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New Hall of Famer Wadkins challenges younger generation of PGA Tour players
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Lanny Wadkins
Lanny Wadkins, ever the straight shooter, issued a challenge to this generation of PGA Tour players this week prior to his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
"This generation has to change something. Let's see if they've got some imagination,'' Wadkins said in reference to the new condition of competition grooves rule that goes into affect Jan. 1.
"I like the idea of trying to get back to V grooves,'' Wadkins said. "I just wish they had gone to a straight, old, traditional V groove because what they're doing with going to an area, the amount of area that's in the groove, which is basically going to shallower U grooves if you will, the manufacturers are going to figure out a way around it.
"They're going to figure out a way to keep as much spin as possible in the ball. I would love to see it back in the V grooves we played in the early '70s. No reason they couldn't do that in my mind and just be very straight forward about it, and I think it would require more imagination in today's game.''
A change back to the old V grooves, Wadkins said, would involve ball changes for a lot of players on the PGA Tour, something that's not likely to be embraced.
"My generation has changed all the way along the line,'' Wadkns said. "We've changed from shafts that weren't frequency matched, then we went to frequently matched shafts. Then we went to wooden clubs that were heavy, 14 and a half ounces for a driver, a shaft that weighed 135 grams, which is probably what mine weighed early '70s, mid '80s at that point in time.
"We've changed to small-headed metal clubs to big-headed metal grooves to U grooves to balls that don't spin. My generation has changed all the way up. This generation like where my boys are, my boys have always played the same stuff. They've never hit a wooden club. They're 21 and 17, all they've known is big-headed metal stuff.''
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