The United States Golf Association (USGA) recently announced a proposed local rule change that will roll back the technology of golf balls. The goal is to limit how far the ball can fly in the air and slow down the arms race that has resulted in drastic and rapid advances in distance. For the pros, the ball will be traveling 15-20 yards shorter. For the joes, no change. The ball for amateurs will remain the same. It will be interesting to see where the NCAA lands on this issue. Stay tuned.
So why now? USGA Commissioner, Seth Waugh, reasoned that it would be irresponsible to do nothing about distance and leave this problem to future generations. Change is always difficult, but it’s clear the USGA felt something had to be done to protect the future of the game.
If you haven’t noticed, the landscape of professional golf has changed. The pros are hitting the ball farther now then they ever have before. They are also adding distance at a rate much faster than ever before. The elite pros are hitting the ball so far off the tee that they are taking the designed challenges of many tournament courses completely out of play. The courses have needed to add length to remain competitive. Unfortunately, there is only so much land and eventually every course will run out of space.
On the other side, there are many arguments against this rule change. Of course, Bryson DeChambeau immediately spoke out against the rule. In his response Bryson said,
“I think it’s the most atrocious thing that you could possibly do to the game of golf.”
No ambiguity in that statement. Bryson is coming from a place where he took considerable efforts to change his body and his game in order to hit the ball farther then his peers. Bryson played within the rules and his newfound extreme distance off the tee helped him win a U.S. Open.
It should be noted that the same organization that is in charge of the U.S. Open, the USGA, is the same organization that is dictating this rule change. The elephant in the room take is that Bryson overpowered the USGA’s big tournament, and they didn’t like it, so they are changing the rules to prevent that from happening again. Now that is a polarizing position from an insanely polarizing person, But Justin Thomas spoke out against the change as well. And JT is an adult in the room who is well respected.
Among other very legitimate concerns, JT called the move “self-serving.” That position lends credibility to the take that the USGA simply wants to protect its own tournaments. JT’s full response is too much to summarize but well worth watching.
Self-serving or not, you decide. But come 2026 when this rule goes into effect, there will be two different golf balls on the shelves. One for the pros and one for the Joes. It is also worth noting that over a year ago, Tour pro, Matthew Fitzpatrick, went through a metamorphosis of sorts to add length to his game. He got much stronger and longer. Watch episode 5 of Full Swing on Netflix for more on that. Spoiler alert, he won the U.S. Open at six under par. The USGA has responded.
