Southampton (United States) (AFP) – The US Golf Association, R&A, and the PGA and DP World tours said Wednesday in a joint statement they will take until 2030 to examine expanded options to limit driving distance among elite players. Groups will jointly “review, test and implement options that have a meaningful impact on distance at the elite level,” the statement said.
They noted that feedback from the golf industry on golf balls being tested on the current overall distance standard (ODS) supported a delay in implementation to 2030 over a two-stage plan starting in 2028, so no changes will be made until January 2030. “Given that we really want to keep the 2030 ball on the table, we have to work with some prudency and some urgency, and we will,” USGA chief executive Mike Whan said. “We’ve taken 2028 off the table. We’re leaving 2030 on the table. So when we talk about other approaches…we need to know that sooner than later so it creates a sense of urgency for all parties.”
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The ODS was agreed upon earlier as a measure to test golf balls. Talks among the tours and governing bodies found distances continue to increase, and there was “a concern by the tours that the updated ODS testing approach may not achieve the desired results.” “Maybe the ODS change that we’re implementing won’t be significant enough to have the kind of objectives we’ve set out,” Whan said. He noted worries from “some of the best elite male golfers and their organizations about whether or not the ODS ball change would be enough to make real change in distance.”
The statement said the groups had a “collective willingness to reconsider alternative approaches that may more materially impact the pace of future distance increases while minimizing disruption to the overall golf market.”
That’s going to mean re-examining ideas tossed aside earlier, some seen as impractical to everyday or elite players. “We felt in those meetings a collective willingness to reconsider maybe some of the ideas we moved on with,” Whan said. “And determine whether or not there could be other ideas that could be more impactful and maybe even less disruptive for the overall game. I think it would be crazy to not take the time to see if we could come up with something together.”
Old ideas, such as balls for specific competitions, could have new life. “We realized pretty quickly let’s not kill the how-abouts because maybe there are some ideas here that are getting reopened we looked at in the past and probably closed the door on because of some of the tour’s feedback that feel to be more open today,” Whan said. He also noted PGA players understand any solution might hurt them in individual ways.
Groups will take time “to review, test and implement options that have a meaningful impact on distance at the elite level,” the statement said. “These efforts will ensure the elite game does not become too one-dimensional while continuing to emphasize the importance of shotmaking.”
© 2024 AFP
