"According to a Titleist official, the company is trying to persuade the Tour to hold off on its plans to adopt a condition of competition that would require new groove cross-sections"
Remember a few weeks ago when Greg Norman mentioned rumors that the groove rule change was in doubt? You had to figure the Shark wasn't just throwing that out for attention.
Adam Barr reports that Titleist/Acushnet is trying to convince the PGA Tour to postpone their planned 2010 adoption of a condition of competition requiring conforming grooves in response to the USGA/R&A decision.
Still, all the major manufacturers claim to be ready to proceed with the effective date for the condition of competition the Tour wants to adopt, which is Jan. 1. (Beyond the Tour, the rule would apply to any club manufactured after that date, but clubs made before then will be permissible for use for recreational players until 2024.) Even so, Titleist is asking the Tour to push the rule implementation date back a year because of the intricacies of fitting players under the new groove rules.
None of the major manufacturers would speak on the record for this story. But sources close to the situation have said that the refitting process will be much more complicated than switching out some “old” wedges for new ones. It has been suggested that the performance of wedges with new grooves might even require swing changes, which could lead to the use of a different ball model and, in turn, encourage a driver switch. In other words, the ripple effect of the groove rule could be felt throughout the entire bag. That has some manufacturers and players thinking they need more time to experiment and adjust than the post-season stretch usually reserved for incorporating such new equipment.
So much work drama! Over some grooves. Who knew?
So these big, all knowing manufacturers can't keep up with the USGA now?
“Some manufacturers have said they’re not going to be ready [for the change],” said PGA Tour player Brett Quigley, a member of the Player Advisory Committee. “[But] there’s also the argument that players won’t test until they have to. So why wait another year until 2011? Guys still won’t bother to do it.”
This is really funny:
Of course, players these days won’t stand for any loss of yardage off the tee from the new generation of higher-spinning balls, said the ball manufacturer source. That will be the chief engineering challenge, he said.
Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 10:22 PM
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Reader Comments (12)
It warms and consoles me to know that amidst the tempest of this moment in time men of real character are prepared to stand firm for what is good, proper, right and just. Wow, I'm impressed.
There are more than six months left in 2009. What if next year, TaylorMade wants to delay it to 2012? C'mon, guys...
while i am generally not pro-rollback, i think this dithering by the players is their own problem. it also shows just how spoiled they are. it's akin to someone suggesting that the implementation of a new tax law be delayed because people have not yet figured out a way to evade it.
i say if the guys can't be ready for the new grooves in time for the deadline, then they'll just have to figure them out on the job. otherwise it looks like the rules of golf take a backseat to the whims of the pros, and that's a bad thing for the game imo.
Apparently Tiger already plays a higher spin ball...how does the Callaway ball compare?
Somehow I doubt that will happen.
Do you remember the days we used to play with clubs that had been sitting around the garage for 15 years? Seems to me we never blamed the equipment for how we played, it was always about the swing. Oh how things have changed.
Just get on with it and please golf companies....stop the whinning.
"Hell, yes, you're going to end up getting new golf balls, and maybe a new driver, and yeah, you're going to be playing differently with this new-groove Condition! It's exactly what we expected! We knew this would happen! It's what we wanted to happen! You threaten to sue us if we mandated changes to your precious, patented golf ball designs? Well, you got our answer. We've made it so your own players will DEMAND different ball designs. Yeah, we know it's a kind of a roundabout solution, but there you go..."