to the proposed rule change in the United Kingdom was that the vast majority of golfers will not be affected, either by the proposal or, if the rule is invoked, its implementation. Reducing the distance a ball travels by about 15 yards is a limitation proposed to be imposed only on elite golfers.
Amateurs, the backbone of the game, will still be able to play their roll-ups, their club competitions and their friendly foursomes just as they always have. And probably some professional events will continue as they are now. This rule will be implemented at the Open and U.S. Open from January 2026.
“Something has got to be done. ... I must say though that it is becoming so complicated.â€
Michael Bonallack
Obviously Rory McIlroy is an elite golfer, and so is DeChambeau, and any golfer who plays competitive golf for a living and is ranked 500th in the world could claim to be elite. So are the very best amateurs, golfers who are transitioning from amateur to professional status.
But is your club pro an elite golfer if and when he plays in a small regional professional competition? Is he an elite golfer when taking part in that dreaded captain and professional match on Sunday morning against all comers that is such a staple of winter golf on this side of the Atlantic? Determining who are and who are not elite golfers is far from the only issue raised by the proposed rule, but it is certainly a very important one.
There were few raised voices in golf among the professionals who grew up in the U.K. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, two veteran tweeters, let the matter pass without comment, unlike Justin Thomas and DeChambeau in the U.S. They were outspokenly critical of it. But then, they would be, wouldn’t they? As proposed, the rule will reduce some of their appeal to spectators.
“I am a very poor golfer who only once got into single figures and that was 50 years ago, and I had the enormous privilege of leading the European Tour (now the DP World Tour) for a number of years,†said Ken Schofield, a past executive director of the tour in question. “At the European Tour we generally felt that golf was at its best when it was one game. This is a fracturing of the game. And it has come at a time when the game is having a renaissance. Since the pandemic more people are taking up the game, playing it, coming back to the game. Golf is thriving.â€
Schofield didn’t say as much, but his remarks could be interpreted as meaning, “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.†He believes the extra distance so many players are now hitting the ball is due to issues such as the players’ increased strength and fitness, better analysis of the swing and how to improve it, and, perhaps most significantly of all, a significant advance in the technology used in making golf clubs.
The English professional Eddie Pepperell, as keen a tweeter and user of social media as any, may feel he had said it all when the joint statement about distance control was issued in 2020 by the USGA and the R&A. “Regardless of what happens with the technology, there seems to have been a paradigm shift in golf whereby the key factor, certainly in terms of ambition, is to hit the ball further and further,†Pepperell wrote in a 2021 Golf Monthly column. “I don’t see that changing and I don’t see any perceived rollbacks changing that.
“In the past, the narrative was that you had to be a great putter to be a great player, but the data now shows … that if you hit the ball a long, long way, you’re at quite a significant advantage. … I don’t think a rollback will make any difference to that.
“I’ve said this before,†Pepperell continued, “but if you roll the ball back 10 percent, although I gain an advantage on Bryson (DeChambeau) mathematically, I believe he gains more because of the disparity in iron play. It is so much easier to hit an 8-iron than a 6-iron, and going from wedge to 8-iron is easier than going from an 8-iron to a-6 iron. … Any rollback will just mean people like me will hit 6-irons more and people like Bryson will hit 8-irons more.â€
This proposed rule change is one way of addressing arguably the most important issue in golf, though some would prefer that architects used greater imagination in designing courses and gave more thought to the setup.
“Something has got to be done,†said Michael Bonallack, the former secretary of the R&A and a renowned amateur golfer. “Jack (Nicklaus) has been pushing for something like this for years. I don’t think Tiger (Woods) is against it nor Rory (McIlroy). I must say though that it is becoming so complicated. Should attention be paid to the ball or the face of a driver to stop the trampolining effect or to the clubhead or to the shaft? I don’t know. It is all very complicated.â€
John Hopkins
