USGA, R&A consider Tour-only ball, driver and club limits - Golfweek

The USGA and R&A sent a notice to golf equipment manufacturers on Monday stating that the game's governing bodies want to explore three Model Local Rules that could require golfers in elite competitions to use shorter golf balls, drivers with less spring-like effect and clubs shorter than the limits currently allowed.

The proposals, requested by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, could be implemented as early as January 2028, and manufacturers have until Oct. 21 to send the USGA and R&A their comments and thoughts.

The potential rules would not change current rules that govern equipment or make existing clubs and balls nonconforming. Instead, as Model Local Rules, they would allow tours and tournament organizers to adopt them and require players to use equipment made that complies with them in competitions.

What the proposed Model Local Rules do, in reality, is take away some of the testing tolerances that have allowed manufacturers to produce equipment that performs slightly beyond the published limits. Each of the three proposed changes might only have a modest effect by itself, but working together, they could potentially reduce how far elite golfers hit the ball, but exactly how much distance would be lost remains unknown.

The first proposal would require players to use a ball that travels no more than 317 yards when tested by the USGA or R&A. Golf’s current Overall Distance Standard is already listed at 317 yards, but the test includes a 3-yard tolerance. That means a ball can travel as far as 320 yards in the test and still be placed on the List of Conforming Golf Balls.

Under the Model Local Rule being considered, it appars that balls would need to test at 317 yards or less to be legal for play. A ball that travels 318, 319 or 320 yards could remain conforming and legal for recreational golfers, but a tour or tournament using the Model Local Rule could prohibit players from using it.

The USGA and R&A have not said which current balls would meet the proposed requirement or how much distance elite golfers would lose by using them.

The second proposal concerns Characteristic Time, often referred to as CT, which measures the spring-like effect of a driver face.

At impact, a driver face bends back, like a trampoline. The more a face bends, the greater the CT and the more ball speed a player can generate. The current CT limit is 239 microseconds, which is really a measure of hole long a a ball at the end of a pendulum in a test stays in contact with the driver face. But, the test includes an 18-microsecond tolerance. As a result, a driver can measure as high as 257 microseconds and remain conforming.

The proposed Model Local Rule would require a player’s driver to be on the List of Conforming Driver Heads and measure no more than 239 microseconds when tested before a competition. This would not necessarily make retail drivers with higher CT readings illegal, but it would create a stricter requirement for golfers playing in events that adopt the Model Local Rule.

To make this possible, Manufacturers would probably need to make Tour-only driver heads to safely start below the 239 theshold because building a face that sits directly on the limit would create the risk that normal testing variations, or changes to the face after repeated high-speed impacts (which is often referred to as CT Creep), could push it over the line.

How much distance separates a driver measuring 239 from one measuring closer to 257 is unclear. The difference may be small, but it could become more meaningful when paired with other proposed changes.

The third proposal would establish a maximum club length below 46 inches for every club except the putter.

The Equipment Rules generally allow clubs up to 48 inches, but the existing Model Local Rule G-10 lets tournament committees establish a 46-inch maximum, and the PGA Tour and other elite competitions have already adopted that restriction.

The governing bodies have not proposed a specific new length. Many Tour players already use drivers measuring around 45 inches, so the impact would depend entirely on where the new limit is established.

A shorter driver can reduce potential clubhead speed because the club travels on a smaller arc. However, it can also give a golfer more control and make hitting the center of the face easier, so shortening a driver does not automatically produce less distance.

None of the proposals dramatically rewrites the limits governing golf equipment. Instead, the USGA and R&A are considering stricter applications of numbers that are already part of the rules or testing process.

The ball proposal would remove the apparent 3-yard cushion in the Overall Distance Standard. The driver rule would eliminate the 18-microsecond CT buffer for elite competition. The club-length rule would lower an existing maximum.

A slightly shorter ball, a driver face with less spring-like effect and a shorter shaft could work together to reduce distance at the highest levels, but until the governing bodies and manufacturers conduct more testing, there is no reliable way to know whether the combined difference would be 2 yards, 10 yards or something more substantial.

And, there is also no guarantee that all three proposals will be adopted.

This is the critical takeaway for club players: Model Local Rules are optional.

A tour, championship or tournament committee must choose to use them. If the proposals in the notice (which you can see the notice here) are adopted, the clubs and balls recreational golfers currently use would not suddenly become nonconforming. Golfers would not need to replace their drivers, cut down their shafts or search pro-shop shelves for a special 317-yard ball.

For weekend play, the existing Equipment Rules would remain in place.

The proposals would effectively create a separate equipment standard for elite events without formally creating a second set of Equipment Rules. A ball or driver could be completely legal for recreational golf but ineligible for a PGA Tour, DP World Tour or other competition that adopts the Model Local Rule.

So, in reality, we might be on the verge of a major shift toward different equipment requirements for the elite game and everyone else. Or, put another way, we'd have bifurcation.

David Dusek is a senior Golfweek writer covering golf equipment.