Professional golfers may soon be forced to use a different golf ball to the one used by the rest of us.
Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier and Jonathan Wall have reported that golf’s two ruling bodies, the R&A and the USGA are about to announce new changes to golf ball specifications used by professional golfers.
Currently, golf ball manufacturers must conform to particular ball specifications. Namely, the golf ball cannot be travel further than 317-yards when (under controlled testing) struck with a 120 +/- 0.5 mph swing speed, 2520 +/- 120 rpm, with a launch angle of 10 degrees.
The new testing protocols, if the rumours are treu, will increase these numbers to a swing spoeed of 127 mph, 2220 rpm and 11 degrees launch angle.
The 127 mph proposed clubhead speed is 12.1 mph faster than the average clubhead speed on the PGA Tour. It also exceeds the average speed for the player with the fastest swing speed on Tour, Brandon Hagy, who currently sits at 126.06 mph. Testing balls at the proposed clubhead speed would mean essentially every ball now being played on Tour would be deemed non-conforming (The Equipment Rules, Part 4, Section 6), as the balls would exceed the 317-yard distance limit set by the governing bodies.
You know something is wrong with golf when classic courses are lengthening holes or purchasing more land to construct new tees to combat the distances the modern professional golfer is hitting the golf ball.
Just for clarity and at the risk of repeating the crux of the debate, it’s less about how far the professional golfers are hitting the ball but more about how these distances affect the way a golf ball is intended to be aplayed. A par-4 constructed on a championship golf course in the 1960s for example, that was designed with a 280-yard drive and 6-iron approach shot in mind, is now nothing more than a driver wedge for these guys.
The debate has been and general consesnsus on this has been played out in the international golf community for a long time. After years of inaction and countless surveys and data collection, it appears something is finally about to be done about it.
In the minds of many, it’s come a decade or two too late.
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