R&A and USGA announcement on changed golf ball regulations beginning in 2028
Golf’s international governing bodies, The R&A and United States Golf Association (USGA), have overnight announced a series of regulatory changes designed to roll-back some of the historical increases in hitting distances.
We are writing to you now to share with you the details of this announcement, which can be found HERE.
Golf Australia supports the statements of the R&A and USGA including the below excerpts.
- “Protecting the integrity of golf courses, including their overall length, and ensuring that a variety of skills are needed to play them, preserves the fundamental elements of the sport. Both of these aspects have been impacted by increases in hitting distance and will continue to be impacted if nothing is done to address these trends now.
- “In addition, our sport must be cognisant of the environmental impacts and what this means for golf courses, their operators and ultimately golfers and the communities around them. Longer golf courses require additional resources, including water and nutrients, all of which come with an environmental and economic cost.”
Golf Australia believes it is prudent that The R&A and USGA are taking clear actions to address these concerns. Golf is big, and it is getting bigger – these will be important steps in helping to safeguard the future of the game, and in enabling its ongoing growth.
Please also see two important key points in the announcement that directly affect clubs and facilities:
- Whilst the changes will have an impact on hitting distances of elite golfers, they will have a negligible impact on the hitting distances of handicap golfers.
- For driving clubs, the impact for the average PGA TOUR or DP World Tour player will be approximately 12-14 metres and the average LPGA or LET player will be approximately 5-7 metres. For the handicap golfer, the impact will be approximately 1-5 metres.
- For club golf, all conforming balls under the current Rules may continue to be used until January 1, 2030.
We hope this information is of help to you and your members.
Please contact Simon Magdulski (Simon.Magdulski@golf.org.au) if you have further questions.