The Fitter’s Corner – What happens when the USGA rolls back the Golf Ball?

I read an interesting article about a planned rollback for the golf ball. The article is here:
USGA Golf Ball Rollback
The change is as follows – the clubhead speed from the test club will be raised by 5mph, but the maximum carry distance will be the same. The current test is as follows: A golf club swinging at 120mph can’t produce a carry distance of more than 317 yards. The new test will keep the carry distance the same, but the test club will be swinging 125 mph. What does this mean??

All things being equal, a 5mph increase should equal 10-12 yards. Effectively, this means that the ball will travel 10-12 yards shorter with the new (rolled back) ball. The entire equation is proportionate – meaning a 100 mph driver swing speed (80% of 125mph club head speed) will not lose 10-12 yards, but probably more like 8-10 yards. A regular flex driver player might lose 7-8 yards in carry. This stinks, but… many players lose more than that by playing the wrong ball, the wrong combination of equipment, or making an ineffective golf swing.

A hypothetical example… a 450 yard par 4. As a 2 handicapper, if I hit it 265-270, I’m looking at Driver, 5 iron. If I loose 10 yards on the driver and another 8 on the iron shot, that is now a driver, 5 wood for me – hybrid at best. That is now playing like a 468 yard par 4. Tell me how this enhances my enjoyment of the game? If I move up a box, and that hole is 15 yards shorter, it’s still effectively LONGER than the current set up. In this same example, a tour player plays the same hole. Say he hits it 310 off the tee and is left with 140 which is a gap wedge for him. With the new ball, he hits it 295 and is left with 155, which is a 9 iron. Does it really matter?? The point being that this will negatively impact a good amateur player much more than a tour player. Hold on to that thought as you read on.

This proposed change will go into effect in 2028 for tour players and 2030 for the rest of us. Let the games begin…

Put your thinking cap on. What happens next? If you are in R&D for Callaway’s ball division, what would you do? You’ve been reading this stuff that I write for the last couple of years – what can we do to choke carry distance, but not decrease total distance??

Here’s my take. The game is all about hang time now, and the USGA seems to be all about regulating that. The new proposal as I’ve read is pretty ambiguous. 317 carry is the magic number. If we can make a golf ball that carries 315 with a 100mph swing, does that ball conform? Currently, this is a mathematical impossibility, but if we could, would it be OK? As long as it is clearly labeled on the box, is it OK? Would you play it, knowing that it was a ball that was not OK for tour use? Will there be a ball for 115mph swing speeds, 100 mph swing speeds, 90 mph swing speeds and so on?
If we dig a little deeper into the data behind the test, let’s say that a 125 MPH clubhead speed produces a ball speed of 187.5 (1.5 Smash Factor), but we make a ball with reduced spin and a lower launch. The ball won’t carry as far or fly as high, but it also won’t slow down. What if… your 125mph clubhead speed was able to produce less carry, but more rollout and it equaled more total distance? That is a very real possibility and it WILL happen. Give our engineers 3+ years to work on this and you can be guaranteed that they will figure out a way around these rules. A golf ball in 2030 will be 6 layers, it will spin 1500 RPM with the driver, 9000 rpm with a wedge and it will cost $85 per dozen. They’ll cost more, but they will conform, and the net result will be no change. Remember when we instituted COR testing and restricted how hot the face could be? How did that work out?? The ball doesn’t travel as fast off the face anymore, right? Yeah right… Faces are so hot now, that we can make a 5 iron that doesn’t conform to that test. Seeing a 3 wood that gives a 1.5 smash is fairly routine nowadays. The new ball will continue to go further, it will just do so in a different manner than it does today.

The USGA wants to see a higher spinning ball, though. Reading between the lines, I think they think that the only way to choke carry distance is to make a ball that spins more. A ball that spins more also reduces the amount of rollout. If manufacturers have to increase the spin on the ball to make it carry shorter, this will also increase the height of the shots, and decrease the amount of rollout. Perhaps your 10-12 yard carry decrease come with another 10-12 yard rollout decrease, so the net result is 20-25 yards less with a driver. As you continue reading, it’s difficult not to ponder if the USGA is thinking perhaps this takes care of the firmness and fastness of golf courses at the same time – if the ball doesn’t carry or roll as far, optimal conditions are still needed to get the maximum out of a shot once it lands. Also consider that 99.5% of us do not play on pristine golf courses that have optimal conditions day in and day out, so a change like this will ultimately effect that percentage of the playing population much more than the tour players, who are the root of the “problem”.

As we fit, we talk about optimizing the carry distance for a player. If we switch gears and cap the carry distance, we can then optimize rollout like we did 20 years ago. We’ll look at angle of descent more than launch angle. Golf swings will evolve to produce different trajectories and different spin and launch to hit the new ball further. My guess is this will have no effect on net distance. Tour players will simply hit it lower with less spin and roll it further if that’s possible. Engineers, players and fitters will all adapt.

If choking distance is the net result, the golf ball is the easiest way to do it. You get the old balls out of play for tour players, then let everyone else have two years to clean out their bags, and move on. Perhaps a simpler solution… Why not create a standard maximum length for drivers that is universal to all manufacturers. 44″ for tour players and 45″ for everyone else. You could even go 44 1/2″ for everyone. You want to play in a tournament in a district, state, or national level, or in a tour event – cut your driver. Simple. Trimming 1 1/2″ off the club will lose about 3-4 mph in club head speed. Perhaps this means more centered contact and better results to many players, but to a test like the one the USGA is proposing, it would be a great compromise. Simpler yet? How about a tournament golf ball?? Let balls stay as they are, but allow a tournament committee to select a ball for their event. Not one manufacturer for every player playing in the event, but a ball that conforms to this test from any manufacturer. Every tournament committee has the ability and the right to do this. This allows the “problem” to be addressed where it needs to, and the rest of us can go about our merry way and continue to have fun.

Changing the ball means everyone will hit it shorter (theoretically). This also means that every golf course in the world has to be re-rated. That’s free, right? Players will simply move up to different tee boxes (and not play any faster). The net result will be essentially no change for the average amateur player. Handicaps will go up since everyone is playing an “easier” golf course, without scores going down. Tournament golf courses that added hundreds of yards wasted a ton of money to lengthen themselves to remain relevant. Does every tour record, amateur record, 59, or any other stat now have an asterisk? The flip side… I watched the Hero tournament on Sunday. A 505 yard par 4 that was flat, at sea level, and not downwind left most players less than 150 into the green. That is ridiculous. Justin Thomas hit a drive that carried 291 and he had 149 in. The ball rolled 65 yards. Uh, Houston?? Perhaps that’s the problem. Grow the damn grass for cryin’ out loud. Call me crazy. Here’s another solution for you. Restrict the difference in loft in a set of clubs to 46*. That means you can go from a 10* driver to a 56* wedge, or 8* to 54*. Maybe you want a 58* wedge, so you use a 12* driver… as a player, you choose whatever you want. Most tour players today go from 8* to 60*. 52*. Adding loft to the driver adds spin. Taking away a 60* wedge reduces options around the green. Just a thought, but it’s an option.

At the end of the day, It’s OK to make the golf courses softer and more difficult for tour stops. It’s OK to see tour players hit it 300 once in a while as opposed to 350 every time. It’s OK to see tour players shoot 15 under in an event and win instead of 30 under and not win. It’s OK to see a tour golf course that is 7000 yards instead of 7500. It’s OK to leave some trees on the golf course and promote shotmaking. I played Oak Hill East in October at 6700 yards (700 yards less than where they played the PGA). It was not in PGA Championship condition, and oddly enough, it was hard. Haha. Grow it in, grow it up, soften it up, and make the greens less receptive if you want to make it more challenging. Grow the fairways in at 300 yards off the tee and make it more penalizing if you miss the fairways. Players will start hitting it shorter by choice and the USGA won’t have to do anything with the golf ball. The USGA can do all of this and NOT change the golf ball. Golf is hard enough, and 99.5% of us don’t hit it far enough as it is – even if we move up to the right tee boxes.

Put on your thinking cap. What would you do? What do you think is going to happen?
Happy fitting.

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