What Will The USGA / R&A Golf Ball Performance Rollback Mean For Your Game?

The USGA and R&A are expected to announce next week that they will be changing the criteria for testing the performance of conforming golf balls in an effort to rollback performance. This has sent shockwaves through the golfing community, with a majority of golfers polled being against the changes. Let's discuss how this will potentially impact your game.

Recently, an announcement was made regarding changes to the testing parameters for golf balls, specifically the Overall Distance Standard. Currently, a club head speed of 120 mph is the standard used to determine distance. Presently, golf balls must not exceed 317 yards when struck at 120 mph. The proposed change would increase the club head speed from 120 mph to 125 mph; however, the 317-yard limit would remain unchanged. Consequently, any golf balls already pushing the upper limit of the 317-yard threshold would be considered non-conforming. On average, the 5 mph increase in club head speed is anticipated to result in an extra 15 yards of distance. This adjustment is likely to lead to a roughly 5% reduction in distance for professional golfers, bringing it down from 300 yards to approximately 285 yards. Similarly, the average golfer can anticipate a proportional loss in yardage, equating to about 5% or 11 yards off a 225-yard drive.

Initially, when they discussed changes to rollback the performance of golf balls, it was stated that the change would only affect the golf balls elite golfers use. However, there has been tremendous pushback about how it would impact the game, with elite golfers having to abide by a separate set of rules than amateur golfers. They deemed splitting the game into categories goes against the spirit of the sport. It is rumored that the decision the USGA and R&A have come up with would call for a period of bifurcated rules starting in 2028 when professional golfers will use reduced flight golf balls. Following two years, there will be a universal adoption of the flight-restricted golf balls.

So let's talk about what this means for you. Despite the news of an impending change to the rules for conforming golf balls, we shouldn’t expect to see the impact until 2030. In the meantime, there are some things that you can do to prepare for the impending changes. I believe that the decrease in distance will be mitigated at the professional level with an increased emphasis on speed training, as well as advances in club technology (providing that club performance won't be rolled back as well). In recent years, we have seen how important physical fitness and training have been to professional golfers; however, this hasn't translated well into the amateur scene. By implementing a change that limits how far golfers can hit the ball, we may start to see a shift towards golf fitness, as well as speed and power training for amateur golfers.

I would recommend anyone looking to increase their fitness to search for a Certified Titleist Performance Institute Professional in their area. If 18 of the last 20 PGA Major winners worked with TPI certified coaches and trainers, shouldn't you? TPI has a great system that will assess a golfer's physical capability and provide custom fitness plans designed to increase performance sent directly to their phone. In addition to increasing golfers' performance, these programs will help with their general wellness, overall physical fitness, and reduce the risk of injury. Personally, I have witnessed my golfers increase their yardages by up to 25 yards by following TPI fitness plans to increase speed, power and overall stability. Even when taking into account the percentage drop in distance expected from the new golf balls, they would still see an overall increase in distance of 15 - 18 yards to their game. That is still a positive increase in distance overall.

Another option for amateur golfers might be to stock up on golf balls now if they fear the loss of yardage will have a profound impact on their game. However, I would not recommend this option. The loss of yardage will be proportional, so while long hitters will see a reduction of up to 15 yards, most golfers will only see 5 - 7 yards shaved off their game. It should be fairly easy to adjust by clubbing up or working on increasing their physical capabilities with a Titleist Performance Institute certified professional.

The reduction in the performance of future golf balls, while disappointing, isn't surprising. We are running out of space to build golf courses over 7500 yards. While most golfers will always chase distance, I think the proposed change will have a smaller effect on most golfers than what most people are expecting.

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Steve Washburn, PTA, NASM-CPT,

Titleist Performance Institute Level 2 Certified

Medical, Power and Fitness Professional