The USGA and R&A are expected to announce early next week that they will be changing the rules to roll back distance in golf.

See further details: https://t.co/jIseCZe6xC pic.twitter.com/UYtcHp1pNf

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 2, 2023

Might have to stock up

The people they would hurt the most are high single digit to mid teen handicappers.

They are theoretically adding two clubs to every approach shot.

Why can't these people just leave the game in a good place.

I lift weights, practice quite a bit in order to improve my accuracy and maintain decent distance.

The PGA Tour had previously said they would not support any rollback. Wonder what happens when the Tour and the ball manufacturers just say "nah, we're good". Except for USGA events (in the United States), we could still keep playing the current balls. And who's going to make a rolled back ball if everybody decides to ignore the USGA rule?

Interested to see how this shakes out.

It will be interesting to see it all play out. If my memory serves me correctly, they didn't change club specs due to feedback of potential lawsuits.

As Adam Scott has stated, when he came on tour the driver was the hardest club to hit. Now it is the easiest.

It is supposed to take effect in 2028 for pros and 2030 for everyone.

Next Year is the Year said:

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I don't understand why they can't just come up with a standardized ball just for the pro tours, specifically one that just spins a lot more but doesn't hinder distance. Let everyone else outside of the tour players play whatever ball they want.

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This was there original plan IIRC and the ball manufacturers pushed back hard. People want to play what the pros play and they dont want to have to manufacture two kinds of balls.

The whole thing is stupid

Hugely in favor of rolling it back for the pros and bifurcating the game. Not a need to do it for amateurs though. But if that's what it takes to get it rolled back for pros then fine.

Most of us don't have the swing speed or ball speed necessary for it to make a difference

I think it's great, I love the idea of a stock or uniform ball for the pros. I'd like to see it even go a step further and have Augusta design their own ball, the same for all the majors. Make the manufacturers broker deals with tournaments and tournament sponsors.

I don't see leverage for the manufacturers. The USGA, R&A and PGAT don't need any of these manufacturers, the manufacturers need them.

And how could anyone stop manufacturers from selling the outlawed balls? Let the avg Joe play whatever.

I'm smart enough to know that I'm not using the same ball or club as Tiger, no matter what the advertising tells me.

If someone is facing a course that has carries they don't feel comfortable with they could perhaps try adjusting what tee box they play.

It's the same thing with pros. Theres no requirement they play courses at 7500 yards. If they were to set up courses strategically and intelligently, they can utilize more tee boxes and bring different hazards or features into play. Now they don't even have the option before of the distance they're essentially required to super tip it out.

Why not keep it the same and watch them shoot -20. Protect some old guys ego?

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Just get rid of par 5s and turn short par 4s into long par 3s. Then narrow the fairways and grow 6 inch rough. I'd watch them shoot +5 to win the tournament.

Why penalize the 99.9% of the golfing population who can't fly the ball more than 230 yards????

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That just changes the score to par, not addressing the reason for the change. Courses can't keep getting bigger. And we can't reward this endless chase for speed and distance.

Also not to mention, narrow fairways and long rough does not punish long hitter or put a premium on accuracy. It does exactly the opposite

BayAg_14 said:

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Me standing on a tee box that has a 250 yard carry over water with a rolled back ball: pic.twitter.com/FnrJSGvCHV

— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) December 2, 2023

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Move up a tee. That's going to have to be the answer. I don't really like that either and it's not without its problems.

I am an 8 and I can't hit it far at all, fortunately I play a short course. But when I go play GRINT tournaments, the guys in my flight are hitting it 50 yds past me. I'm 55 and I can't move up a tee so I quit playing them. I think we're going to have to figure out ways to decide what tees we can use or the stigma is going to have to somehow go away.

Why is shooting -20 such a bad thing? It really doesn't bother me what the winning score is. I think the crazy US Open setups are just as ridiculous trying to keep scores down.

I know everyone hates Brandel but he made a good point this morning. The R&D and production costs for these new balls is gonna cost a ton of money and the pros ain't paying it. It'll be us regular Joe's who'll end up footing the bill for the new balls one way or another.

JCA1 said:

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I know everyone hates Brandel but he made a good point this morning. The R&D and production costs for these new balls is gonna cost a ton of money and the pros ain't paying it. It'll be us regular Joe's who'll end up footing the bill for the new balls one way or another.

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Yeah, new balls that are worse. Sounds great.

This is a big nothing for average golfers. Look at this chart that shows the average handicapper has gone from 200 to 208 since 1996. The scratch guys have improved even less. The only group with a major improvement is the high handicappers which have added 24 yards which I believe is due to the much for forgiving clubs and not the balls.

The average distance for the pros has gone from 266 to 297 over the same time. The longest driver in 1996 was Daly at 289 vs McElroy did 327 last year.

And they'll be 25 with new balls.

OK, so I have no idea if these new balls will imapact us with 110mph or less driver swing speed.

Kansas Kid said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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And they'll be 25 with new balls.

OK, so I have no idea if these new balls will imapact us with 110mph or less driver swing speed.

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Now if they ban the MISIG, that will be a major impact for many of us.

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That's when I will pick up beast mode full contact pickle ball to terrorize women and men over 75.

I'm curious how the rollback will effect pace of play. Guys aren't going to move up tee boxes.

clobby said:

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I'm curious how the rollback will effect pace of play. Guys aren't going to move up tee boxes.

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Given for the vast majority of us it is only 5-10 yards off the tee if they go back to a 2000 vintage golf ball, I doubt it will be noticeable.

I actually think it will less than even the 5-10 yards because I think for us, the drivers have added most of that distance. I know the last 2 times I changed drivers I picked up 10+ yards vs my previous driver.