The Model Local Rule Will Not Be Available Until January 1, 2026

On Tuesday, the USGA and R&A announced a Model Local Rule (MLR) that, if adopted, would reduce the flight of the golf ball in high-level tournaments. This is a historic move that deserves the mega-pod treatment. To kick things off, Andy and Garrett discuss the basics of the MLR and why the governing bodies have gone this route in tackling the distance issue (4:03). Then Andy brings on a series of guests: golf architect Tom Doak to explore the impact that the MLR might have on golf course design (30:04), former PGA Tour pro Roberto Castro to talk about the change from a player's perspective (48:34), and analytics whiz Joseph LaMagna to explore the effects that rollback could have on course management and strategy at the elite competitive level (1:09:23).