How far the golf ball travels has been one of the sport’s biggest debates for years, and the rule makers are still working towards an answer that everyone accepts. On June 17, the USGA, R&A, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour confirmed that the game-wide change to how balls are tested would not arrive until January 2030. Now, three months later, the governing bodies have sent equipment manufacturers a new letter.

Jonathan Wall of GolfDigest reported the development on X: “USGA/R&A just put out a formal Notice to Manufacturers on potential Model Local Rules for elite play, open for comment until Oct 21. To be clear, these are tour-level opt-in rules only—your equipment at retail doesn’t change. And the global ODS rollback is still pushed to 2030.”

This release notice is dated September 21, 2026, and comments are due on it by October 21. It states that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have asked the governing bodies to research model local rules that could start as early as 2028: “As part of these discussions [with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour], the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have asked the governing bodies to explore and research several potential Model Local Rules and the notice provides details of those Model Local Rules for manufacturers to comment on.”

For context, this notice follows a joint statement released on June 17, which came after talks between the governing bodies and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. In that statement, both sides accepted that hitting distance keeps increasing at an elite level.

The tours also said the updated ODS test may not slow that trend enough. As a result, they agreed to look at other ways to limit distance among players while causing as little disruption as possible to the wider golf market.

As for a Model Local Rule, it is what makes changes possible. It is an optional rule that a tour or tournament organizer can switch on for their own events, while everyone else keeps playing under the standard equipment rules.

Here are the three options the notice lists:

• The first would require a ball on the list of conforming golf balls that flies 317 yards or less when tested by the USGA or R&A. Today’s limit is 317 yards plus a three-yard tolerance, which the notice does not mention.
• The second would require a driver head from the conforming list with a maximum characteristic time of 239 microseconds when tested before competition. The current standard allows up to 18 microseconds before that.
• The third would limit every club, except putters, to a length below the 46-inch limit in the model local rule G10.

Notably, these rules would not alter the conformance status of any ball or club, so retail equipment remains conforming. Furthermore, the governing bodies are also weighing in on other approaches that could more materially slow future distance gains.

That being said, the notice also targeted the implementation date. For context, the Overall Distance Standard is the limit on how far a golf ball can fly when governing bodies test it. Currently, it’s 317 yards. The game-wide plan was to test balls at a faster clubhead speed, 125 mph instead of 120 mph, so balls would need to be less lively to pass.

The USGA and R&A estimate that it would cost the long hitters 13 to 15 yards. Manufacturers had also been shown proposed dates for sending new balls to be tested under the plan. The notice now says those dates from 17 March 2026 no longer apply because no ODS change takes effect in 2028. The earliest change is now a single date in January 2030.

Now, the governing bodies have promised further words on the ODS test within five months of notice, which points to around February 2027. That update will be the next sign of how the two requested options fit alongside the 2030 change.

Will this have an impact on recreational golfers?

The proposed changes may sound like they could reach all the way into the average golfer’s bag, but recreational players have no reason to worry about their equipment.

The rules in question are Model Local Rules that individual tours could choose to adopt, rather than universal changes to the equipment regulations that apply to every golfer.

In other words, buying a driver at retail next year would not suddenly come with a different set of standards. The club would still conform to the same equipment rules it does today.

In fact, golf has been down this road before, and the last serious attempt ended without a resolution. When bifurcation was seriously floated in 2023, both manufacturers and the tours pushed back hard, eventually causing the proposal to stall.