The golf ball bifurcation plans that will see elite players use different balls to recreational golfers to address concerns over increasing driving distances will not affect the women’s game.
R&A CEO Martin Slumbers and his USGA counterpart, Mike Whan, held a media conference outlining the plans to address an issue that has affected the men’s game for years. There are concerns that the increasing athleticism of professionals and prevalence of state-of-the-art technology means that, if left unchecked, it is only a matter of time until many courses become too small for the distances players are able to hit the ball.
A new Model Local Rule that would allow competition organisers to enforce a rule ensuring pros use balls that go shorter than the current legal models has been proposed, but Slumbers explained that’s not an issue of concern for the women’s game at present. He said: “I think at this point there isn't a distance challenge in the women's game.”
Slumbers acknowledged that the women’s game is becoming more distance-driven, but that it’s not yet close to a point where it needs curtailing. He said: “You're certainly seeing changes in the women's game where more power, longer distances is coming in than maybe even five years ago. But at the moment there's plenty of headroom on the golf courses that we have for the women's game. So we would not be intending to make any application of this rule in women's elite golf at this point.”
The main argument put forward by Slumbers and Whan for the rollback proposal was that it will protect the long-term integrity of the game. Slumbers said: “We've crossed the Rubicon with regards to where hitting distance is but more importantly where it is trending, and it's our responsibility as governing bodies to propose change to protect the long-term integrity of our sport.”
Meanwhile, Whan explained: “If we simply do nothing, we pass that to the next generation and to all the golf course venues around the world for them to just simply figure out.”
The plans have not gone down too well with everyone, though, with Titleist saying that the concept of elite players using different balls to recreational golfers will create confusion and division and that it’s “a solution in search of a problem”.
Whatever the answer, for the time being at least, the women’s game can continue unchanged.
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