WELCOME 1 As I write, Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick has just been crowned the 122nd US Open champion: naturally, something that makes this Yorkshireman very happy. The championship has been hailed as a classic, and the course at Brookline received plaudits, for its presentation and for the Gil Hanse-led restoration. To be sure, lovers of classical architecture might quibble about the extremely narrow fairways and the hay that lined them, but these are hardly new for a US Open. In short, it was a great event on a great course. In the long run, though, what happened the week before the Open might be of more importance (except perhaps for Fitzpatrick!). The USGA and R&A joint notice to manufacturers floating the possibility of an equipment rollback, issued on 8 June, signals that golf ’s governing bodies are potentially intending to be significantly more aggressive in dealing with the distance that elite players now hit the ball than anyone had previously believed possible. The ball specifications hinted at in the notice would render most of those in use today non-compliant, but it is the suggested limits on club, especially driver, technology at the top end of the game that would be most dramatic. The notice hints at a severe limit on the spring effect of driver faces, potentially to be implemented by way of a ‘model local rule’ – which is to say, bifurcation between recreational and top tournament golf, something the authorities have spent many years railing against. According to Mike Stachura in Golf Digest, the change discussed in the notice would roll back driver technology to a level not seen since the early 1990s and the introduction of the first titanium drivers. The notice also discusses the possibility of a rollback on the moment of inertia of clubs, or in other words their level of forgiveness of off-centre hits. We should note that this letter is a long way from being implemented. But if the changes were brought in, they would clearly have a significant impact on the distances achieved by elite pros. The clubs would simply not hit the balls as far, but in addition, the lowering of forgiveness would make it far riskier for players to swing at maximum force every time, as seems to be the case nowadays. Perhaps our classic courses may yet survive? ADAM LAWRENCE About time too
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