After lambasting the proposal of golf’s governing bodies to roll back the golf ball, Bryson DeChambeau took an old ball out on the course to see how well he could perform…
This is not a drill. Bryson DeChambeau has filmed himself playing nine holes with a rolled-back golf ball.
The former US Open champion took a Nike One Tour to the front nine at Dallas National Golf Club, a golf ball that he said could be on the list of conforming rolled-back balls players will be required to play with from 2028 onwards.
In December, the R&A and the USGA announced plans to limit how far the ball travels for every golfer in a bid to protect the future sustainability of the game.
At the time, DeChambeau described it as “the most atrocious thing that you could possibly do to the game of golf.” A host of other players also the proposal which will alter the conditions under which balls are tested to determine their conformance.
So what does he think having now played with a ball that behaves significantly different to the golf ball he usually uses? Let’s break down the Bryson DeChambeau roll back test in his latest YouTube video in chronological order…
Bryson DeChambeau: Roll back would mean changing my whole iron set
Hole 1 – Par 4
DeChambeau carried his tee shot 317 yards on this hole, achieving a ball speed of 182 mph with the Nike One Tour.
“This golf ball is just not going to compress or not transfer energy as well. So my golf ball right now can transfer energy off of this face a lot faster – the Titleist Left Dash, and this is the Nike One Tour,” he said.
So far so good for the golf ball which was left fairly un-criticised, for now. The big-hitting American made a solid par.
Hole 2 – Par 5
This was arguably the highlight of the 26-minute vlog. After hitting a low hook that still found the fairway, DeChambeau was stunned at how far left his ball dived after hitting it out of the heel of his Krank Formula Fire driver.
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“Dude – that is wild. I got lucky there. Bro, this ball – oh my gosh. So that normally, hit on the heel with my other golf ball, would not miss that far left.
“So with my other golf ball, that would’ve flown dead straight, but that ball went left. It started left and went left with that compression. There is definitely something to say about the golf ball compression – that’s 184 mph (ball speed).
“That’s a way big pull, I didn’t feel like I pulled that either, so it was the heel, but because the heel of my driver is rounded and pointed left, so we’ll see what that means.
“I’m going to keep testing that out because that is literally the second time I’ve hit a driver with this golf ball, so that’s the only thing I could assume is happening right now, albeit I can fix that, it’s just going to take a little bit of figuring out.”
DeChambeau was greenside for two on this par 5, and although he chipped his ball to kick-in range for a birdie, he felt the chip “come out really weird” from the clubface.
On this 173-yard hole, DeChambeau was playing his tee shot in what he felt was a 20-yard helping wind.
His tee shot came up short of the green and short of where he thought it was going to land. “That ball is flying so weird,” he said on his way to his first bogey of the experiment.
Hole 4 – Par 5
The 30-year-old pushed his drive a touch to the right from this tee box, but he was expecting his ball to curve to the left. He felt it was “a great swing”, but his ball didn’t “come back or curve the right way” after he struck it from the toe of the clubface.
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“That ball is curving completely different than a golf ball that I’m using,” he said. “That is wild. I’m thankful I’m not playing that right now. (I’d have) to change my whole set just because of the golf ball.”
He was level-par after four holes.
Hole 5 – Par 3
There wasn’t much to be said on this hole. If anything, the Nike golf ball exceeded his expectations. Despite not believing he had enough club on this 224-yard par 3, he nailed a 7-iron into the heart of the green and made a par.
Hole 6 – Par 4
“Let’s hope this ball reacts somewhat normal,” he said before hitting his tee shot. “It’s not going to, but when I’ve hit range balls in the past and I’ll hit it off the toe and the heel with this driver, it will miss right and will miss left.
“So there’s something to do with the compression of it and (it) makes the ball not react like it does for it to go back to the straight and centre line.”
The drive was fine, but with a short wedge in his hands from 133 yards for his next shot, DeChambeau “had no idea” how far the ball would travel from this range and with this club.
His shot landed on the green and rolled out through the putting surface covering what he judged to be 30 yards from where it landed. DeChambeau was visibly shocked and described the shot as “uncontrollable,” before he got up and down for a par.
DeChambeau arrived at the driveable par-4 7th hole. He hammered the Nike golf ball on to the putting surface, but he wanted to test how his Titleist Pro V1 Left Dash ball would perform on this hole too.
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The Nike ball carried 315 yards and achieved a ball speed of 187 mph. The Titleist ball carried 331 yards and achieved a ball speed of 192 mph. “I don’t like it,” he declared on his way to a solid birdie.
Hole 8 – Par 4
While there was not much to speak of on this hole, DeChambeau was perplexed when his knockdown 8-iron approach shot from 160 yards came up significantly short of the green. Again, he got up and down for a par.
Hole 9 – Par 4
On the last hole, DeChambeau made another comparison between the Nike ball and the Titleist ball. With the Nike ball, he pushed his tee shot to the right side of the fairway, carrying 312 yards and achieving 178 mph in ball speed.
The Titleist Pro V1 Left Dash carried 329 yards and achieved a 185 mph ball speed. “I don’t want a rolled-back golf ball. It’s ridiculous,” he declared. He finished with a par and carded one-under-par through nine holes.
DeChambeau jokingly threw the rolled-back ball to the side at the end of the video and it is fair to say the LIV Golf star’s mind remained completely unchanged from the day universal roll back was announced.
Make sure you watch the latest Bryson DeChambeau YouTube video here, and watch how he copes with the rolled-back ball for yourself.
