"Tour should rethink its aversion to controversy"

I have a column in this week's Golf World that I just know Tim Finchem will be making copies of and distributing to his VP's with a big Post-It note attached, with the words "Maybe if you read this backwards it makes sense, Coterminously Yours, Tim."

"That's how it started."

Thanks to reader Andrew for the new Met Golfer roundtable on rules. It seems Arnold Palmer is now getting official credit for the groove rule change.

Dick, can you take us through the process of how the 2010 condition of competition on grooves came about:

Rugge: It started with Arnold Palmer, who came here to the USGA offices in January 2001 for a meeting to talk about a lot of things regarding equipment.  He sat next to me, and near the end of our meeting, he stuck his finger in my face and kind of scolded me and said, "The biggest mistake the USGA ever made was to allow square grooves in the game."  That's how it started.

As reader Andrew noted, "I wonder what would have happened had Palmer said the biggest mistake they made was letting the ball go so far."

"It was no accident that last weekend's Masters leader board was almost exclusively filled by players either exceptionally thoughtful or prodigiously talented or both."

Besides a nice rant about the modern ball (I always enjoy those), John Huggan makes a couple of worthwhile points when considering the play of Europeans at this year's Masters.

In defense of the current band of better-than-average European players, coming up well short (so far at least) isn't all their own faults. Tiger and Phil Mickelson apart, standing out from the pack isn't easy these days. Look at both the PGA and European Tours. So far this year, only South Africans Charl Schwartzel and Ernie Els have won more than once on either. Parity is king. Of course, much of that all-too prevalent stalemate has been caused by the high level of quality control involved in the manufacture of today's clubs and balls. For one thing, bigheaded metal drivers have made mastering what should be the hardest club in the bag almost routine for virtually every professional. So separating oneself from the rest is more difficult. The deserved edge previously enjoyed by the likes of Greg Norman and Nick Price -- the best drivers of their generation -- has been diminished greatly.

And this about Augusta National's design and setup:

When those relatively unimaginative players -- their senses dulled by all of the above -- pitch up at a major championship venue like Augusta National (where short grass still prevails and many holes can be played in a variety of ways) they are suddenly faced with a test paper that is, to paraphrase the great Bobby Jones, "unfamiliar." It was no accident that last weekend's Masters leader board was almost exclusively filled by players either exceptionally thoughtful or prodigiously talented or both.

"And look, Republicans enjoy golf."

A study of what political party fans of various sports tend to associate with. Not surprisingly, golf leans Republican, but who knew wrestling fans were so left leaning?

This chart maps the party identification of sports fans along with their propensity to actually vote. It's based on 218,000 surveys conducted by a GOP media research firm. Wrestling fans: strongly Democratic-leaning, but none of them vote.

It is not actually that weird to think that wrestling and monster truck fans are all bleeding heart commies: their fanbases are primary young people. It looks like they're also young people that Democrats do a really shit job of appealing to and convincing to vote. (If the DNC was smart they would maybe be doing something about telling these slightly interested NBA fans about the upcoming midterms.)

And look, Republicans enjoy golf.

(Making the partisan divide-straddling bubbles as deep in color as the outliers is a bit misleading, GOP research firm, because it looks to us like basically everyone enjoys baseball and football.)

"A Simpler Game"

Now posted is my winter Links Magazine look at how golf got to the mess it's in and ways in which costs can be cut. Included are quotes from architects like Bruce Hepner, developer Jim Taylor of Clear Creek and superintendent Rusty Mercer of Cuscowilla. As always, thoughts welcomed

Meanwhile Ryan Ballengee plays Coore and Crenshaw's Sugarloaf Mountain, part of a failing central Florida real estate development, and comes away wondering if people would ever buy a home on a minimalist design. 

"If enough letters were written to the PGA Tour maybe it would bring enough attention to it and something could get done because it's vile. But the Americans just don't seem bothered about it."

Dave Tindall looks at spitting in golf and wonders why Americans are much more tolerant of it than the British. Warning, yours truly provided my thoughts. And something tells me that you all will have plenty to say as well.

In the UK, there will be an appalled reaction from the anchor, even an apology to viewers. In the US, discussion will simply focus on the shot ahead or current state of the leaderboard.

So what's going on here? Does the UK have more prudish presenters?

Probably not but that isn't the point away. The general feeling on these shores is that spitting looks terrible when done by a golfer who is hardly generating loads of the stuff simply by walking.

In fact, it would be more unusual for our TV presenters NOT to mention it when it's done so brazenly.

The other general concensus is that it appears to be, shall we say, an American disease.

What baffles many UK golf fans is that it's not just the American young bucks (i.e. Dustin Johnson, whose phlegm levels were clearly set to high during his win at Pebble Beach) who are guilty but also some of the well-to-do veterans such as 'Gentleman' Jim Furyk.

Tiger Woods is a serial spitter too, prompting well-known cricket commentator Jack Bannister to tell Talksport viewers last week: "Tiger's speech lasted 13 minutes and I think it's the longest time I've seen him go without spitting."

"The USGA, their heads will explode"

When we last heard from Rob O'Loughlin he was trying to speed up the game with Laser Link, now Gary D'Amato reports on his new gimmick to improve the game: increase the size of the hole.

"It will be worth three shots a nine," O'Loughlin said. "It takes me from 82 to 76 all the time. And let me tell you, that's fun. I've shot a million 82s in my life. It's fun to be in the 70s.

"You won't make many 25- or 30-footers, but you never did. But you virtually eliminate the three-putt. What happens is you're not missing the 3- and 4-footers because this makes them play like 1-footers."

Surely, The Big Cup will never be approved for play by the United States Golf Association. And that's OK with O'Loughlin, who battled the USGA for years over Laser Link before the governing body finally relented and allowed distance-measuring devices for everyday play.

"The USGA, their heads will explode," he said with a laugh. "They've got to understand it's a game, not a gauntlet. Their focus is on the top 300 players in the world. I think they are obsessed with those 300 players and they don't give a damn about the other 20 million.

"The truth is, a little easier is what we need."

"We'd be foolish not to consider it, although it is extremely controversial."

E. Michael Johnson raises all sorts of interesting questions in considering whether manufacturers should offer non-conforming lines of equipment. 

"We've looked extensively at possibilities in the nonconforming category," said Nate Radcliffe, metalwoods development manager for Cleveland Golf. "We'd be foolish not to consider it, although it is extremely controversial."

It's a category?

Now, 10 years later, might Callaway revisit nonconforming clubs? "Some think we may be likely to go down that path," said Dr. Alan Hocknell, Callaway's senior VP of research & development, "but one thing we hold highly at this company is authenticity. Playing by the rules is perhaps the most authentic part of golf. I'd say we're more likely to stay inside the rules than go outside them."

Which isn't to say Callaway hasn't looked at the landscape. Hocknell said the company has done consumer research and found golfers split on the topic. Then there's the business aspect. Any company entering the nonconforming arena is likely to be branded by its competition as making clubs for cheaters. "To have our brand positioned that way would be a huge risk," said Hocknell.

Two questions. Do you think this is a good idea for the game and would it be wise for manufacturers to go down this path?

It doesn't bother me much since the game is bifurcated with the groove rule change and if nothing else, just think, we wouldn't have to listen to the manufacturers whine about the big, bad USGA impacting quarterly profit margins!