There is not much sign of radical change on the first tee of the Austin Country Club. Rather, the procedure is the weekly routine of professional golf: On the way to their round, one player after the other picks up the golf balls from their respective sponsor, which are sorted and ready at a small stand, in order to then send them through the Texas air – statistically speaking as far as never before. 271.2 meters is the average tee shot by pros on the PGA Tour this season: It’s the second-highest number since records began in 1980, after 2022, and it may be the key to a game-changing change in golf.
Last Tuesday, the United States Golf Association (USGA), together with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), published a plan that is intended to change one of the most important elements for professional golfers from 2026: the ball – because it is by the standards the traditional keeper of the rules simply flies too far. The technical implementation of the idea is highly complex, as is typical for golf. In simplified form, the proposal by the associations from the USA and the United Kingdom is that from a date yet to be determined, only balls may be used in professional tournaments that have been technically modified in such a way that they no longer fly the maximum distance, but on average about eight to twelve meters shorter. The suggestions do not apply to amateurs, mind you.
An “important issue” in golf was raised with it, explained R&A boss Martin Slumbers in a statement. One that “urgently needs to be addressed if the sport is to retain its unique appeal”. And one that is particularly important for the associations.
The problem for the two main rule holders in golf – and also for the third important tournament organizer, the Augusta National Golf Club, which is responsible for the Masters in April – is obvious. The most important tournaments of the year have been held on the same courses for more than 150 years, but today with technical means that were hardly imaginable in the 19th century: today’s golf clubs are more forgiving of mistakes; the players are better trained; and the balls fly farther than ever before – too far for some traditional courses. The manufacturers, on the other hand, benefit: If records are set every week, it encourages the amateur to play the long-flying ball, which is correspondingly more expensive.
Golf courses such as St Andrews in Scotland, Augusta in the US state of Georgia and Torrey Pines in California are therefore easy victims for today’s generation of players, according to the interpretation of the associations, who do not want to follow the other trend of the time: Modern courses have long been planned that way that they are long enough to remain a challenge for the world’s best – but the Majors are meant to remain in their traditional venues, with modified balls.
The critics say: Golf is growing – why should you change anything?
Expected resistance is stirring in two camps: On the one hand, the manufacturers are fighting back, especially the Acushnet group, whose company Titleist manufactures the majority of golf balls worldwide. The proposed level takes the ball back to the 1990s, says board member David Maher, who also sees a danger in separating professionals and amateurs: “Uniformity is a positive force in golf and we believe that a division of equipment would harm the long-term welfare of golf.”
There was also a clearly negative echo from the players’ camp. This proposal is the “most unimaginative, uninspired and game-spoiling approach,” said Bryson DeChambeau, who has made a name for himself with particularly wide discounts in recent years. “You’re trying to find a solution to a problem that doesn’t even exist,” said Justin Thomas – citing the same argument as world number two Jon Rahm, who held his press conference before the Dell Match-Play Championship in Austin on Tuesday for a detailed explanation used.
The rulers are “hyperfocused on making professional golf even more difficult than it already is,” said Rahm. He himself – also a player with an above-average long shot – is not affected anyway: “It tends to hit the players with short shots, they can hardly keep up because they have to make longer shots into the green.” Golf is becoming even more boring, according to Rahm’s thesis – but it is not clear to him why the topic is on the agenda anyway: “My biggest question: We are in a golden era of golf, more and more people are watching and playing the sport growing. Why change something that works so well?” The evidence supports Rahm’s point insofar as players continue to hit, but this does not necessarily correlate with the fact that they also play better.
In any case, the positions in the debate are clearly divided: the associations do not want to change their places, but rather the balls. The manufacturers don’t want to change the balls because they make good money by letting professionals and amateurs play with the same material. And players understandably have no interest in playing with material in the future that tends to limit their creativity. The question remains whether an agreement can be reached. By August, the associations had invited all “affected parties” to a dialogue. Ultimately, however, the USGA and R&A will make a decision themselves as to whether the proposal will be implemented in 2026. In this respect, nothing has changed in golf for 150 years.
