Columnist Peter Benton: USGA, R&A trying to get on same page

Peter Benton

Wednesday, May 22, 2002 | 8:53 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

It appears the United States Golf Association and the European-based Royal and Ancient have finally gotten their heads together. Last week in a joint announcement, they set forth a statement of principles for formulating equipment rules and applying uniform standards worldwide for spring-like effect of driving clubs.

This joint action is intended to assure that as of Jan. 1, 2003, all professional golf competitions and other competitions among highly skilled golfers worldwide will be played under one set of rules.

This addresses the Tour's concern that official money events these days are being contested under different rules, depending upon the tournament's location. Naturally, the U.S. PGA Tour is extremely pleased that the USGA and R&A have proposed a resolution of this contentious issue.

The Tour also applauds the joint statement of principles which commits both organizations to collaborate on future rule changes in order to preserve one set of rules governing equipment worldwide.

The Tour is also pleased that the principles stress that the general philosophy governing rulemaking is that skill rather than technology will be the most critical element in performance by a golfer. And that golf balls, when hit by highly skilled golfers, should not fly significantly farther than they do today as a result of technological advances.

Previously, the Tour discussed with both the USGA and R&A its opinion that the distance high performance golf balls travel when struck at swing speeds by today's elite players, using today's most advanced equipment, should be the maximum distance allowable.

The USGA and R&A's agreement on maximum allowable COR (coefficient of restitution, .860 for amateurs and .830 for professionals) means that pros outside the U.S. will be stripped of drivers exceeding .830 while PGA Tour players will remain virtually unaffected under current PGA rules.

Along with their commitment to modernizing testing procedures, the Tour is hopeful that both entities will be successful in capping allowable golf ball distance at current levels.

Full details regarding this event are available by calling Therese Merrill at 558-0927.