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At The Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus played host not only to a field of 72 but also the power brokers of the game: Masters chairman Fred Ridley, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp and commissioner Jay Monahan, PGA of America CEO Terry Clark, LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler and two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North representing the USGA as a member of its board of directors.
On Tuesday evening, the big topic of discussion was the golf ball rollback. On Wednesday, those talks spilled over to a larger gathering of the Captains Club, an organization comprised of an international group of champions, administrators and influential individuals who have contributed significantly to the game of golf, which includes the previous names plus the likes of Paul Azinger, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Juli Inkster, Judy Rankin and Karrie Webb – all people who care about the soul of the game.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the USGA was hosting the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, where its CEO, Mike Whan, held its own series of golf-ball-related discussions.
The rollback itself is based on the USGA and R&A decision to change how golf balls are tested for conformity, a decision that will require manufacturers to create balls that fly shorter distances. For a golf ball to be deemed conforming and be legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot still can't exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance), but today's balls are currently tested at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin.
It has been a widely held belief that nearly all the premium balls on the market today would become non-conforming under the new rules.
More: The Golf Ball Rollback: A timeline to understand the ongoing debate
Word on the street is the governing bodies, who have the support of Augusta National Golf Club, refuse to bend any more than they already have – the start date being pushed back from 2028 to 2030 should be officially announced no later than Wednesday. According to a source in the room at the Memorial, Nicklaus told the governing bodies that both the Tour and Augusta National are waiting for them to make a decision.
An official with the PGA Tour cited that 80 percent of its members don't support a rollback. The source of that figure went unaccounted, but the Tour did recently send a survey to its players that asked that very question. It is expected that the Tour will come out against the rollback at least in the form that it is being implemented — Rolapp certainly will be asked about it next week during his press conference at the Travelers Championship. The PGA has opposed the rollback from the start but its leadership change could allow for possible inroads.
A separate source tells Golfweek that the USGA met with representatives of the Southern California Golf Association and is mounting an effort to address the rollback at the local level with PGA sections in the hope of gaining grassroots support within the club professional ranks. Azinger sat and listened, took it all in and concluded that a big, collaborative effort to solve the problem likely doesn’t exist.
“It just has to be one guy saying this is the way it's going to be. It may be time to wield the hammer, the Kevin Hammer,” he cracked, a reference to the USGA president, who is in his first year in that role. “As long as they keep lengthening courses, the pros are going to pursue power and speed.”
Golfweek's David Dusek has covered the full timeline of the rollback and offered this synopsis of opposing positions.
"After studying data from dozens of research projects, the governing bodies concluded that the trend of increasing distance was placing the game on what they called an 'unsustainable path.' Golf courses were getting longer. Maintenance costs were rising. Historic venues were being stretched beyond their original design intentions, and their strategic challenges were being compromised. Water usage, land requirements and environmental pressures were all increasing," he wrote. "Not everyone agreed. Some players argued that distance was simply another skill and should be rewarded. Others questioned whether equipment was really the cause, pointing instead to better athletes, improved training methods and advances in launch-monitor technology and teaching. Manufacturers pushed back against proposed changes, while tours and organizations that run major championships took varying positions."
The golf ball rollback is endlessly complicated, to borrow a phrase from Arnold Palmer, and while the solution may be deceptively simple – bifurcation! – the original idea of a Model Local Rule approach was abandoned years ago.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour players push back on golf ball rollback
Continue reading...
On Tuesday evening, the big topic of discussion was the golf ball rollback. On Wednesday, those talks spilled over to a larger gathering of the Captains Club, an organization comprised of an international group of champions, administrators and influential individuals who have contributed significantly to the game of golf, which includes the previous names plus the likes of Paul Azinger, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Juli Inkster, Judy Rankin and Karrie Webb – all people who care about the soul of the game.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the USGA was hosting the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, where its CEO, Mike Whan, held its own series of golf-ball-related discussions.
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The rollback itself is based on the USGA and R&A decision to change how golf balls are tested for conformity, a decision that will require manufacturers to create balls that fly shorter distances. For a golf ball to be deemed conforming and be legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot still can't exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance), but today's balls are currently tested at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin.
It has been a widely held belief that nearly all the premium balls on the market today would become non-conforming under the new rules.
More: The Golf Ball Rollback: A timeline to understand the ongoing debate
Word on the street is the governing bodies, who have the support of Augusta National Golf Club, refuse to bend any more than they already have – the start date being pushed back from 2028 to 2030 should be officially announced no later than Wednesday. According to a source in the room at the Memorial, Nicklaus told the governing bodies that both the Tour and Augusta National are waiting for them to make a decision.
An official with the PGA Tour cited that 80 percent of its members don't support a rollback. The source of that figure went unaccounted, but the Tour did recently send a survey to its players that asked that very question. It is expected that the Tour will come out against the rollback at least in the form that it is being implemented — Rolapp certainly will be asked about it next week during his press conference at the Travelers Championship. The PGA has opposed the rollback from the start but its leadership change could allow for possible inroads.
A separate source tells Golfweek that the USGA met with representatives of the Southern California Golf Association and is mounting an effort to address the rollback at the local level with PGA sections in the hope of gaining grassroots support within the club professional ranks. Azinger sat and listened, took it all in and concluded that a big, collaborative effort to solve the problem likely doesn’t exist.
“It just has to be one guy saying this is the way it's going to be. It may be time to wield the hammer, the Kevin Hammer,” he cracked, a reference to the USGA president, who is in his first year in that role. “As long as they keep lengthening courses, the pros are going to pursue power and speed.”
Golfweek's David Dusek has covered the full timeline of the rollback and offered this synopsis of opposing positions.
"After studying data from dozens of research projects, the governing bodies concluded that the trend of increasing distance was placing the game on what they called an 'unsustainable path.' Golf courses were getting longer. Maintenance costs were rising. Historic venues were being stretched beyond their original design intentions, and their strategic challenges were being compromised. Water usage, land requirements and environmental pressures were all increasing," he wrote. "Not everyone agreed. Some players argued that distance was simply another skill and should be rewarded. Others questioned whether equipment was really the cause, pointing instead to better athletes, improved training methods and advances in launch-monitor technology and teaching. Manufacturers pushed back against proposed changes, while tours and organizations that run major championships took varying positions."
The golf ball rollback is endlessly complicated, to borrow a phrase from Arnold Palmer, and while the solution may be deceptively simple – bifurcation! – the original idea of a Model Local Rule approach was abandoned years ago.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: PGA Tour players push back on golf ball rollback
Continue reading...
