OAKMONT, Pa. – Mike Whan is one of golf’s most dynamic and engaging leaders as the USGA’s CEO. He’s also one of the game’s most verbose executives, which makes his response Wednesday to a follow-up question regarding the association’s plan to roll back the ball the ultimate tell.
“Is there a plan B?” a member of the media asked regarding a possible plan for the USGA to pivot if resistance to the roll back continues to mount.
“We’ve announced our plan,” Whan said simply.
The not-so-subtle message was that the USGA and R&A intend to forge ahead with the roll back, which will begin in 2028 for elite professionals and 2030 for recreational players.
“We’ve given manufacturers dates that we know they’re working on. They’re submitting prototypes and have R&D efforts,” Whan said. “I guess would you say, set in stone? Could we come across something that would make us feel like our decision needs to be altered? Could. We’re definitely going to stay open-minded to that. But we have yet to see anything that would suggest that.”
While some in the industry, specifically the PGA of America, have pushed back on the roll back, Whan is confident the move is the right decision for the long-term health of the game.
“Listen, I get this isn’t easy and everybody has got their own constituents. As an industry, we have to be able to make small adjustments that are in the best interest of the game long-term, that we all know would be better 40 years from now if we were smart enough to make them today,” Whan said. “We’ll make those. Not everybody will like it. It’ll be high anxiety until we get there. But nobody is going to die. The game is going to be great.”
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