Which Distance Rollback Ideas Will Actually Work? Here's One Way To Find Out
The ball rollback is just one of a number of theories for how to control distance, so why not get the pros to try them all in a proper event before implementing appropriate changes?
Joe Ferguson
The distance debate has been rumbling on for years. A lot of people believe tour pros hit the ball too far, reducing the skill required to be an elite driver and rendering many iconic golfer courses obsolete for top-level tournaments, but there are some who don’t think there’s a problem. Even those who agree something needs to change don’t share the same vision for how that should be done.
WATCH: Joe discusses his idea for implementing the golf ball rollback on tour from 13:10
What has been agreed is a golf ball rollback. The R&A and USGA completed years of studies and testing before deciding to alter the parameters of how a ball can perform. The changes will come into effect from the start of 2025 for pros and elite amateurs and 2030 for recreational golfers, and it’s expected to reduce driving distance by 5-15 yards.
It’s a decent first step, but many people believe it doesn’t go far enough, and there are other changes that could have a greater impact. That’s exactly what Joe and Dan discussed in a recent episode of Kick Point: The Golf Gear Show, which you can watch above/below.
Joe believes he’s come up with a solution – a tour event where they best players in the world put all the rollback ideas to the test.
“Why are we making all these decisions on theory?,” he asks. “It seems to be that The R&A and the USGA have decided, they’ve done their big study, released pages and pages of documents and thoughts about courses being obsolete – and that’s great, it’s a lot of work.
But why not just put a tournament on where we try a few of the options?
“I personally disagree that rolling back the ball is the right way to go about that, simply because I think it will make such a small dent in a larger problem. As we’ve seen, year after year, guys are getting stronger coming out on the PGA Tour.
The forgiveness of modern drivers like the Ping G440 K, Joe believes, is a big part of the problem
Average swing speed has been going up and up and up, and it can go up because drivers are so incredibly forgiving so you can just keep hitting it as hard as you like. If you keep the MOI and head sizes of drivers as they are, they’ll just hit it harder and make up the ground they’ve lost with the little ball rollback. It won’t make a dent.”
Thanks to a recent experience he had playing with some classic clubs, Joe thinks the best way to control distance is by making the driver head smaller, but he admits there are lots of interesting ideas and we won’t really know the best way forward until we see how they actually impact the best players in a real tournament environment.
“I played with a Tour Spoon as my driver, which I think was 130cc and 10.5°. When I got it right, brilliant, it got out there – and it thoroughly deserved to. But when I didn’t, all hell broke loose. It starts to make you think that you can’t go at it because you’ve got to ensure you find the middle of the face, so inherently and subconsciously I slowed down to do that.
It put more of an emphasis on strike, quality, ability and skill level. That’s what I personally believe is the way forward.
Joe believes smaller heads would place a greater emphasis on skill level
“There are other people who think limiting shaft length, or even growing up the length of the fairways to stop balls rolling. My point is, there are a number of different theories, and everyone’s got an opinion. In something that has such far-reaching consequences – financially for equipment manufacturers, agronomy, in tournaments – surely we can find a dead week on Tour and have a four-day tournament where we put some theories to the test.
Because this is hugely important for the future of the game, and we need to see what this is going to be like at tournament level to see if bifurcation is the way forward or not. We want to see what affect a rollback has to scores, the player types it affects or doesn’t, and test all this stuff out.
“What a spectacle that would be to watch for the general public. You feel included in the process, you can see the workings there. People are forgetting this is our game, as well as their (Tour players) game. This affects everyone, so why should we not find a way of having a dress rehearsal? Why would we not test this stuff out – when we’ve got the opportunity to do it – before making a grave error?”
This idea obviously needs buy-in from a lot of areas – the PGA Tour, players, administrative organisations, equipment manufacturers and agronomists for starters. But when decisions that will have such a profound effect on what golf looks like in the future are being made, it’s in everyone’s interests to get it right.
Joe believes tour pros would be open to the idea, and there’s a healthy chance that if they agreed then others would follow. Given what’s at stake, a PGA Tour event testing out some of the rollback ideas seems like a reasonably achievable aim – and it would be incredibly entertaining to watch.
“I’m certain the players would be more than happy to play such an important part in sculpting the future of the game. It would take a matter of days and be an incredible watch and include everyone. Let’s roll this out and have a rehearsal!”
We want to know what you think. Is distance a problem in the modern game? Do you agree with Joe about smaller driver heads, and having a tournament that puts all the rollback theories through their paces? Are you concerned about how a distance rollback will impact you and recreational golf?
Comment in the box below and Joe and Dan might read out your thoughts in a future episode of Kick Point.
