Sir Nick Faldo is known for his strong views on golf’s traditional rules.
During his peak years between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Faldo built a reputation as one of the best ball strikers around.
He stepped away from competitive play in the mid-2000s after winning 43 professional tournaments, including six majors. After that, he found a new role in broadcasting, where he quickly became a familiar voice to fans.
Faldo has never been shy about sharing his opinions on today’s players. Not long ago, he said Rory McIlroy might struggle to win another major title – a comment that drew plenty of criticism from fans.
He has also raised questions about McIlroy’s fitness routine and is not afraid to speak his mind, setting him apart from many others in the media today.
The sport could use more voices willing to stand by their convictions.
Once again, Faldo has confirmed his reputation by expressing strong disapproval of an upcoming rule change, which he believes is highly detrimental to the game.
Nick Faldo calls for rule change
The rules of golf have been a frequent topic among fans and players over the past year.
Several regulations no longer seem to suit the modern game, especially given how much equipment and playing styles have changed.
One upcoming change, though, is intended to address concerns about the long-term sustainability of many courses: the ball rollback scheduled for 2028. But Faldo does not see it as the right move.
Speaking on the National Club Golfer Podcast, the Englishman shared his doubts about whether the ball rollback would actually benefit anyone.
“No, I don’t (believe it will be a good thing). It’s designed for the guys who have got 125mph clubhead speed. If you’re back down at 100mph – you’re going to get affected more at that end than they are.
“They’re going to lose 10/15 yards off their 360-yard drive. Whoop-de-do! They’re now at 345. What difference does that make?
“But the other end is going to hurt. It’s a bigger percentage, isn’t it? If you’re hitting it 270 and you lose 15, that’s going to hurt a lot more than at the other end. I’m not a fan of rolling back – I keep going on about skill, bring back skill. The obvious (one) is the size of the driver face.”
He added: “I keep saying, if we had a tee peg, seven-eighths of an inch – you lose 10 or 15 yards just by the length of the tee peg,” Faldo said, as he began to explain his own solutions. “That doesn’t cost a dollar to write that in the book. I even thought for pros on a course under 7200 yards, which is short, say to the guys – no tee pegs this week. And if you’re good enough to place it and hit a driver off the deck, good for you.”
Nick Faldo proposes a permanent ban on two golf clubs
Faldo brought up another idea to make the game harder, and it did not involve rolling back the golf ball. This time, he suggested removing two specific clubs from play entirely.
“If we’ve got length rules, what if we said nothing less than 10 degrees with a driver? That’s like a 2 wood, but it’s a different-shaped shot. And we go to the other end, 56 degrees is the max. That’s it, no more 60s and 62s (wedges). That’s a written rule change that’s not going to cost the manufacturers a penny, but they would then start developing the driver. How can we make the driver go further at 10 degrees?” he began by saying.
“There’s a handful of guys who can hit it 340 through the air. That is frightening, to think a seriously good driver in my day was 260.
“Try and bring back the skill in the game – we need that separation back to the old school. If you were in the top dozen guys who could really strike it well, you were a better player, week in week out, you were better than the average guy. Now, ball striking is simple. There are 100 or 200 really good ball strikers.
“You can miss the centre by a long way. In the old days, that would be a real clanker. If you were 12 millimetres off centre – that’s a big half inch. If you missed it by a half inch, you’d be giving it the ‘Ow!’ on your fingers. But now, you’re like, that didn’t feel great, and it’s gone four yards left.”
Banning higher lofted wedges like those could indeed put more emphasis on creativity around the greens.
The question is whether golf’s governing bodies are listening to insights from current players or legends of previous eras like Faldo.
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