256.9 yards and 303 yards. Those are average driving distances in 1980 and 2026, respectively. Why such a difference? Advancement in equipment technology, of course. But that gain in distance has come at a cost. It has forced courses to lengthen the holes, increased maintenance costs, and altered the game’s strategy. The USGA and the R&A believe the answer is the golf ball rollback. But will it work? Tiger Woods’ former coach, Butch Harmon, gave Smylie Kaufman of The Smylie Show a blunt answer. 

“I don’t think rolling the ball back is the answer, to be honest with you,” Harmon told Kaufman. “I think if they really wanted to do something, they could do it with a driver. A smaller head and length of the club can only be so far. The velocity of the ball [coming] off the club face can only be so fast. But unfortunately, I think we passed the time for that to happen, Smylie. I mean, the manufacturers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing these clubs.”

Harmon isn’t the only one to oppose the regulatory change, aimed at limiting how far golf balls travel. Sir Nick Faldo made a similar point. Faldo argued it won’t solve the problem because the longest hitters will only lose about 10–15 yards. The Englishman suggests reducing driver head size, limiting tee height, or even banning tees on shorter courses. Even so, Harmon has an even better idea to solve the driving distance problem. And this idea came to him from his best friend and two-time Masters champion, Jose Maria Olazabal. 

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On Which Hole Jordan Spieth’s Ball Got Stuck Under a Trashcan?

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“I’ve heard all kinds of scenarios,” Butch Harmon added. “I’ll tell you the one who had the most interesting idea was Jose Maria Olazabal, one of my best friends. I’ve never met a guy with more passion for golf. He goes, ‘Butch, I tell you something. Leave the clubs the same. Don’t touch the driver. Don’t touch the ball. We go from 14 clubs to nine clubs. We find out who can play.’”

As audacious as that might be, it made Harmon think. “I’m thinking to myself, that’s brilliant. I don’t know how we got to 14 anyway. Wouldn’t it be great to see a tournament where you could only use nine clubs? If you’ve got a putter, you’ve only got eight clubs. And like he [Olazabal] says, ‘You’ve to hit golf shots then, Butch. You have to. You can’t bomb it and wedge it out of the rough. You’ve to play golf.’ ”

While Olazabal’s idea is interesting, manufacturers were already pushing back against the regulatory change since it would affect their bottom line. And it’s not like rollback-compliant golf balls don’t exist. Cameron Young has used them, and critics use his example to suggest hitting long takes more than just modern-day golf balls.

Meanwhile, supporters claim the objective is not to reduce the distance by a lot. Instead, they claim the change is an effort to slow down future distance gains. Because without it, technology would make the courses obsolete. 

Currently, the rollback change is set to come into effect in January 2030 for all levels of the game. Interestingly, though, Harmon’s own former student has a slightly different view than him. 

Tiger Woods supports golf ball rollback

Tiger Woods is all for the decision to roll back. As far as he is concerned, the change is long overdue. Back in December 2023, Woods felt the game had become unsustainable at the highest level. All because of the increasing driving distance.

“Yeah, we’ve been hammering [the idea that] the ball needs to slow down. But it has kept speeding up my entire career, and here we are. As I told you guys, I’ve always been for bifurcation. I’ve always said that. Just like wood bats and metal bats,” the 15-time major winner said back in December 2023, alluding to MLB’s strict rule about using wooden bats for professionals.

Woods was one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour in the early 2000s. But he was concerned about the fact that courses had to be lengthened to mount some challenge to players. And the fact that there is a limit to which any courses can be lengthened. Harmon, who was Woods’s swing instructor during the Tiger Slam, believes rolling back the ball wouldn’t solve the real problem.

Ultimately, the USGA, R&A, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour all agree that a change is necessary. But they differ on how to approach the matter and find the best possible solution. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said everything was on the table, which means the governing bodies are willing to go back to the drawing board and frame a new policy. And it might be an inevitability heading for the sport.