216 – Rollback Announcement

Sam, Tom & Bruce get together to recap the days major announcement from the USGA and the R&A related to the ‘ODS’ changes affecting golf ball performance. The latest rules will be implemented in 2028 (for elite players / tournament play only) giving manufacturers a healthy R&D window to perfect the ball which will now be tested at 125mph speeds, rather than the current 120mph level, with the same distance tolerance of 317 yards in place.

In 2030 this will be implemented across all levels of the game and represents the biggest shift in equipment rules since the CoR changes which outlawed a number of drivers in 2005.

The announcement follows the news in March that the USGA and the R&A were looking at a model local rule for specific tournaments where they could limit the distance the ball travels, and following a lot of pushback from various parties, bifurcating the rules of golf was knocked back leading to this.

We talk about what this will mean for players of every ability, the proportionality of the distance losses people will experience and the social media hullabaloo which has driven people into a frenzy.

For more on the history of the equipment rule changes head over to our blog for a piece written by Sam.

We highly doubt this will be the end of the debate.

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In November & December we have teamed up with Spornia.uk, the no.1 golf net as rated by MyGolfSpy and Golf Digest. If you order now using the code ‘cookiejar’ you will receive: