At first, the August 5th announcement by the U.S. Golf Association and R&A
of upcoming restrictions on the size and sharpness of grooves in irons seemed to
be oddly timed. Some questioned whether the USGA and R&A showed disrespect
to fellow golf organization PGA of America, which had the spotlight at the
year’s final major.
Others wondered whether the ruling bodies were trying to minimize the
publicity for a change that would result in two separate rules for pros and
amateurs for the first time in the history of golf.
But the juxtaposition between the announcement and the PGA Championship
turned out to be fitting, because the new rules ultimately may do away with the
narrow fairways and thick rough that marked the setup at Oakland Hills—and at
many recent major championships.
The new grooves will result in less spin off irons, especially from the
rough. That will bring the flyer—shots that fly much longer due to lack of
spin—back into play, replacing high-spinning approaches that stop on the green
as readily as those from the fairway.
USGA testing with minitour players showed that from medium rough, shots with
current box grooves spun twice as much as shots with the old-school V grooves.
While pros will have to have conforming irons in their bags by January 2010,
most golfers won’t have to abide by the new ruling for 16 years, if that. So in
two years, tour players’ equipment will be subject to different regulations from
your clubs.
“Our research shows that the rough has become less of a challenge for the
highly skilled professional and that driving accuracy is now less of a key
factor for success,” said USGA Senior Technical Director Dick Rugge. “We believe
that these changes will increase the challenge of the game at the tour level,
while having a very small effect on the play of most golfers.”
Players routinely blast away from the tee, without regard to whether they
miss the fairway, because it doesn’t provide much of a penalty. The response
from tournament organizers has been to narrow fairways and grow the rough, as
the PGA did at Oakland Hills.
Although the new rule is the first rollback in equipment since the 1930s, the
equipment companies seem satisfied with the change. The USGA isn’t mandating
that grooves return to the old V shape, which gives engineers some leeway in
designing clubs. In addition, it won’t affect the average golfer for some time,
if at all.
Said Steve McCracken of Callaway Golf: “We are very pleased to see the
ruling bodies have carefully considered whether rules changes intended to
address a perceived issue at tour events should be applied simultaneously to
tour professionals, elite amateurs and other golfers, and ultimately opted to
acknowledge those differences by separating their actions with respect to each
group.”
If you read between the grooves, the real effect will be to force pros to use
higher-spinning balls that won’t go as far—a backdoor attempt to put some flaps
on 350-yard drives.
“As soon as we change the grooves, we’re probably going to have to alter the
ball we use,” said Masters winner Trevor Immelman, “because if you’re not
getting as much spin, you’re probably going to have to start using a softer golf
ball.”
The ruling also may result in less punitive setups at future major venues,
now that flyer will be returning to golf’s lexicon.
“My big concern is that, once the grooves change, a corresponding alteration
must be made to the length of the rough,” wrote Geoff Ogilvy in the Scotsman.
“There will be no point in continuing with foot-long grass. When rough gets that
long, it really doesn’t matter what grooves we are using.
“So the great thing is that professional golf might just be on the edge of
seeing the end of long rough.”
