"Average golfers are going to say 'to hell with the rules.' That would be bad for golf."

Steve Pike talks to Tom Wishon and Terry Koehler about news of the USGA's high-lofted wedge study and they aren't too wild about many of the same things that bugged me and many of you.

"The USGA is grasping at straws here," Koehler said. "The existence of high lofted wedges is mandatory for golfers to have a chance to deal with modern golf course architecture, with deep faced bunkers, thicker greenside rough and faster and firmer greens.

"What are we doing to help grow the game if we take away the golfers' tools they need to contend with these hazards and conditions? If the USGA isn't careful, it's going to lose respect as the authority. Average golfers are going to say 'to hell with the rules.' That would be bad for golf."

And this from Wishon:

"This club requires more skill to hit consistently than any other wedge in the bag because when you have that much loft, there is a less friction between the ball and the face, and less compression of the ball against the face than any other wedge," Wishon said. "Thus, most golfers have a real problem finding that fine line between how hard to swing at the ball and how steep to hit down on the ball to be able to hit a 60-degree wedge solid enough to get the ball on the green and not leave it short in the hazard they were trying to finesse the ball over in the first place."