To Rollback or Not? That is The Question

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If you weren’t already aware, golf has a major distance problem.

With an ever increasing raft of technological changes, the constant development of sports science and nutrition, players are now stronger than ever and seeing a ball driven well beyond 350 yards no longer causes the surprise that it used to. 

The other problem golf faces is that courses take time to develop and more often than not, courses aren’t set up for touring professionals, but instead your everyday club player. This means that when the pro’s are in town, they have the ability to overpower courses with ease and it can more often than not lead to a stale watch. 

Take the PGA Tour for example, the bulk of the courses that make up the schedule of the yearly calendar hark back decades and they no longer represent the danger that they did when they were first originally designed. 

Very few tournaments attract as much attention as the Masters but even those on the board at Augusta National realised that they had an issue on their hands. 

To Rollback or Not


Judged by many as golf’s ultimate litmus test, the par 5’s were starting to be a breeze with every player eyeing up eagle opportunities. In order to keep the Augusta test strong, slowly but surely the course has been gobbling up land surrounding the course and in recent years these acquisitions have seen distance added. 

The par 5 13th has seen its tee box put back 20 yards and this added distance has made the second shot to the green which is protected by Rae’s Creek all of a sudden a whole lot tougher. Whilst the biggest hitters can still reach the green in two strokes, others now layup and the change to the hole has largely been seen as a positive. 

With there being many hot topics to debate in golf such as the divide currently engulfing the men’s game, the issue of distance has been pushed to the back pages, but this week’s Cognizant Classic has bought it back to the forefront.

The Cognizant Classic is played at one of the most respected courses on the PGA Tour roster, PGA National. Redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in the early 90’s, PGA National is famed for its legendary ‘Bear Trap’. A three hole stretch that can make or break anybody’s tournament, the Bear Trap’s claws are no longer as sharp as they used to be. 

With players able to easily carry the water that is present on two of the three holes, the tricky par 4 16th is now no more than a drive and a wedge. Traditionally one of the hardest courses on the PGA roster, Jake Knapp made a mockery of the course during the opening round of this year’s tournament, powering his way to a 59 and proving that even the fearsome PGA National is no match for the modern era. 

Whilst it would be completely wrong to discredit Knapp’s achievement, after all it’s likely to be the best round that he will play, the ease of which Knapp was able to move his ball over the course offered up a timely reminder as to why so many think a rollback is needed. 

What is The Rollback Rule

Realising that professional golf had a real length issue, officials at two of golf’s ruling bodies, the R&A and USGA clubbed together and decided something had to be done. Whilst there couldn’t be a cap on what players ate or how they trained, there was a feeling that something could be done to the balls that players played with.

The target for officials was the golf ball. Limiting the amount of technology which went into making the perfect golf ball, rules were announced that greatly impacted both the testing and manufacturing phase of the design process. 

Under golf’s new rules which they hope to bring about in 2028, golf balls struck at a robot-controlled swing speed of 125 mph must not exceed 317 yards. 

With players looking for marginal gains through faster clubhead speeds, the current testing level is set at 120mph. With a moving to 125mph and a cap at 317 yards, the hope is that distances won’t get larger than the levels we are currently seeing.

Whilst there will be some players who have the strength and mechanics to put that theory to the test, most players will fall under the new parameters that have been set and the game should be protected for the next generation or so. 

What is The Rollback Rule


As well as looking at rules behind swing speed, the current testing conditions for spin rate and launch angle will be revised to 2200 rpm and 11 degrees, from 2520 rpm and 10 degrees respectively. These measures will stop how high the ball can reach and the additional carry the ball takes once it crashes back to earth and hits the fairways. 

Whilst nobody wants to curtail the amazing feats that modern players are able to achieve, there is a wider sense that golf needs protecting and implementing these rules which should safeguard the future of the game, has been seen as a hugely important step. But of course it has its detractors. 

One player who was the focus of these rollback rules was Bryson DeChambeau. Recognised as a bit of a mad scientist, DeChambeau embarked on a huge overhaul of his body, bulking up significantly in order to better smash the ball miles off the tee. 

Achieving distances and dissecting courses in ways previously thought unimaginable, DeChambeau believes that long driving is a unique part of the game and the search for length should be cherished. 

Testing the new era of balls on his hugely popular YouTube channel, DeChambeau claimed “Because the ball is going shorter, it’s just not curving as much. Normally, that ball would be going farther and curving more. This ball is curving completely differently to what I’m used to. I’m thankful I’m not playing it right now. I’d have to change my whole game just because of the golf ball.”

Whilst you can’t argue against DeChambeau’s logic, weeks like the one we are experiencing at PGA National need to stopped. In what should be a huge test, the way that courses are set up and the ease that players can simply rip them apart isn’t good for anyone. 

With TV audiences hugely down from where they used to be, watching players reach the low -20’s as they will do this week, just isn’t an enjoyable watch. It’s been proven that tournaments where the scores are higher pull in much better ratings. Not only does it mean that the field is usually tighter, but seeing players have to think about every shot and being penalised makes it more relatable for the everyday golfer watching at home. 

There is a feeling that golf is teetering right on the edge. Whilst nobody should ever decry what the likes of DeChambeau and Knapp have been able to achieve, if the game and distance continues in the way it is, the game we all love might be lost forever.