Count Frank Thomas among the critics of the U.S. Golf Association's study to possibly ban wedges with lofts of 60 degrees and more. The USGA this past December sent a letter to club manufacturers, claiming the high-lofted wedges "can reduce the challenge of the game for shots near the green.''
Thomas knows more than most people about equipment and the challenge of the game. He spent more than 25 years as the USGA's technical director. That is, he was the man who determined whose clubs conformed to USGA rules and whose clubs did not.
Since his resignation from the USGA in 2000, Thomas, who owns Frankly Golf, a putter company and consulting firm in Orlando, has some times been an outspoken critic of his former bosses. That's the case with the high-lofted wedges.
"My opinion about the USGA and what it is doing in the Equipment Standards Dept. is going downhill in a hurry," said Thomas, who designs the Frog line of putters. "The 60 degree wedge issue is as bad as most of the other recent changes."
Thomas is equally as critical (if not more so) about the USGA's new rule on grooves that could significantly limit the effectiveness of grooves. That rule is aimed at clubs made as of 2010 but many players on the PGA Tour are playing with the new grooves now.
"There has been no definition of the problem or evidence given that the problem (if it exists) will be resolved buy the major disruption the groove change will cause to the game," Thomas said. "The USGA is not explaining nor disclosing anything to the public regarding why such a disruptive change is necessary nor has it given any evidence that the game will be better off because of the change. The USGA is acting in a very autocratic manner but still expects golfers to abide by rules which don’t make intuitive sense."
That's what I call "Frank talk."
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