The How and Why of Testing the Tournament Ball

A few weeks ago, it was quietly brought to light in the Canadian press that the USGA would be staging a small tournament-style outing for Canadian Tour players to test a conceptual "tournament ball" that would fly shorter than existing specs allow. The announcement perked only a few ears about the prospect of a regulated ball in real play - mine being one of them, Geoff Shackelford being one of the others.

On Monday, that tournament was played after the CanTour's event at Greystone Golf Club in Ontario. Shackelford went out and did some stellar work to track down as many participants in the outing as he could. Because of the NDA signed by the participants, most said nothing per the agreement. Two players spoke, though, about the experiences of their compadres, and Geoff compiled their observations.

They vary wildly - on difficulty, ball movement, and other points - but are a fascinating read. The common thread is that the ball goes about 20 yards less on average, leading to an extra 2-3 clubs on the approach shot into every hole. The ball didn't curve much, or stopped curving like has been observed with Pro V1s. Read Geoff's report for the full skinny.

Also, check out Weir Golf Design's Ian Andrew on the subject. The general consensus? Bring on the roll backs.

For the foreseeable future, the only roll backs will be happening at Wal-Mart. The participants were assured that the USGA and R&A are not approaching the subject with an eye toward a ball rollback.

We took the time to confer with equipment industry sources willing to speak on the subject. Several politely declined knowledge of the test or any involvement with it. But the source that did talk put the tests - and they did say tests, plural - into perspective.

"[The] USGA may have progressed on collecting data with short distance balls," the source said.  "[A] few years ago, OEMs were asked to provide balls with 20% less driver distance."

So, is there a desire to roll the ball back?

The source says the data collection may be done in the event that a ball rollback is eventually needed, but that it is not imminent because of the flattening of distance increases in the last three years.

The source added, "They (the USGA) want to have data to present against emotional arguments."