Poulter: "the usga are insane to make us change so quickly."
It was only a matter of time before a player would elaborate on the manufacturers concerns about grooves. In this case, it's Ian Poulter of England, Orlando and Cobra Golf fame. Thanks to reader Manny for the Tweeted comments from Poulter, writing a series of posts about the new groove rules soon after Adam Barr's report that Acushnet is trying to delay the rule change:
i tested the new grooves with vokey in feb. what a difference no spinnnnnn. the usga are insane to make us change so quickly.
i guess they were all bored sitting around that table drinking coffee and smoking cigars... get a life let us have fun on the courseit will cost the manufacturers millions to develop and distribute to all the stores global, so you AMs can get them before open qualifying
Our irons already comply, but wedges need to change for start of the year. all the best... thanks R&A and USGA softer balls here we come
The players have had plenty of time to experiment and when I've asked manufacturer reps, most players have taken little interest in experimenting, preferring to wait until this fall.
The manufacturers are pleading financial hardship because they are being forced to develop and ship new grooved wedges to their most loyal customers, who, if they are serious about tournament play, have to buy.
They've been handed a nice serving of forced planned obsolescence and they are still complaining?
Friday, June 12, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Reader Comments (11)
May I suggest that lil' Ian Poulter stop crying and start practicing. Top-ranked golfers lived for YEARS without square grooves. What's that you're saying, you could never compete with Ben Hogan? Well, we knew that already.
First, I hate to second-guess him about something that he ought to know about much better than me, but i don't think his current irons conform to the new groove configuration. At least for 5i on down, per the USGA's "25 degrees or more loft" application.
Second, the percentage of ams who:
(a) attmept to play in Open qualifiers, AND;
(b) are not supplied with tour-van equipment (like NCAA players, etc.)
is an infinitessimally small cohort. We are talking about numbers in the very low hundreds, right? And guys who are elite club memebers, or who are wealtlhy enough to spend half their time playing golf, right? And we're worried about the cost to them of a new set of irons and new wedges?
99.999% of ams have no need to buy new equipment now, and not until at least 2014, when 99.98% of ams will still have nothing to worry about. The numbers here just don't add up to any kind of a problem as Poulter suggests.
If the equipment manufacturers spend "millions", it will only be in advanced R&D, to develop new groove configurations and - more than anything - new ball formulations to once again maximize performance under the new Rule/Condition of Competition. For tour players, not ams.
Too bad Twitter doesn't allow for 'cross-examination'...
And golf's governing bodies which decide to enforce this policy has the option whether he can play in their tournaments.
Isn't there an organization which governs golf in 95% of the world. Oh, yes. It is the R&A, guv...
As if his comments on grooves weren't proof enough he's talking out his arse.
Having been on the receiving end of Poulters foul/sharp tongue on more than one occaision this bleat really made me smile!Grow up and learn to hit it properly you t-----!
I support the groove rule change. I understand guys not wanting to change before they have to, but to not goof around and spend some time starting to prepare for the change? That makes no sense to me.
You can bet that if Cobra were able to give him a conforming club that guaranteed 30 yards further or more putts holed etc it would be in his bag tomorrow.