The proposed rollback of the golf ball by the R&A and USGA is now moving to its next, and perhaps most definitive – and potentially most contentious – stage.
In a move that could have significant implications for the R&A and USGA proposal to roll back golf ball distance at the elite level, the World Alliance of PGAs has asked the governing bodies to indefinitely halt its march towards the changes.
We asked the USGA’s John Spitzer, managing director of equipment standards, to clarify a few things as the proposed golf-ball rollback rule starts its Notice and Comment journey.
The test would not change for the golf balls used for recreational play, but the balls used under this new proposed test for elite competition could result in a distance decrease of at least 15-20 metres, perhaps more.