THE distance report jointly released by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and United States Golf Association (USGA) a fortnight ago has been rebuffed by one of the game’s heavyweights – Acushnet Company president and CEO David Maher.
The head of Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist and FootJoy, said this week in a release entitled “A Perspective on the Distance Insights Report” that the findings of the Distance Insights Project commissioned by the two world governing bodies was off the mark.
In their communique the R&A, the governing body responsible for the global game outside the United States and Mexico, which falls under auspices of the USGA, said the great distances that the top players hit the golf ball these days was “hurting” the sport and suggested that “new conformance tests for clubs and balls, and a local rule that would allow courses to require limited-flight equipment” would be looked into.
In raising their concerns over what they called was “undesirable and detrimental” to the long-term future of golf, both the R&A and the USGA said their Distance Insights Project would “examine distance through a multi-pronged approach that includes global stakeholder engagement, third-party data review and research” and added that “focus groups and discussion forums will (also) play an important role in the project, to secure a broad range of perspectives throughout golf”.
However, Maher weighed into the findings and said “we believe the conclusions drawn in this report undervalue the skill and athleticism of the game’s very best players and focus far too much on the top of the men’s professional game and project this on golf and golfers as a whole.
“Furthermore, we believe that existing equipment regulations effectively govern the prospects of any significant increases in
hitting distance by the game’s longest hitters.”
This was a reference to players like Roy McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and string of other power-hitters.
The Distance Insights Project report said “research shows that hitting distances and the lengths of golf courses have been increasing for more than 100 years.
“We believe that this continuing cycle of increases is undesirable and detrimental to golf’s long-term future.”
It added that the increased hitting distance could lead to a “reduction in the variety, length and creativity of shot types”, which in turn could “begin to undermine the core principle that the challenge of golf is about using a broad range of skills and making risk/reward judgments during a round”, the report added.
Indeed, there have been calls made before for the authorities to review the distance issue and notably from 18-time Major championsjips winner great Jack Nicklaus, who said before the 2016 US Masters that “the length the guys hit it today, the simplest solution is change the golf ball.
“The golf ball goes so far, and Augusta National is about the only golf course in the world that, financially, can afford to make the changes that they have to make to keep up with the golf ball,” added Nicklaus at the time.
Maher was also at odds with the creation of any sort of local rule.
He said: “We believe that playing by a unified set of rules coalesces our game, is an essential part of its global understanding and appeal, and eliminates the inconsistency and instability that would come from multiple sets of equipment standards.”
Some of this was linked to a report dubbed: “The Case for Unification,” that was written in 2013 by former Acushnet chief executive officer Wally Uihlein and touched on the same subject.
Maher said innovation in the development of golf equipment had played “a critical role in its growth and enjoyment.”
The Acushnet boss dded: “These regulations have been effective in setting upper limits on equipment performance and ensuring that the best golfers separate themselves with their talent, skill and training, while using equipment best suited to their games.
“The ability to consistently achieve distance with accuracy, and convert this into low scores, remains a special and elusive skill,” said Maher.
For his part, the R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said after the release of their distance report: “We will assess the potential use of a Local Rule option that would specify use of clubs and/or balls intended to result in shorter hitting distances.
“The concept is that equipment meeting a particular set of reduced-distance specifications – for example, a ball that does not travel as far or a club that will not hit a ball as far.
“Such a Local Rule option could be available for use at all levels of play, and golfers playing outside of a competition could also have the option to make this choice for themselves.
It will be interesting to see how, if they do, the R&A and USGA react to the Maher’s rebuttal. And so too will many watch from afar to see if any of the other leading golf equipment manufacturers chip in on the matter and share their views.
The head of Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist and FootJoy, said this week in a release entitled “A Perspective on the Distance Insights Report” that the findings of the Distance Insights Project commissioned by the two world governing bodies was off the mark.
In their communique the R&A, the governing body responsible for the global game outside the United States and Mexico, which falls under auspices of the USGA, said the great distances that the top players hit the golf ball these days was “hurting” the sport and suggested that “new conformance tests for clubs and balls, and a local rule that would allow courses to require limited-flight equipment” would be looked into.
In raising their concerns over what they called was “undesirable and detrimental” to the long-term future of golf, both the R&A and the USGA said their Distance Insights Project would “examine distance through a multi-pronged approach that includes global stakeholder engagement, third-party data review and research” and added that “focus groups and discussion forums will (also) play an important role in the project, to secure a broad range of perspectives throughout golf”.
However, Maher weighed into the findings and said “we believe the conclusions drawn in this report undervalue the skill and athleticism of the game’s very best players and focus far too much on the top of the men’s professional game and project this on golf and golfers as a whole.
“Furthermore, we believe that existing equipment regulations effectively govern the prospects of any significant increases in
hitting distance by the game’s longest hitters.”
This was a reference to players like Roy McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and string of other power-hitters.
The Distance Insights Project report said “research shows that hitting distances and the lengths of golf courses have been increasing for more than 100 years.
“We believe that this continuing cycle of increases is undesirable and detrimental to golf’s long-term future.”
It added that the increased hitting distance could lead to a “reduction in the variety, length and creativity of shot types”, which in turn could “begin to undermine the core principle that the challenge of golf is about using a broad range of skills and making risk/reward judgments during a round”, the report added.
Indeed, there have been calls made before for the authorities to review the distance issue and notably from 18-time Major championsjips winner great Jack Nicklaus, who said before the 2016 US Masters that “the length the guys hit it today, the simplest solution is change the golf ball.
“The golf ball goes so far, and Augusta National is about the only golf course in the world that, financially, can afford to make the changes that they have to make to keep up with the golf ball,” added Nicklaus at the time.
Maher was also at odds with the creation of any sort of local rule.
He said: “We believe that playing by a unified set of rules coalesces our game, is an essential part of its global understanding and appeal, and eliminates the inconsistency and instability that would come from multiple sets of equipment standards.”
Some of this was linked to a report dubbed: “The Case for Unification,” that was written in 2013 by former Acushnet chief executive officer Wally Uihlein and touched on the same subject.
Maher said innovation in the development of golf equipment had played “a critical role in its growth and enjoyment.”
The Acushnet boss dded: “These regulations have been effective in setting upper limits on equipment performance and ensuring that the best golfers separate themselves with their talent, skill and training, while using equipment best suited to their games.
“The ability to consistently achieve distance with accuracy, and convert this into low scores, remains a special and elusive skill,” said Maher.
For his part, the R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said after the release of their distance report: “We will assess the potential use of a Local Rule option that would specify use of clubs and/or balls intended to result in shorter hitting distances.
“The concept is that equipment meeting a particular set of reduced-distance specifications – for example, a ball that does not travel as far or a club that will not hit a ball as far.
“Such a Local Rule option could be available for use at all levels of play, and golfers playing outside of a competition could also have the option to make this choice for themselves.
It will be interesting to see how, if they do, the R&A and USGA react to the Maher’s rebuttal. And so too will many watch from afar to see if any of the other leading golf equipment manufacturers chip in on the matter and share their views.
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