Jack Nicklaus revealed one aspect of the game that players are guaranteed to complain about on the PGA Tour.
The Players and Cadillac Championship winner Cameron Young is already playing a golf ball that would conform to new testing changes that would make them travel shorter distances in professional tournaments starting in 2030.
Young, the No.3-ranked player in the world, began playing the Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot in last year’s Wyndham Championship and tested it out at the Titleist facilities, and it’s been in his bag ever since. “I think that Cam has had a great run and he’s played very, very well this year,” said Nicklaus.
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“I’m very happy for him. And, you know, most of the guys, whatever the golf ball is, they pass the golf ball back to what, 2030 now?
“I mean, it was 2026, then it went to 2028, I think it’s back to 2030. And it’s crazy. I keep saying, it’s like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic anyway. It’s not very much.
“And, you know, I mean, it’s like, it’s going to amount to — well it’s going to amount to you to probably less than a yard.”
The new conforming standards are set to reduce driving distances by 15 yards and could come into play in 2030.
“Well, it can’t make much difference,” said Nicklaus.
Cameron Young has used the Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot since the Wyndham Championship last season -Credit:Getty Images
“Most of the reason why the guys will complain about the golf ball being brought back is because of the manufacturers.
“The manufacturer complains to a player and says, No, no, don’t you tell ’em that you want that golf ball rolled back, otherwise you aren’t going to be working for us.
“We got manufacturers that are in there because they can tell the players that they got to do that. I think we had one instance of that earlier by a fellow who used to play out here.
“But — and it was — it’s the — and I don’t understand why a manufacturer would worry about that from the standpoint because, you know, if you make the best golf ball, you’re going to continue to make the golf ball whether it goes five yards further or five yards shorter. It’s not a big deal.
“It’s just now getting to the point where we got to buy more land to build, to do anything.
“If you don’t touch the golf courses that are out there, and play ’em the way they are, we probably don’t have 20, 25 maybe 30 golf courses that are really of championship caliber, really, without fooling around with ’em. If the ball was brought back a little bit, you know, we would have a lot more golf courses.”