A Dispute Over Golf Balls

Abstract

Governing bodies in golf, in particular the R&A and USGA, are proposing to introduce an elite golf ball for their tournaments (the Open and the US Open) in 2026 (see https://www. bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/64969882). The distance that the elite golf ball can travel will be restricted. If the ball is struck by a driver swung at 127 mph in laboratory conditions it should not be capable of travelling further than 320 yards. This move has come about because a new generation of golfers has the muscular strength to outdrive a course, potentially transforming par 5 holes into pars 4s, and par 4s into 3s. At the Augusta Masters, the iconic 13th hole has had to be lengthened by 35 yards to cope with modern hitting, threatening the distinctive nature and aesthetic of this hole. The Old Course at St Andrews may simply now be too short for it to host the Open. The proposal has generated an interesting, and effectively philosophical, debate within professional golf. US Ryder Cup players Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau are vocally against it, asserting that it is a solution to which no problem exists, but more significantly that it is an innovation that will divide the elite game from the amateur. Thomas makes the point that at present an amateur golfer, of any standard, can play (if they can afford it) with the same equipment as an elite player. Part of the ethos of golf indeed might be seen to lie in the fact that amateurs can play the same courses as professionals. (From what I have read of this, it is not clear that amateurs couldn’t restrict themselves to the new professional ball, if they wished—but perhaps I’ve missed something.) However, a counter point might be that golf is very adept at allowing players of different abilities to play against each other—thanks not merely to the handicap system, but also to differently placed tees for men and women. It is a model of a certain form of inclusivity. It might then be argued that, in the elite game, the elite ball will allow nuanced skill to continue to compete against raw strength. Also pro-am competitions might acquire greater meaning and weight if the professionals were handicapped through the ball they were required to use. Players who approve the new policy include the world’s currently third ranked player, Rory McIlroy, and significantly Brandon Matthews, the possessor of the professional tour’s fastest swing. (126.6mph, in case you were wondering.) For Matthews, the new ball will bring back qualities to the professional sport, including a more varied and aesthetically pleasing flight of the ball, that are in danger of being lost. McIlroy has drawn an analogy to tennis, and to the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon deliberately slowing the game down through the choice of the type of ball used, and the sowing of a ‘stickier’ grass. This made the sport more entertaining (to spectators, but hopefully more interestingly challenging to players) by making longer rallies possible. Perhaps the key problem, and it is one that is affecting an increasing number of sports, is that the elite athletic body has developed considerably over the last three decades. Physical strength has come to be prized (in many men’s sports, but arguably in women’s SPORT, ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY 2023, VOL. 17, NO. 2, 125–126 https://doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2023.2200114