SETTING THE STANDARD

Professor Steve Otto, chief technology officer for The R&A, tells us what the future may hold...

How are the standards decided upon, set and enforced?

We’re always looking at how people make things, what they’re making and the direction of travel, which feeds into the setting of standards. But at the core, we have the idea that we want to maintain a level playing field, we want to maintain the balance of skill. We want to make sure that, really, skill is the dominant element in determining success, rather than some piece of technology.

But we like innovation, we think it’s very good for the game. So the way that manufacturers innovate products is really productive and very positive for the game. We’re just there to make sure that doesn’t perhaps have a disproportionate effect on things.

What are the factors to consider?

The whole game is important. It’s not just the pro game, it’s not just the amateur game, it’s the balance between the two – it’s to make sure the most skilful golfers are winning throughout. But also making sure golf remains exciting and has innovation for people coming into the game, so we can keep them in the game. So it’s trying to look at all those things in balance. It’s not an easy task.

Is bifurcation coming?

It’s not anywhere as simple as that. It’s not about giving pros a certain ball and amateurs another ball. It’s about perhaps looking at choices for the game. If you and I were to play, having seen you swing, I wouldn’t want to be playing from the same tees.

So I make a choice to play from a different set of tees – is that bifurcation? Or is that choice? And so what we’re doing with the Distance Insights Project is looking at a range of options that might give choices in the game. Bifurcation is quite a cold word that says ‘it’s this or this’, but it’s probably a little more continuous than that.

What might the future hold?

I think high-swing-speed players are very good for the game – they’re very exciting to watch. I think it’s a problem if that becomes the norm; if everyone becomes a high-swing-speed player, that’s probably an issue.

People invest in training regimes that lead them to have a higher swing speed. And the way you drive the ball further is by swinging it faster, there’s no end to that. But there is a balance here. It takes an immense amount of skill to drive the ball a long way and keep it on the short stuff. So what we’re looking at is: what’s that balance of skill and technology?

I think it’s a lot about human innovation. People understand more and modern launch monitors are fantastic for people knowing they can tune their swings to try and get those optimal launch conditions. But can they keep it on the short stuff?

I’d like to see a game that’s thriving far into the future. I don’t know how we’re going to achieve that, but I want a game that’s exciting at the highest level and also exciting for you and I to play. We should use the difference in tees to make our game fair. It’s about the vision for what the game looks like and making sure the game is here a long time in the future.