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Ping believes the USGA is dead wrong
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There is some growing sentiment that the PGA Tour may elect to defer an upcoming change in equipment rules. The potential maelstrom centers around a change in the volume size of grooves found in irons. In August of 2008, the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced revisions to the Rules of Golf, placing new restrictions on the cross sectional area and edge sharpness of golf club grooves. The difference is literally the equivalent of splitting hairs to the naked eye. The USGA’s position regarding the impending revisions are designed to restore the challenge of playing shots to the green from the rough by reducing backspin on those shots. The initial focus of the new rules will be competitions involving highly skilled professional golfers, in other words the Tour, and would have little impact on the play of most golfers, according to the USGA. However, the PGA Tour policy board is expected to deliberate whether it will move forward with the changes which are slated to take place on January 1, 2010. The basic premise for the potential push back, should it be successful is that Tour players haven’t had time to experiment with the new design since they are in the midst of season long campaign and its unlikely many of them are aware of how this may affect their game once its been mandated to be implemented. The policy board is expected to decide whether it will proceed forward as planned next year within the next 24 to 48 hours.
However, in the meantime one equipment company that has experience with the topic is speaking out in advance of the Tour’s decision. PING Chairman & CEO John Solheim, who has adamantly opposed the USGA and R&A New Groove Rule since it was first proposed February 27, 2007, released the following statement today from the company’s Phoenix, Arizona headquarters: "The new groove rule harms the game and golfers and should be dropped. The recent uproar about it from PGA Tour players demonstrates this fact,” said Solheim. “However, the PGA Tour's proposal to delay implementing the rule is not a solution. You can't turn a bad idea into a good one by waiting an extra year to adopt it. We hope everyone who cares about the future of this game keeps that simple concept in mind."
Among the points Solheim cited is that once the rulemaking bodies approve a golf club, it should remain approved. He also stated the USGA has not demonstrated that any change in any PGA Tour statistic is due to grooves. “ If the rule making bodies believe that grooves are wreaking havoc on the PGA Tour, why is it that among the hundreds of statistics kept by the PGA Tour, no one has ever deemed it worthwhile to identify the specific grooves each individual PGA Tour Pro is using in his irons and wedges. If grooves truly are a problem, it seems obvious that someone would gather and analyze this easily obtainable data before telling tens of millions of golfers the USGA is reversing its prior approval of hundreds of millions of golf clubs. The failure to do so suggests there may be something else going on here,” the company stated.
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