The new golfing rule which was issued last week is to limit the maximum shaft length of golf clubs. Under the new rule the maximum shaft length will be reduced from 48 inches to only 46 inches.
And this was quite a blow to the lovers of golf as it was quite unexpected. This new rule will go into effect starting January first.
The official maximum is still 48 inches, but soon tournaments and clubs will be able to choose to institute the stricter limit. Bryson is not the only one using drivers longer than 46 inch.
Phil Mickelson also has a lust for 48-inch long drivers. In response to this new rule Phil Mickelson who currently uses a 47.5 inch driver wrote on twitter “This is PATHETIC”, 1st it promotes a shorter more violent swing (injury prone), doesn’t allow for length of arc to create speed, and during our 1st golf boom in 40 years, our amateur gov body keeps trying to make it less fun.
”! This new change will fall under the Model Local rule. But the golf lovers will have time to keep enjoying the old rule for some time until next year, which is 2022 when the new rule will be officially implemented.
Thomas Pavel, who is the golf’s top manager, said once the rule is implemented it will apply to all golf championships.
This is because he wants the rule to be standard for everyone playing golf no matter their level or location.
Justin Thomas is also not a fan of this new rule as he said: “Yeah, I don’t really agree with it. I think it’s … I don’t know.
I feel like there’s a lot of other things, you know, like the arm-bar putter, that they should be approaching as opposed to the length of driver,” Further Thomas mentioned.
“I think the fact that you see only a few people using a long driver speaks for itself, that it’s not really that big of an advantage. It’s a lot harder to hit it straight.
” Rory McIlroy is one of the few golfers who hasn’t spoken against this new club rule. However, he hasn’t supported the rule either and said the following: “And I think we’re too far past like trying to roll it back.
But if this is a sort of setting the limit, I think it’s just a preventative measure for the future. I don’t think it will make a world of difference.
” We do know that interested parties, including club manufacturers and professional tours, will have until 4 March to comment on the proposal to limit the length of clubs other than putters to 46 inches.
What do you think they will do? Do you think they should block this new rule? Thomas Pavel said that the new rule has been researched for a very long time and that golf advocates have sided with the new rule saying it’s fair and everyone should start getting used to it.
The USGA golf committee has been researching this matter since 2014. Yes, it took a couple of years for them to come to this conclusion so no one can blame the committee for taking quick steps when implementing this step.
Bryson DeChambeau has been testing drivers with 48-inch shafts since winning the US Open last September. Which he won by six shots at Winged Foot.
He decided not to use the 48-inch driver yet at the Masters however he has been rigorously testing and working on increasing his swing speed and driving distance.
Now it looks likely all his testing could have been for nothing! We don’t know about you, but we were looking forward to seeing Bryson hit massive bombs! The good news is that we as amateur golfers will won’t be affected by this new rule.
The recreational golfers can continue to use the 48 inch length shaft when playing golf but to those who want to know what a 46 inch golf shaft feels like, well they are invited to try it out.
What influenced the decision. When asked about what really made them take this huge decision,the golf committee said that this new rule had been a proposal and thought that it had been considered way back.
Many players have been playing with club lengths that were longer or shorter at certain periods of time but the golf committee wanted to standardise the length once and for all.
This will ensure that no player tries to play using a different length of shaft to have an advantage. History of shaft lengths Shaft lengths have been increasing and decreasing over a period of time and to be exact it all started from the 1990s.
Players back in the 1990s could only use a 43 inch shaft. This range became constant for sometime before it started to change again.
Later this was increased to 44 inch. Well, this wasn’t the end of the constant change of golf shafts. Two years later,the golf shaft length increased again from 44 inches in length to 45 inches.
Because of these changes there wasn’t a constant length shaft when it came to golf and this brought so much confusion even to the championships.
And here’s the shocking part, the golf shaft length at some point went as high as 48 inches and this is when the different golf committees came together to decide on one length when it came to golf shafts.
The PGA Tour, agreed to implement the new length rule in golf and even said a word to all the golf manufacturing community telling them to keep this new golf length rule in mind when making any kind of golf clubs.
The LPGA tour also came out to say they had not yet decided on when to implement the new golf length rule. Well we can’t all do the same thing at the same time.
The managers of the committee said that they will take some time off to consider this new rule and look at the benefits and disadvantages when it comes to golf playing.
They added that they have already started talking to players on their side to know about their views on the new local rule and what exactly are their views of it.
This is because the players will be the ones that are directly affected by this new golf rule. They also wanted the players to start making the necessary changes before they decide to implement these new changes, This in turn will allow players to have enough time to adjust to the changes.
Thomas Pagel, the USGA’s senior managing director of governance, said the new rule will apply to all 14 USGA championships, also beginning in 2022.
Pagel said golf’s other professional tours and major championships “have been involved and engaged” with the decision on the new rule, and he expected them to announce their decisions shortly.
Golf Manufacturers Golf manufacturers have played a huge role when it comes to golf shafts. This is because some manufacturers have introduced the different golf shaft inches by manufacturing them and introducing them to the golf market.
The Taylormade company introduced the 46 inch golf shaft. This 46 inch golf shaft became so popular that many golf players thought that it was the standard length when it came to playing golf.
In the following years the same company decided and started making golf shafts that were shorter by two inches.
Yes,there was no consistency here if that’s what you’re asking yourself. Another golf manufacturing company which is quite popular and goes by the name Cobra became extreme and started to make a 48 inch golf shaft.
Many people were shocked by this as they had never thought of a golf shaft being this long before but as time went on many became accustomed to it.
However, no evidence has been recorded over the years that seemed to support the theory that a player using a longer shaft than 48 inches were more privileged when it came to scoring.
This also didn’t give any evidence that this player who has a longer shaft will result in longer driving distance between him and his opponent.
USGA managers confirmed that they have conducted research on this matter and concluded that golf players shouldn’t be worried about performing poorly when it comes to using a shorter golf shaft. Maybe they should be research Bryson’s driving performance.
Challenges with enforcing the rule The PGA tour’s current protocols are not so cut-and-dry for measuring the length of a driver.
Unless you’re using the exact same measuring device at every single event, there are going to be discrepancies.
Kris McCormack, VP of Tour and Education at True Spec Golf’s, said: “Depending on how you measure, there’s companies out there that will measure a golf club differently than another company.
It’s just interesting that, as of right now, there’s not a standardized way to measure anything. Just like there’s no industry standard for flex, loft, grind or bounce — or how you measure any of that.
It begs the question of if you’re going to do these restrictions, what’s the accepted, uniform way to measure.”
This is definitely going to cause discrepancies and challenges when enforcing this rule. We absolutely have our reservations.
