Thanks for starting the thread on Rollback Alliance, Thomas. And to those who have visited the site and expressed interest.
Rollback Alliance is the idea of Will Watt (founder and editor of Caddie Magazine) and me. I wrote an article for Volume Four of Caddie, focusing on a Rollback, and Will and me continued to discuss the topic after copies had hit the newsstands. We spoke about doing something more long-term and meaningful. At that time, I was really not achieving a lot by exchanging tweets on distance with Brandel Chamblee.
The aim of the Alliance is to promote informed discussion on the issue, and hopefully increase the likelihood of regulatory reform. Some within the group are in favor of a universal rollback, some are fans of bifurcation. I don't mind the disparate opinions. As long as the communication is positive, educated, and inclusive, I think we can achieve something.
We aim to develop the website into a resource people can visit for more information on the issue, so their thinking is broadened, and their concerns regarding a rollback are addressed. We also hope to unite the voices that have been calling for this sort of change through the last century.
Will and me have approached a handful of individuals to become 'pilots' or informal ambassadors of RA - people of knowledge and passion who are respected within golf. Their association / endorsement of the core message of the Alliance will no doubt assist us in meeting our aims.
A list of pilots will be included within the website when the initial recruitment phase is complete. Mike Clayton was the first to accept the invitation, and several others including Jay Revell, Christian Hafer, Lee Patterson, Tron Carter, Derek Duncan, Ian Andrew, Garrett Morrison and Ran have also accepted. The contribution each makes will vary given time constraints and their workloads elsewhere - something I'm sensitive to given my own busy professional life and young family.
Those who know me are aware I'm already playing reduced flight balls (McIntyre) and play most rounds with hickory clubs, especially through the warmer / dryer six months of the year. Rees, the issue is far beyond what equipment me and Will play, as you know. Mike Cirba's Feature Interview in April included the following lines -
"A game dependent upon so much of the earth's acreage on a shrinking planet with finite resources is inevitably going to be on the wrong side of history, and a game where the balls and implements aren't effectively controlled within certain parameters befitting the challenge is similarly going to become antiquated".
I think this is a very important point. Anyone here who has read Geoff Shackelford's book "The Future of Golf" (and I hope most here have!) knows golf must step up and deal with several pressing issues regarding the health and heritage of the game - with this being one such issue. It's my hope the Rollback Alliance facilitates the game's governing bodies reaching a suitable solution to this, for all parties concerned.
Matt Mollica