Sometimes, there really can be too much of a good thing. At least, that's what the governing bodies of golf have concluded.
In late 2023, the two bodies that jointly write the rules of golf, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and the U.S. Golf Association, announced new restrictions aimed at making golf balls travel shorter distances.
The distance professional players can drive golf balls has steadily increased. The PGA reports that in 1980, the average drive among pro golfers was about 256 yards. In 2021, the average drive for professional golfers topped 295 yards. This is important for a few reasons, including the simple fact that many golf courses were designed to host players who couldn't drive so far. The extra distance could, in a sense, "break" the golf course designs.
Golf course designers put a lot of time into designing challenges for golfers. But with increasingly powerful shots, golfers can simply opt to fly above the fray. Industry insiders have long argued that this could ruin the challenge and strategy behind golfing and might turn the sport into a simple power contest.
The new rules for "legal" golf balls, which won't go into effect until 2028 for pro golfers and 2030 for lower-level golfers, should result in shorter drives. Authorities argue that the new regulations will only decrease averages by about five yards from where they are now. Of course, since driving averages have been slowly ticking up, the new golf balls could also cap that growth.
So, if you're not playing professionally or for money, and you happen to enjoy long drives, you might want to stock up on golf balls now before current models become contraband.
