Ridley doesn’t want the Masters to play more than 8,000 yards, but fears that may be the case in the future.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — During his annual media appearance ahead of the 2024 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, chairman Fred Ridley said the club supports the golf ball rollback spearheaded by the USGA and R&A in an effort to curb the growing distance problem in golf.
In his opening statements, Ridley talked about how for years the tournament was played at less than 7,000 yards, but noted this year’s yardage had extended to 7,555 yards. He also said one day this week the course could measure more than 7,600 yards.
The most notable comment the chairman made was that he doesn’t want the Masters to play more than 8,000 yards, but fears that may be the case in the future if distance isn’t diminished.
“I’ve said in the past that I hope we will not play the Masters at 8,000 yards. But that is likely to happen in the not too distant future under current standards,” said Ridley. “Accordingly, we support the decisions that have been made by the R&A and the USGA as they have addressed the impact of distance at all levels of the game.”
Last December the USGA and R&A announced they were changing how golf balls will be tested for conformity to reduce the effects of distance in the sport. Starting in 2028, for a golf ball to be deemed conforming and be legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot can not exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance).
Currently, balls are at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin, so the change increases the robot’s clubhead by 5 mph, increases the launch angle by 1 degree and decreases the spin rate by about 300 rpm.
Nearly every golf ball being sold today would go too far and fail the new test because manufacturers design their balls to go right to the current distance limits. Increasing the test speed by 5 mph and hitting shots at low spin rates and higher launch angles would make all of today’s balls go too far and become non-conforming. Balls that had previously been legal but failed the new test will be removed from the Conforming Ball list, making them illegal for official play starting Jan. 1, 2028.
According to Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer, using golf balls that pass the new test will result in a loss of distance, with the fastest-swinging players being affected the most and recreational golfers being affected the least.
Ridley said he hopes the PGA Tour and other golf tours and leagues will adopt the regulations and join Augusta National in its support of the USGA and R&A’s initiative.
“I certainly hope they will be, were they not it would cause a great deal of stress in the game it doesn’t need right now,” Ridley explained.
He also noted how, even if the regulations are implemented, other aspects of technology within the rules and the physicality and technical ability of the players will allow them to catch up and make up the difference in distance. Ridley doesn’t envision new tees closer to greens and he plans on “holding that 8,000-yard line.”
“We have some more room,” he added, “but we don’t have a lot.”
Distance has been a highly debated issue in golf – both the PGA Tour and LPGA immediately spoke out against the new regulations – and Augusta National’s support of the USGA and R&A’s efforts marks a significant step in the process to curb distance and make the game more sustainable.
The new exemption categories won’t open the door any wider for more LIV Golf players to compete in the Open.
The R&A has made a change to its exemption categories for future Open Championships starting with the 2024 tournament at Royal Troon, but it isn’t to include more LIV Golf players.
On Wednesday the governing body announced that past champions will only be exempt until the age of 55. The current age cap is 60. All golfers currently exempt as past champions will be grandfathered in and still be able to play the Open until 60.
In addition, a new exemption will be offered to players on the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and the Sunshine Tour to qualify through the International Federation Ranking list, where the top five players on the list will earn a spot in the Open. An exemption for the Africa Amateur Champion has also been added.
Solely for the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, July 18-21, Michael Hendry has been granted a medical exemption after he was unable to play in last year’s Open due to serious illness.
LIV players have been clamoring for a special exemption category even before the league withdrew its application for Official World Golf Ranking points. As it stands now, the following 13 players will tee it up at Royal Troon this summer:
Dean Burmester, Bryson DeChambeau. Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen, David Puig, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Henrik Stenson.
Sometimes scorecards don’t paint the full picture of how spectacular a shot or hole was for a certain player during a round of golf.
Altin Van der Merwe has a story he can tell the rest of his life after his triumph Saturday at Leopard Creek in Malelane, South Africa.
In the 2024 African Amateur Championship, Van der Merwe birdied the par-5 18th to earn his way into a playoff, then he birdied it again in said playoff to claim the inaugural title of the latest major amateur event and punch his ticket to the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. He bested Texas sophomore Christiaan Maas and Ivan Verster, both fellow South Africans, to claim the trophy and win a historic championship in his home country.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Van der Merwe said. “I think it’ll kick in later. Right through the day, the two competitors I played with, two great friends actually, we went back and forth, back and forth. I think all three of us had the lead at one stage, then there was three holes, they didn’t go in, they didn’t go in, and then the last hole I just pulled a blinder out, and in the playoff I made a good two-putt. I can’t describe the feeling.”
It's not over yet 🤯
Watch the dramatic 72nd hole at Leopard Creek at the Africa Amateur Championship 🏆
Needing a birdie to tie Maas and Verster, Van der Merwe, 27, hit a spectacular second shot into the par-5 18th hole, giving him a chance at eagle and the win in regulation. It’s a putt he said he has hit many time before, but he couldn’t get it to fall. Nevertheless, he made birdie while Maas and Verster carded pars, and it was on to a playoff.
On the extra hole, it was again Van der Merwe carding a birdie while Maas, who a day before set the course record with a blazing 9-under 63, made par and Verster made bogey, sealing the victory.
Just last week, Van der Merwe won the Golf RSA International Amateur in a playoff. A week later with higher stakes, he did it again and punched his ticket to the Open Championship in July.
“I can’t wait,” Van der Merwe said. “Honestly, I can’t wait. It’s links golf, as well, so I’m going to be licking my chops out there with just a little sting 2-iron all day, and I just can’t wait until the time comes.”
On the women’s side, South African Kyra van Kan won the 54-hole event by nine shots over compatriot Bobbi Brown to clinch the title on a 1-under 215.
The 18-year-old earned places in the Women’s Amateur Championship, final qualifying for the AIG Women’s Open and The Investec South African Women’s Open in 2024, and the Lalla Meryem Cup and Magical Kenya Ladies Open in 2025.
“In any career, there is a time to allow the next generation to have its turn.”
Martin Slumbers, who has served as Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of the R&A since 2015, will step down from the role at year’s end, the organization announced Wednesday.
Slumbers has led the R&A as the global governing body of golf around the world (outside the U.S. and Mexico), and as secretary of the iconic St. Andrews, which dates from 1754, he has supported its committees in serving its international membership.
He will oversee The 152nd Open at Royal Troon, the return of the AIG Women’s Open to St. Andrews and the 43rd Curtis Cup match at Sunningdale before relinquishing his role by the end of the year.
“In Martin, we have been fortunate to have a CEO who has steered the organisation through a period of growth and enhanced the profile and reputation of our sport to make it more accessible, appealing and inclusive,” R&A Chairman Niall Farquharson said in a release. “Through his stature and influence in the world of golf and sport more widely and in growing the proceeds of The Open to invest back into the game, he has been true to The R&A’s purpose of golf thriving 50 years from now and has shown transformational leadership. He speaks often of reflecting history in a modern way and that will be his legacy to The R&A and to the Club.”
Slumbers led a modernization of the R&A’s activities, which included the merger with the Ladies’ Golf Union and its subsequent integration to enable the R&A to represent golf for men, women, boys and girls at the elite level.
In 2018, as part of his strategic approach to the R&A’s activities, its first Playbook was developed, explaining the purpose of the modern R&A: ‘To make golf open, accessible and inclusive and ensure it is thriving 50 years from now.’ This level of clarity has led The R&A to double its financial commitment to golf (with greater emphasis on women and girls), establish a strategic business-driven approach to golf development, and proactively seek to improve the perception of golf as good for you, good for society and good for the environment.
He had oversight of the 2019 modernization of the Rules of Golf, the rollout of the World Handicap System in 2020 and the Distance Insights process, the outcome of which was announced in December 2023. He has served on the boards of the Official World Golf Ranking, the International Golf Federation and the LET.
A paradigm shift in the approach to the commercial affairs of The R&A, primarily at The Open, and the level of expertise in the executive team has enabled The R&A to substantially increase its investment into amateur golf around the world and, with partners, has enabled the AIG Women’s Open to grow into a world-class championship.
“It has been a privilege to serve golf at the highest level,” Slumbers said in the release. “It is a role that I have been proud to carry out on behalf of The R&A’s employees, the members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club and all our global partners. In any career, there is a time to allow the next generation to have its turn.
“I am grateful to have had the honor, for nearly a decade, to have been the custodian of all that The R&A and the game of golf more broadly represents.”
An executive search firm has been appointed to assist in the search for his successor.
Under the new rules, everyone is going to transition into the balls tested in a new, distance-reducing way.
The United States Golf Association and R&A jointly announced that the rules governing how golf balls are tested will change starting on Jan. 1, 2028. It’s how the governing bodies intend to stop the trends of golfers hitting the ball farther and golf courses getting longer.
The announcement came after years of debate, study and communications between the USGA and R&A with stakeholders like golf equipment manufacturers, the PGA Tour, the PGA of America and other prominent groups in the golf world.
Initially, the USGA and R&A proposed the creation of a Model Local Rule that would have resulted in only elite men being required to use distance-reducing balls. But under the new rules, everyone is going to transition into the balls tested in a new, distance-reducing way.
Here are my takeaways from the USGA and R&A’s decision:
LAS VEGAS — As if there wasn’t enough to discuss this week at the annual college golf coaches clinic, the golf ball rollback proposal, announced Wednesday by the USGA and R&A, has sparked plenty of conversation in the golf community.
And college golf coaches are among those talking about the changes.
Starting in 2028, for a golf ball to be deemed conforming and legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot can not exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance).
The change will affect all levels of golf, meaning the top amateurs and college players will also have to conform to the new golf balls down the road.
Golfweek spoke with numerous college coaches at an annual convention for the Golf Coaches Association of America and the Women Golf Coaches Association to get some thoughts on the golf ball rollback. Here’s what some of them had to say.
Starting in 2028, for a golf ball to be deemed conforming and legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot can not exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance).
Currently, balls are at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin, so the change increases the robot’s clubhead by 5 mph, increases the launch angle by 1 degree and decreases the spin rate by about 300 rpm.
The change is going to affect all levels of golfers, from the top professionals in the game to weekend warriors at a local muni. But how exactly is it going to affect the top amateurs and collegiate golfers?
Speaking at the annual Golf Coaches Association of America convention, Scott Langley, the USGA’s senior director of player relations, explained the changes coming with how golf balls are tested and what it means.
“More and more speed is coming into the game, and players are learning how to play the game well at higher speeds,” Langley said. “The college game has good examples of terrific players that have learned to play well, comfortably driving ball in the high 180s, even 190 miles per hour.
“I can assure you that creating these boundaries is not a frictionless process. But it is my belief that it is a healthy friction that is essential to the long term health of the sport. True freedom is freedom within the right boundaries. Absolute freedom is not true freedom. Governance is hard, but it’s essential.”
Langley won the 2010 NCAA individual championship while playing for Illinois. He also spent time playing professionally before his work with the USGA. He understands the amateur game and what it takes to be successful at the highest level but also knows the integrity of the game has to be maintained.
Illinois’ Scott Langley poses with the NCAA Individual trophy and the Arnold Palmer award at the Honors Course.
It’s estimated that the longest male amateurs are going to lose anywhere between 10-15 yards with their driver, while the average male amateur will likely lose between 3-5 yards.
On the women’s side, it’s estimated that the top female amateurs will lose anywhere between 5-7 yards and the average female amateur between 1-3 yards off the tee.
“Advancements and athleticism are both inevitable and also just plain awesome,” Langley said. “But they must be considered thoughtfully in balance with sports long term health and identity. ”
Langley also said the USGA continues to look into solutions involving rewarding center strike with the driver but didn’t have any to bring forward yet.
Outside of the driver, the USGA and R&A said the golf ball rollback shouldn’t affect irons or wedges.
Overall, the way golf balls are tested in changing, and top professionals and amateurs will first experience these changes in 2028. Most of the golfing community and average amateurs not until 2030. Ultimately, the change is in the best interest of the longevity of the game and its future at all levels.
On Wednesday morning, the USGA and R&A announced a game-wide golf ball rollback. Meaning this change won’t only affect golf’s best players, but every amateur in the world.
“The longest players, which means those generating ball speeds of 183 mph or higher, are going to lose 13 to 15 yards [with their driver],” Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer, said. “The average PGA Tour player and elite male, like a college player, would lose closer to 9 or 11 yards. LPGA players, given their clubhead speed, were looking at 5 to 7 yards. And recreational golfers, we’re talking about 5 yards or less.”
Recreational golfers will not have to worry about this change until 2030.
Among all the changes mentioned about the ball in the USGA and R&A’s release, this section concerning the driver is worth keeping an eye on.
Continue to monitor drivers and explore possible additional options related to distance. Specifically, we will research the forgiveness of drivers and how they perform with off-center hits.
This is an ongoing review and we will seek input from and continue to work with the industry, including manufacturers, to identify driver design features that can be regulated as a means to reward center impact position hits versus mis-hits.
Thanks to technological advances over the past decade, drivers have become increasingly more forgiving. For example, TaylorMade introduced “Twist Face Technology” in 2018, a design feature meant to help accuracy with off-centered strikes.
This change wouldn’t just help the game’s distance problem but would reward players who are able to hit the center of the face on a more consistent basis.
If you’re interested in reading the USGA and R&A’s full statement, find it below:
Starting in 2028, golf’s governing bodies will change how golf balls will be tested for conformity to reduce the effects of distance in the sport (to learn how balls are tested, click here).
Nearly every golf ball being sold today – including the Titleist Pro V1, Callaway Chrome Soft, TaylorMade TP5, Bridgestone Tour B and Srixon Z-Star – would go too far and fail the new test. Balls that had previously been legal but failed the new test will be removed from the Conforming Ball list, making them illegal for official play starting Jan. 1, 2028.
The news produced quite a reaction from golf equipment companies, professional tours and their players. Here’s what they had to say about the USGA and R&A’s news of a golf ball rollback.
Faster-swinging players will be affected the most and recreational golfers will be affected the least with the change.
In an announcement nearly four years in the making, the United States Golf Association and the R&A, golf’s governing bodies, announced Wednesday that they are changing how golf balls will be tested for conformity to reduce the effects of distance in the sport.
Starting in 2028, for a golf ball to be deemed conforming and be legal for play, it will be tested using a robot that swings a titanium club at 125 mph and hits the ball on an 11-degree launch angle with 2,200 rpm of spin. The shot can not exceed the Overall Distance Standard (ODS) of 317 yards of combined carry distance and roll (with a 3-yard tolerance).
Currently, balls are at 120 mph with a launch angle of 10 degrees and 2,520 rpm of backspin, so the change increases the robot’s clubhead by 5 mph, increases the launch angle by 1 degree and decreases the spin rate by about 300 rpm.
Current test conditions
New test conditions
Change
120 mph clubhead speed
125 mph clubhead speed
5 mph clubhead speed
10-degree launch angle
11-degree launch angle
1-degree launch angle
2,520 rpm of spin
2,200 rpm of spin
320 rpm of spin
Nearly every golf ball being sold today – including the Titleist Pro V1, Callaway Chrome Soft, TaylorMade TP5, Bridgestone Tour B and Srixon Z-Star – would go too far and fail the new test because manufacturers design their balls to go right to the current distance limits. Increasing the test speed by 5 mph and hitting shots at low spin rates and higher launch angles would make all of today’s balls go too far and become non-conforming.
Balls that had previously been legal but failed the new test will be removed from the Conforming Ball list, making them illegal for official play starting Jan. 1, 2028.
The USGA’s golf robot swings a test club at exactly the speed technicians want. (USGA)
According to Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s chief governance officer, using golf balls that pass the new test will result in a loss of distance, with the fastest-swinging players being affected the most and recreational golfers being affected the least.
“The longest players, which means those generating ball speeds of 183 mph or higher, are going to lose 13 to 15 yards [with their driver],” Pagel said. “The average PGA Tour player and elite male, like a college player, would lose closer to 9 or 11 yards. LPGA players, given their clubhead speed, we’re looking at 5 to 7 yards. And recreational golfers, we’re talking about 5 yards or less.”
Only 10 players ended last season’s PGA Tour with a measured ball speed average of over 183 mph. ShotLink reports the PGA Tour’s average ball speed for the season was 172.85 mph.
According to John Spitzer, the USGA’s director of equipment standards, the average male club player who swings his driver at 90 mph will lose 4 to 5 yards off the tee but will likely not lose any yardage when hitting hybrids, irons or wedges.
“The typical male amateur and female amateur in the recreational game hit the ball with a lot more spin than is optimal off the driver,” Spitzer said.
Balls that are submitted for testing by October 2027 will be tested under the current standard, while any balls submitted for testing after that will be tested at the new standard and added (assuming they pass the test) to the Conforming Ball list on Jan. 1, 2028.
Why did we decide to change the golf ball testing conditions?
Because, as @USGAMike explains, we would be failing in our responsibility to protect the game's future if we didn't take appropriate action. pic.twitter.com/SJi0dOtoeA
“Golfers in the recreational game don’t have to worry about this until 2030,” Pagel said. “We will leave the last list for 2027 published and recreational golfers can continue to use those balls. So, if they have any balls left in their golf bag or at home and they want to use those balls and post their scores, they will be playing under the Rules of Golf and there won’t be any issues there.”
The USGA and R&A plan to work out the details that will allow recreational golfers to play pre-2028 balls but have professionals and elite amateurs use reduced-distance balls at a later date, likely with Clarification.
Nine months ago, the USGA and the R&A thought they had a solution to the distance problem and proposed a new Model Local Rule. It would allow tournament organizers and tours to require players to use golf balls tested under conditions very similar to those announced now. The goal was to enable tournaments for elite golfers to mandate the use of distance-reducing golf balls while not changing equipment rules that govern recreational players.
A look at several golf balls that have been cut in half to show their insides. (Photo: David Dusek/Golfweek)
This announcement, which will affect all golfers and not just the fastest-swinging elite players, resulted from feedback given to the USGA and the R&A during a Notice and Comment Period that began on March 14 and ended on August 13.
“The feedback we got during the Notice and Comment period was overwhelming, and it was extremely consistent across all stakeholders,” said Pagel. “Whether it was the tours, the tour membership, manufacturers, the PGA of America or, frankly, just recreational golfers themselves, we heard loud and clear the desire for unity. A unified game, played under a unified set of rules and standards is important.”
Several of the biggest names in golf have said for years that they think modern golf balls fly too far and too straight, including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. However, the process that led to this change took time to happen.
On Feb. 4, 2020, the USGA and R&A released their Distance Insights Report, a 102-page document with data and information from 56 projects. As part of that report, the determination that distance played an outsized role in the sport was formally made.
After the COVID-19 pandemic put many tests and programs on hold, a Model Local Rule was created that allowed tournament officials to limit driver length to 46 inches to discourage elite golfers from gaining more speed and distance using extra-long equipment. Then, in March of 2022, the USGA and R&A sent a three-page Areas of Interest letter to manufacturers informing companies that the governing bodies were exploring changes to how balls are tested.
The Model Local Rule proposed in March would have increased the speed to 125-127 mph in a range of launch angles between 7.5 and 15 degrees with backspin rates from 2,200 rpm to 3,000 rpm.
However, to many golfers, an essential feature of golf is everyone plays by the same rules.
Justin Thomas, a two-time major winner, said, “It’s so bad for the game of golf.” He added, “For an everyday amateur golfer, it’s very unique that we are able to play the exact same equipment. Yeah, I understand that I may have a different grind on a wedge, whatever you want to call it, but you can go to the pro shop and buy the same golf ball that I play, or Scottie Scheffler plays.”
The USGA and R&A have said for several years that they had three options regarding distance. The governing bodies could do nothing, which they considered a non-option. They could target fast-swinging golfers with a Model Local Rule, but that was unpopular. The third option has been chosen: change the rules for everyone while leaving some room for further reductions in the future.
“This is about the long-term management of distance, and this test has been updated in the past,” Pagel said. “We fully anticipate that golfers at the elite level will be back to the distance of today at some point in the future. Is that 15 years, 20 years … that’s to be determined. But we would expect to be back here and expect to make future changes.”
