Back in June, on the eve of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, the USGA and R&A appeared to blink. The universal golf ball roll-back they announced in December 2023 was put on hold until at least 2030. That plan would have raised the ball testing speed from 120 to 125 mph while keeping the 317-yard limit. The pushback from players had been loud, and the governing bodies promised to find a path forward alongside the tours. Now three months later, that path is taking shape, as they release an update for the fourth time. For now, that path is also reaching well beyond the golf ball.
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According to GolfWRX, the USGA and R&A have sent their fourth notice of 2026 to equipment managers, this time seeking feedback on tour-only model local rules. For context, they had asked to implement this in their last update. The notice this time says the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour asked governing bodies to “explore and research a series of Model Local Rule options” that could be in place as early as January 2028.
The proposal targets three distinct levers at once, and they would apply only to the professional game.
- The ball: players would have to use a model on the List of Conforming Golf Balls with an overall distance of 317.0 yards or less.
- The driver head: heads would need a maximum CT (characteristic time) of 239 microseconds when tested before competition.
- Club length: the maximum length of every club, except the putter, would drop below the 46-inch limit.
The first two rules strip out the tolerances that exist today. Right now, the ball test carries a three-yard buffer, so a ball can fly up to 320 yards and still conform. The driver test allows 18 microseconds above the stated CT limit, and removing these cushions could tighten the standard without changing the headline numbers. The length rule is almost open-ended since no new figure has been proposed.
With that, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour requested this research, and the notice also says there is room to develop new proposals to limit distance. Comments are open until October 21, 2026, and nothing is official and final for now.
Why does this keep climbing despite existing limits?
Well, this has been a long one for debate. The urgency to limit distance basically comes down to numbers. The PGA Tour driving distance average is 306.0 yards, nearly 10 yards more since the start of the decade. That rise has happened even with a 46-inch driver limit that took effect on Tour in 2022.
Plenty of players also already sit below that cap. Ricky Fowler, for example, used a 43.25-inch driver at the Truist Championship, where he finished second. But importantly, a shorter club clearly doesn’t keep a player from contending, which may explain why a length cap alone isn’t being treated as the answer.
By pairing it with stricter ball and driver club tests, the governing bodies are going after the equipment from three directions instead of one.