SURVEY: More Than 50% of Golfers are Against Golf Ball Rollback

As you’ve certainly heard by now, the golf ball—rather than LIV and the PGA TOUR—is the most contested aspect of golf at this moment.

Since the USGA and R&A announced the Proposed Model Local Rule (MLR), which contemplates requiring a reduced flight golf ball in elite competitions, numerous golf manufacturers and players have voiced their disagreement with the MLR, including Titleist and TaylorMade.

Most recently, Golf Datatech has unveiled a Golf Ball Rollback Survey and it appears that amateurs are equally frustrated with the MLR. 

After analyzing data from over 1,250 respondents—comprised of passionate, avid golfers who play the most and spend the most on golf equipment—in the Company’s Serious Golfer database, the findings were heavily against enacting the MLR:

Overall Opinions on the MLR:

• 52% do NOT like the proposed rule.
• 23% are in favor of the proposed rule.
• 13% don’t know enough yet to have an opinion.
• 12% don’t care.

Among those who DO NOT SUPPORT the MLR:

• 72% indicate they “like knowing that everyone plays by the same rules.” (A position that Titleist shares)
• 55% don’t think it is necessary.
• 43% believe it “complicates” the rules.
• 7% indicate they play “high level competition” and the proposed rule complicates things for them.

Open end feedback among those who DO NOT SUPPORT the MLR includes:

• It penalizes Elite players for being Elite.
• Many like to play the same equipment as the Elite players to see how they are the same/different.
• Some feel the ball is being held accountable, when the focus should be on clubs.
• There is an undercurrent of golfers who are concerned that the expense of designing and making two different balls will ultimately have to be born by the consumer, and golf ball prices will rise as a result.

Among those who SUPPORT the MLR:

• 85% do NOT want to see the classic courses made obsolete.
• 45% believe technological improvements are ruining the game.
• 39% feel Tour Pros hit the ball “too far.”
• 26% don’t hit it like a tour pro, so they don’t really care what the Elite players use.

“This golf ball rollback is a hot button topic across the professional tours and among the amateur golf community, especially among better players who rely on distance as key part of their game,” said John Krzynowek, Partner, Golf Datatech, LLC. “For this reason, we expedited this Serious Golfer Survey to put a stake in the ground so we can assess how perceptions and opinions shift on this issue over time.”

The findings are not too alarming, as I’ve found it very difficult to find MLR supports on social media. However, the primary reason for supports is something I can sympathize with: People don’t want to see places like the Old Course or Augusta—who have continuously been forced to make course changes (extensions) over the years—be phased out.

However, I think this comes back to the frustration that many opposers have voiced: The USGA and R&A have—to their own detriment—over emphasized distance, rather than hazards and strategic hole designs, as the primary obstacle that professional golfers must overcome when competing. Additionally, fitness (more power) and agronomy (dry, parking lot-like fairways) have had substantial affects on distances that the rule makers don’t seem to give credence to.

As the opposition continues to mount against the MLR, we can only hope that the USGA and R&A decide to roll back this mistaken suggestion and make sure that the game of golf stays uniform, from amateurs to professional.

Cover Image via Twitter