Tag: R&A

USGA, R&A announce golf ball rollback for everyone, not just elite golfers

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.

USGA Golf Robot
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.

“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.

Golf balls
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.”

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PGA Tour pros sound off on potential golf ball rollback

Some PGA Tour pros are calling it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.”

NASSAU, Bahamas – The USGA and R&A haven’t even officially released a rule change that would universally roll back golf ball distances and already some PGA Tour pros are calling it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of.”

The governing bodies are expected to make an announcement early next week after a three-year “Notice and Comment” period with equipment makers and other golf organizations. After initially suggesting that it would be added as a local model rule geared to elite players, the USGA and R&A reportedly have changed directions and intend to roll back the ball for everyone, including the weekend warrior.

Rory McIlroy explains why he doesn’t understand the ‘anger about the golf ball roll back’

“It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability.”

Rory McIlroy is taking some time off after a busy 2023, but a brief break from competition doesn’t mean the world No. 2 is completely checked out from the game.

On Sunday morning McIlroy took to social media to voice his opinion about the recent report that the USGA and R&A plan to announce a universal golf ball rollback next week.

“I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball roll back. It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability,” McIlroy wrote. “It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the past 2 decades.”

The four-time major champion stood up for the two governing bodies and told fans their anger should be directed at elite professionals as well as the equipment manufacturers “because they didn’t want bifurcation.”

“The governing bodies presented us with that option earlier this year. Elite pros and ball manufacturers think bifurcation would negatively affect their bottom lines, when in reality, the game is already bifurcated,” he argued. “You think we play the same stuff you do? They put pressure on the governing bodies to roll it back to a lesser degree for everyone. Bifurcation was the logical answer for everyone, but yet again in this game, money talks.”

McIlroy has been on the frontlines for the PGA Tour in its battle against LIV Golf for the better half of the last two years and has been an active voice in the game for most of his career. The 34-year-old recently resigned from his position as a player director on the Tour’s Policy Board.

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Updates to World Handicap System feature inclusion of short courses, new scoring method

“With these revisions we’re very much continuing to evolve to meet the game where it’s moving.”

There were six different handicap systems in use around the world before the United States Golf Association and R&A brought them all the under the wing of the World Handicap System in 2020. Each previous format had its merits, but they all produced different results.

With the WHS, players can compare themselves more accurately now than ever, and handicaps can travel the world with ease. As the WHS enters its fifth year, the USGA and R&A have made their first updates to the system – effective Jan. 1, 2024 – based on data and feedback from the 125 countries now using the system.

“It’s very much a natural, logical evolution of WHS,” Steve Edmondson, USGA Managing Director of Handicapping and Course Rating, told Golfweek. “We’ve got such a rich, robust data repository. We have over 70 million scores posted in the U.S. alone on an annual basis, well over 100 million worldwide. We can use data, we can use golfer feedback, and that’s what we have done.”

“What you’re seeing with these revisions is we’re very much continuing to evolve to meet the game where it’s moving and golfers where they’re playing,” he added. “Hopefully that’s reflective in the revisions themselves.”

Here’s what you need to know about the four significant updates coming in 2024 for the World Handicap System.

Future Ryder Cup sites through 2037

Seven future Ryder Cup sites have been announced through 2037.

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The Ryder Cup was first contested in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The U.S. was captained by Walter Hagen and the Americans won 9 ½ to 2 ½.

In 2023, two years after getting routed 19-9 at Whistling Straits, the Europeans reclaimed the Ryder Cup, sweeping the first four matches on Thursday and riding a wave to a 16 ½ to 11 ½ victory.

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Future Ryder Cup sites have been announced through 2037.

The Ryder Cup shifted back to odd years starting in 2021.

PGA of America memo is another blow to USGA, R&A’s golf ball distance plans

One of the biggest sports organizations in the world has come out against the idea.

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Four months ago, Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, strongly hinted that he and the club supported the USGA and R&A’s proposed Model Local Rule (MLR) that would mandate golfers in elite events use distance-reducing golf balls. Tiger Woods came out in support of the idea, and so did Rory McIlroy, giving the two governing bodies of golf some momentum in their battle against distance.

But as the comment period has continued, that momentum has slowed, and Monday, one of the biggest sports organizations in the world came out against the idea.

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard obtained a memo and posted it on Twitter that was written by the CEO of the PGA of America and sent to the USGA and R&A. In the memo, Waugh, who was writing as the head representative for the PGAs of America, Australia, Great Britain and several other countries, said that the groups, comprised of more than teaching professionals, course operators and others in the golf industry would not support the idea of the Model Local Rule.

“We fear that the proposed changes could seriously interrupt the current momentum in the game and be fundamentally damaging and detrimental in the long run,” Waugh wrote. “We are also very aware that there are sets of data that conflict with the R&A and USA materials. This is confusing and, in our view, needs to be considered fully, reviewed and clarified prior to any final decision being made.”

He went on to state: “For the whole industry to buy into any changes, we feel it is very important that everyone agrees with one set of data to be used to establish the basis of dramatic change. Also, to be abundantly clear as regards to the current proposal, after much thought and conversation, we arrived at full agreement as a group that we firmly oppose bifurcation for the following reasons.”

Golfweek contacted representatives of the USGA and asked for comment, then received the following statement:

We remain in a Notice & Comment period, accepting feedback from voices from across the game. The PGA is an important stakeholder and we appreciate the feedback they have contributed to this conversation.

The comment period on the proposed Model Local Rule is scheduled to conclude on next Monday, August 14.

Less than two weeks ago, a similar memo was written by Jay Monahan and sent PGA Tour players, explaining that the PGA Tour had informed the USGA and R&A that it was not in favor of the Model Local Rule in its current form.

The PGA Tour and the Alliance of PGAs cannot stop the USGA and the R&A from creating the Model Local Rule, but if they choose not to adopt it and implement it in the events they operate, it would be a massive blow to the overall acceptance of the MLR.

The USGA operates the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and several other championships, while the R&A runs the British Open, Women’s British Open and numerous tournaments as well. Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA, and Martin Slumbers, his counterpart at the R&A, have stated that if the MLR is created, they plan to adopt it starting in 2026 at their elite men’s events.

However, the PGA of America runs the PGA Championship. If Seth Waugh and the PGA of America decided not to adopt the MLR, it is possible that the Masters, U.S. Open and British Opens would require golfers to use a different ball than they would use at the PGA Championship, the Players Championship and week-to-week PGA Tour events.

While the USGA and R&A’s proposed MLR is not intended to be adopted at the club level or at most amateur competitions, Waugh wrote that the proposal would create confusion, more work for PGA of America members and ultimately lead to bifurcation (the use to different rules governing professionals and recreational golfers). The USGA and R&A have adamantly stated that there are already several Model Local Rules, and tournaments are free to adopt them or not adopt them as they see fit. In the eyes of the USGA and the R&A, the creation of a Model Local Rule that requires elite golfers to use reduce-distance balls would not create a separate set of rules, but many people and organizations do not agree.

“Lastly and importantly, the suggestion that elite women should play the ‘recreational ball’ could be viewed very negatively at a time when we are all trying to promote and champion women’s golf and participation,” Waugh wrote.

In an interview with Golfweek, Mike Whan said that he does not feel there is a distance problem in women’s golf and hinted that the USGA would likely not adopt the MLR at the Women’s U.S. Open.

After the conclusion of the Notice & Comment period, the USGA and R&A are expected to study the comments and announce a decision on the Model Local Rule, possibly with six months.

Dusek: Jay Monahan’s memo starts the bargaining with the USGA and R&A

If support from McIlroy, Woods and more gave cause for optimism, Monahan’s memo was a reminder that nothing is settled.

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The memo that Jay Monahan sent to members of the PGA Tour on Wednesday evening contained 13 paragraphs, but one bullet point related to distance surely caught the attention of Mike Whan, the CEO of the United States Golf Association.

Whan and his team, along with with the R&A and its CEO, Martin Slumbers, are working to create support and momentum for the proposed Model Local Rule that would require elite players to use reduce-distance golf balls. Throughout the current “Notice and Comment” period, many players, including Justin Thomas, have come out against the idea, but other influential players like Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have come out in favor of it. Fred Ridley, chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club, also showed support for the idea of elite players using reduced-distance balls during his press conference before the start of this year’s Masters.

If support from McIlroy, Woods and Ridley gave Whan and Slumbers cause for optimism, Monahan’s memo was a reminder that nothing is settled.

Jay Monahan
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

“As you know, we have spent the last two years undertaking a comprehensive analysis of distance on the PGA Tour and its impact. Although there has been some level of support for limiting future increases, there is widespread and significant belief the proposed Modified Local Rule is not warranted and is not in the best interest of the game. Following a discussion on the topic at a recent PAC meeting, we have notified the USGA and The R&A that while the PGA Tour is committed to collaborating with them – and all industry partners – to arrive at a solution that will best serve our players, our fans and the game at all levels, we are not able to support the MLR as proposed. As the formal feedback period to the USGA and the R&A comes to an end and this process evolves, I will be in touch with updates.”

Golfweek contacted the USGA for comment and was sent this statement: “We remain in a Notice & Comment period, accepting feedback from voices from across the game. The PGA Tour is an important stakeholder and we appreciate the feedback they have contributed to this conversation.”

Getting the PGA Tour (and, by extension, the Korn Ferry Tour and DP World Tour) on board with the MLR is critical for the USGA and the R&A. It would represent the most significant seal of approval possible and it has felt like a foregone conclusion to many people in the golf industry.

In the four months since the USGA and R&A jointly announced the proposed MLR, numerous executives and industry insiders who spoke with Golfweek shrugged their collective shoulders and begrudgingly seemed to have accepted that if the MLR were passed, the PGA Tour would adopt it.

Those feelings still exist, and industry veterans who spoke with Golfweek on Thursday morning see Monahan’s comments as the start of a bargaining process.

Monahan, who is likely on shaky ground with many PGA Tour members after surprising the golf world with the proposal of a merger with LIV Golf, is not in a position to go against a majority of players and tell them the PGA Tour will make them use a reduced-distance ball in a few years. Monahan’s memo to golf’s governing bodies is really saying that while they may feel that distance is becoming too big a part of the game and threatening the competitive value of historically significant courses, the PGA Tour has other things to consider. 

The inclusion of, ” … a solution that will best serve our players, our fans and the game at all levels,” was also not an accident. We know players don’t want to lose distance. Fans who buy tickets and companies that purchase luxury boxes to entertain clients at PGA Tour events don’t want to see golfers hit the ball less far. Television executives who study TV ratings don’t see distance as a problem. For Monahan, golf is as much about entertainment as it is competition, and part of his job is to protect the entertainment value of his players and tournaments.

“I think what we came down to was, we didn’t feel like this proposal was warranted, but we’re not against doing something,” said PGA Tour executive vice president and chief player officer, Jason Gore in an interview with Michael Breed on Sirius XM Radio Thursday morning. “We agree with Mike Whan in that doing nothing is not an option. We just don’t feel that this is the best path forward. The bifurcation was really hard for us to swallow.”

While the USGA and the R&A insist that the creation and adoption of the Model Local Rules would not amount to bifurcation, a different set of rules to govern elite golfers, nearly everyone else in the golf industry does, and the PGA Tour and equipment makers see that as a problem. To them, one of golf’s greatest appeals is that pros like Rory McIlroy and the guys in your Thursday night league play the same equipment and are governed by the same rules. They argue that the adoption of a Model Local Rule pertaining to golf balls would change that.

Chief Executive of the R&A Martin Slumbers during a press conference ahead of The Open at the Royal Liverpool, on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)

“As the formal feedback period to the USGA and the R&A comes to an end and this process evolves, I will be in touch with updates,” Monahan concluded in his paragraph on distance.

That’s the key sentence, a signal to Liberty Corners, New Jersey (home of the USGA) and St. Andrews, Scotland (home of the R&A), that the PGA Tour wants to negotiate. Monahan did not write that the PGA Tour would never adopt a distance-reducing MLR. He noted that it would not support the MLR as it is proposed now.

If the USGA and R&A modify the MLR, so balls for elite players get tested at lower swing speeds or at higher spin rates, so the distance reduction is not as drastic, Monahan could go back to his players and sell himself as someone who got a concession from USGA and R&A.

But the interesting thing that happens when you combine Monahan’s memo and Gore’s comments together is it might take a rule change governing golf balls, and not the creation of a Model Local Rule, to get the PGA Tour’s signoff on the idea of reducing distance. While the USGA and R&A have stated that they don’t want to change anything for recreational golfers, the PGA Tour may be signaling that a rule change governing all golfers is more appealing than a Model Local Rule that only applies to elite golfers.

In the end, the only thing that Jay Monahan’s memo clarifies with regard to distance is that a lot more talk and negotiations are needed.

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Lynch: The majors should make a statement on golf’s cash arms race — pay players nothing!

The PGA Tour is delivering financial windfalls not seen since Bernie Madoff was the toast of Wall Street.

HOYLAKE, England — The organizations that run golf’s major championships share a common mission — foundational for some, adopted more recently by others — to grow the sport while preserving its values. This shared mandate distinguishes those bodies from the professional tours, which use similar platitudes as window dressing on their actual objectives of rewarding members and executives.

Against that goal, the PGA Tour has exceeded expectations, and perhaps good taste. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has played 19 events this season, won twice, and averaged north of $1 million per start, with the fertile fields of the FedEx Cup playoffs still to be plowed. Granted, Scheffler has produced consistently high finishes during this campaign, but the Tour’s benevolent new economics are less trickle-down than tsunami. Patrick Cantlay hasn’t won this season but his prize money through July 20 exceeds Brooks Koepka’s haul in 2019, when his three wins included a major. The average on-course earnings on the PGA Tour currently stand at $1.8 million, with seven events and bonuses still to count. Why? Because of events like the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In 2021, the API’s purse was $9.3 million. A year later, it was $12 million. This year? $20 million.

In an effort to keep pace with the PIF, the PGA Tour is delivering financial windfalls not seen since Bernie Madoff was the toast of Wall Street.

LIVE LEADERBOARD: The Open Championship Tournament Leaderboard Scores, Schedules, Pairings and More

The same upward trend is apparent in major championships. Two years ago, the average prize fund at a major was $11.875 million. In 2022, it was $15.375 million. Now it is $18 million. The purse for the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool is $16.5 million, a bounteous sum to be sure, but last among the big four and reflective of the R&A’s status as the most threadbare body in men’s golf. This is probably why the organization’s chief executive, Martin Slumbers, bemoaned the money arms race Wednesday at Royal Liverpool.

“Significant increases in prize money in the men’s professional game has resulted in the long-term reassessment of the business model for professional golf. As custodians of the game, we have to balance the prize fund at The Open with ensuring the appropriate investment in grass-roots and new golf initiatives, ensuring pathways are in place from elite amateur golf to the professional game, and most importantly, promoting women and girls’ golf, both amateur and professional,” Slumbers said. “There’s no doubt that our ability to achieve this has been impacted by the much more rapid acceleration in men’s professional prize money than we had anticipated or planned for.”

Golf’s sustainability debate has shifted from the environment to green of another kind.

No sooner had Slumbers lamented the very existence of a money race than he pulled on his skates and tried to cut in at the head of the pack. Asked if the R&A will accept largesse from the Saudis, he offered this: “We have a number of large corporate partners that help us make this thing happen. I think the world has changed in the last year. It’s not just golf. You’re seeing it in football. You’re seeing it in F1. You’re seeing it in cricket. I’m sure tennis won’t be that far behind.”

Not by accident did he cite sports in which the Saudi sportswashing enterprise is established or currently circling.

“The world of sport has changed dramatically in the last 12 months, and it is not feasible for the R&A or golf to just ignore what is a societal change on a global basis,” added Slumbers, who has the mien of an aging Harry Potter. “We will be considering within all the parameters that we look at all the options that we have.”

Translating Slumbers, it’s unpalatable that the R&A allow others to burrow into the Saudi trough without donning a napkin of its own. It ought to be a jarring juxtaposition to hear an industry leader talk in one breath about promoting women and girls, then in the next breezily signal his willingness to cash a check from a misogynistic regime to finance that mission. To paraphrase Adlai Stevenson’s observation on Richard Nixon, it’s the equivalent of chopping down a redwood and then mounting the stump to deliver a conservation speech.

There is a way in which the R&A – like the Masters, PGA of America and USGA — can underwrite the noble work at hand without resorting to putting a cash value on their proudly-held values.

There’s never been a more pronounced divide between legacy and lucre at the elite level of golf, a gap that’s sure to grow as yet more money pours in from either the Saudi Public Investment Fund or from private equity, depending on which faction on the PGA Tour’s Policy Board carries the day. The fixation on money diminishes players and the platforms on which they compete, but it elevates the majors, cementing their status as the events upon which legacies are built. Which is why the majors should not try to keep up in the cash competition but rather abstain entirely.

Make the prize fund zero. Not a dime.

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Instead of being just another lucrative payday for players, let majors be an opportunity for them to give something back to the game that is enriching them. A stipend can be provided to cover costs, otherwise the $72 million paid out at majors this year can be redirected to growing the game, a cause for which every organization professes passion. Winning a major has never been about the size of the check and nor would it be diminished by the absence of one.

A few disgruntled players might choose to stay home every April because the Masters says no mas, but not many. Every player knows that the long-term career value of winning one of the sport’s premier titles far exceeds the amount earned on the day. Professional golfers have never enjoyed more opportunities or greater rewards. Their present day is plenty good enough. Let the majors be a vehicle to invest in golf’s future.

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R&A hosting inaugural African Amateur Championship in 2024 at Leopard Creek

An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue.

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HOYLAKE, England — The first African Amateur Championship will be played at Leopard Creek, South Africa, from Feb. 21-24, 2024, the R&A announced Wednesday.

The championship will feature 72 men from the African region competing in a 72-hole stroke play format, with the winner receiving an exemption in the 152nd Open at Royal Troon.

An invitational event for 20 elite women from the region will also be held at the venue during the week of the championship.

“It’s a hugely exciting initiative for African golf, and it’s the last part of the continent around the world where we don’t have our own championships that we now do,” said Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said during a press conference.

The introduction of the championship complements existing amateur championships jointly organized by The R&A in Asia-Pacific and Latin America and will enable players from Africa to play at the highest level, as well as creating a pathway for African golfers to develop and become an inspiration for others to follow.

The championship will also build on an Africa High Performance Program established last year by The R&A and delivered to players and coaches in African countries as part of a wider effort to develop golf and provide support to players aspiring to reach elite levels of the sport.

“We are creating a world-class platform for the most talented amateur golfers in Africa to compete against each other and realize their ambitions in the sport,” Slumbers said in a press release. “We have already seen talented players emerge from the continent with three recent winners of the British Amateur Championship, including Christo Lamprecht at Hillside last month, and hope that in the years to come we will see golfers follow in the footsteps of Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Ashleigh Buhai who have won The Open and AIG Women’s Open.

Leopard Creek has hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship since 2004 and winners there include major champions such as Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who has won the event three times at the venue.

A look at future Walker Cup and Curtis Cup sites, dates

Here’s a look at future Walker Cup and Curtis Cup sites.

The Walker Cup and Curtis Cup often give glimpses into the future of golf.

The competitions, Walker Cup for men and Curtis Cup for women, are biennial competitions organized by the United States Golf Association and R&A between the best golfers from the U.S. on one team and Great Britain and Ireland on the other team.

The first unofficial Walker Cup was hosted in 1921 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, which was followed by official annual contests from 1922 through 1924. From 1925 they became biennial.

The Curtis Cup began in 1932 at the Wentworth Club in England.

On March 21, 2022, the R&A and USGA announced the Walker Cup would move to even years in 2026 to avoid future conflicts with the World Amateur Team Championships, which will be played in odd years beginning in 2023.

As for all-time records, in the Walker Cup, the United States leads 38-9-1. And in Curtis Cup, the Americans lead 31-8-3.

Here’s a look at future Walker Cup and Curtis Cup sites.