During the Masters Tournament, the debate about the golf ball rollback has come back up. The Augusta National has put its support behind a measure to limit the length a player can go. It is being seen as a necessary measure for the sport. However, Jack Nicklaus believes that the rollback isn’t going far enough for what the goal is.
Golf Ball Rollback And Its Concerns
The golf ball rollback’s main concern is that, as equipment improves, players are driving balls clear across the field with no problem and leaving the fairway irrelevant. A short-term and expensive solution has been to redesign the courses to force players to be more considerate of how hard they swing. Despite being in the business of designing golf courses, Jack Nicklaus sees the rollback as a necessary step for the long-term future of the sport.
Jack Nicklaus Weighs In
Recently, during the Masters, Jack Nicklaus gave his opinion on the rollback. He has his own course design business, and he has been playing since the 1960s. During his time with the sport, he saw distances jump by at least 50 yards between 1995 and 2005. Compared with previous increases that would have been around 5 yards between 1930 and 1995. Talking about that increase, Nicklaus then stated that he doesn’t see this rollback as enough.
“The golf ball needs to be reined in,” Nicklaus said. “What they’re doing right now is throwing a deck chair off the Titanic, and it’s not getting enough done. It needs to really come back…Now, the program that they have, as I understand it, will amount to about 12 yards for maybe a Rory McIlroy. It will amount to you all out there less than a yard. It really isn’t going to affect you very much, but it will affect the pros a little bit. That’s a little bit close to the bifurcation that Gary was talking about.”
Gary Player is in full agreement with Nicklaus on this issue. He then goes on the issue of bifurcation in the sport. Player believes that bifurcation would be the healthiest thing for golf. He wants these regulations to only apply to the professional games, as they are a different beast from a group of golf buddies spending the afternoon at a country club. Maybe they can get professional equipment if they want, but keep it optional for the average player. Just like with every other sport that has bifurcation.
Taking Jack Nicklaus’ Idea
As he stated, Nicklaus wants to see a reduction of around 60 yards. That will be enough to correct the jumps made starting thirty years ago. The cost concerns with adjusting the field can easily climb into the millions, and some of these courses haven’t changed much since their inception. This is already a concern with the St. Andrews Old Course being historic, which could make it fall into irrelevance on the professional stage. The pro golf world is well aware of the issues that are coming up, but now the debate is becoming whether or not enough is being done.
Main Photo Credit: © Kyle Terada-Imagn Images