Everything You've Heard About The Golf Ball Rollback Is Wrong

Everything You’ve Heard About The Golf Ball Rollback Is Wrong

July 15, 2026



The golf ball rollback has sparked one of the biggest debates in golf, but are golfers arguing about the right thing?

Let’s look at the actual numbers, what the rollback really means for amateur golfers, and why I think the conversation has completely missed the point.

Fairways and greens.

Join our new Reddit community and post your swings for help https://www.reddit.com/r/golfoutlaw

Follow my personal Instagram for more stuff on this journey
https://www.instagram.com/the_golf_outlaw

Join this channel to help support the children in Cape Flats, South Africa:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaDe37093HftJsFzrmLQUZA/join

For information on our development programs around Southern California in Los Angeles, San Diego and the Coachella Valley please visit:

Home

#golfoutlaw #thegolfoutlaw #hitthebell #subscribe

Published:
View Comments (32)

  1. Join our reddit community (link in description) no paywalls, Ill help you for free, no catches, no email funnels 😂. See you Friday for our persimmon on course vid

  2. The thing is about this whole situation is it’s rooted in distance is one of the most important metrics in the game, which it is but the irony is that it comes for free with consistency and strike. Until you are middling it on most swings you don’t need to worry about the golf ball distance wise.

    What also makes me giggle is half the people whining about this are playing balls like the Callaway warbird with a compression rating of a marshmallow!! Like they are bombing it 300+ 😝

    I guess people still don’t get percentages still!! 3-5% for balls struck above 125mph. Even as a strong driver of the ball @ 115mph I doubt I’ll see much difference at all especially when you consider my current front to back dispersion is more than 5% just from strike location 😂

  3. Straighter, straighter, straighter. up n down. on to the next hole!!!! Most roll back is because the morons didn't set the brake on the hill!!!! I have all my old persimmons, but you Need to find one of those ceramic drivers like JD had when he won the PGA. HAHA guess who's got one!!! F&G's

  4. Regardless, based on the most recent reports, the PGA Tour won't adopt the new ball rollback from usga, distance sells and they have no reason to implement the rule.

  6. IMO, which is worth “0,” I say leave the ball alone from now on and amateurs begin playing the correct tees from now on, or….go back to woods made from wood 😂.

  7. Do not f with the ball!!! period, change the courses, no one wants to lose a damn yard as mother nature and father time are doing it to us without fail, fairways and greens

  8. I'm in the process of developing a driver that will get that 4 yards back. If it doesn't work for you I'll have a full set that will get you at least 1 foot more per club. They will be called the FTBC (f*** the big corporation) clubs.

  10. 228 and a hot dog😂. Are you talkin to me, are you talking to me? Yeah you are. Great take today!! Looking forward to the persimmon challenge. Hope you got an alien wedge in your goodwill thrifting.. I’ve heard it’s magic when the persimmon misbehaves..

  12. I shot my best round ever today. 84. I did it by not chasing distance or par. I accepted that bogey was a good score and that made me play relaxed and pars and a birdie came.

    I swung my driver easy instead of theming to crush the ball. Not every drive was perfect – averaged 180ish. But here was the key. By swinging easy when I did hit a bad shot, it was a fade still in the fairway or just off in the short rough.

    The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line but not when there is water or bunkers in the line. I played smart and didn’t hit one bunker or chunk one in the water.

    Watching you play has helped.

    As far as the ball roll back they are not doing it for the benefit of the game, nor the players nor the fans. They are doing it because some power wielding courses don’t want to become “Executive Par 3” courses and lose tournaments.

    As others have said grow the rough, add some strategically bunkers.

  15. 1 man tennis match is familiar to me.

    Distance is hyped because they can keep promising it every new generation of club and with every new mystery material they can manage to mine or design. Plus it’s “manly”.

  16. pro ballplayers use wood bats………..amateurs aluminum. Do the same thing in golf and u don't even have to worry about the ball anymore. It will sort itself out…………

  17. The ball rollback is so overrated. They have tested 2 piece balls from the 70’s and they’ve gone the same difference. It’s the clubs and less so the irons. But, in head to head tests, there have been 5-10 yard gains in the most modern clubs. Way more than in the balls. But, the manufacturers make more money on their drivers, so they’re not going to touch them.

    Professional golf erred by allowing the Pros to move from persimmon to metal. It would’ve been great to see it have been more like the transition from college baseball to professional baseball, where bats have to from metal to wood. If Pros were limited to persimmon and blades, it really would have tied together all the generations of golf against each other, and I guarantee it would truly separate the players we recognized as the best ball strikers of their time, vs. the Bomb and Wedge + putting game we see now.

  19. 😂😂 , Nick Faldo was talking about trialing a one inch tee peg for the pro's, to reduce distance. He was talking with Rory about it on his YouTube at Birkdale a week or so ago. Would love your thoughts on that Tony?

  20. I’ll just slip the greenskeeper a fin and get him to move my geezer tees up a couple’o yards. Problem solved. Still gonna chunk my chip though.

  21. It appears people are more upset and interested in this then having the PGA help maintain access, pace of play and affordability at municipal and public courses.

  22. I disagree. 5 yards less for most golfers is noticeable loss when average golfer haven’t gained distance in the last generation. The pros will just do more training to hit it longer because millions of dollars in winnings is motivating enough. There are other things they can do like higher rough. For us it means clubbing up into greens I guess its easier for millions of us to move up a tee than .001% of golfers to keep moving back. That pickle ball court is looking better n better

  24. The problem is they didn’t even accomplish their goal because Cam Young only lost ~5yds off driver with their rolled back ball. That’s not going to “un-obsolete” any historic courses. The manufacturers have smarter engineers than the USGA.

  25. This is what the USGA has brought you:
    * shortened driver …. That didn’t shorten drives
    * COR limits …. That didn’t shorten drives
    * 460cc driver head limits … that didn’t shorten drives
    * no anchoring … that didn’t stop anchoring
    * no box grooves to stop spinning the ball so much … ball spins more than ever (since the transition from balata)

    And my favorite of favorites ….
    * they kept a guy from riding in a cart who had a debilitating vascular disease and could barely walk

    They are clowns. Cake eaters. If PGA Tour distance wasn’t jeopardizing their blue blood Golf Clubs pay days, this isn’t even a thing. And everyone knows it.

    I’m sorry that Merion is no longer relevant to the PGA Tour. The Colosseum in Rome is no longer relevant to chariot racing. I don’t see Formula 1 changing their rules to make it relevant.

  27. Outstanding. Narrow fairways and more difficult rough. We shall see at Birkdale how the long hitters go with the rather narrow links fairways (and hard – ball will run through) and difficult greens. I have a problem with adjusted loft clouding reality. My irons are true loft – 7 iron is 32 deg, 4 iron is 20; the newer clubs have 7 irons with 22 or similar; my friend hits his 8 iron as far as my 5 iron, but much more difficult to be precise with a 5 iron.

  28. Agreed. If I had it my way I would roll back everything golf. Clubs and balls to the way they were in the 50's. Also the rules. Let's then see who can actually play golf.

  29. It will make absolutely no difference. Cam Young is already using a rollback compatible ball. They should reduce driver head size limit to something far smaller. Bifurcation is much more acceptable in head size of equipment than using different balls.

  30. I agree, but… the issue is the average golfer who buys their clubs, pays their green fees, sets up tee times on an over crowded course, and drives the ball 220 off the tee feels punished because of 100 phenoms in the world who can drive the ball 340. Its like NASCAR using restricter plates to lower speed and now your Chevy cobalt gets a ristricter plate.

  31. I understand what you're trying to say, but I don't think talking about the average golfter is super fair. Golf is an older gentleman's game so of course the average drive is pretty short. But for young athletic guys trying to get into the sport, it does actually stink going from 305 to 295y drives even if that won't actually affect my score.

  32. I think this will never affect me I have enough balls to last my lifetime, I keep experimenting with different ones and I don’t hit it far enough to lose ‘em

Leave a Reply