Category: Hot Topics

It’s Official: USGA Proposing Groove, Club Adjustability Rules

As we surmised a couple days ago, the USGA is officially proposing a change to club grooves. If you’re a “skilled” player and play in competitions, say goodbye to your irons and wedges in two years.

Groove CloseupThe USGA today announced it is proposing two new rules changes. The first will revise grooves, the second will relax rules on adjustability so clubs can be better fitted to players.

The proposed groove revision would require all clubs to be made to this standard after January 1, 2010. However, the USGA will recommend a “Condition of Competition” go into effect January 1, 2009 that would allow committees to require newly conforming clubs in events for “highly skilled players.”

The new adjustability rule would go into effect January 1, 2008. Right now the rule only allows changes in weight. Thus, the new rule would likely make adjusting lofts, lies, or shaft flex possible, just not during a “stipulated round.”

If you’d like to discuss this, you can do so in the comments of this post, in our forum, or in the comments of this week’s Bag Drop on the grooves issue.

Too Little Too Late? The USGA Revisits Square Grooves

Ever since the Ping debacle in the 1980s, the USGA has kept a wary eye out for lawyers as they’ve tiptoed around equipment rules changes. Here they go again.

Bag DropWith the USGA’s recent announcement that they’ve glommed onto yet another corporate sponsor (I wonder how many Open tickets American Express and Lexus bigwigs are getting?) ostensibly to help with legal bills, it would appear golf’s ruling body in the U.S. is feeling frisky.

Last August they issued a 104-page report to club manufacturers indicating that currently permissible grooves allow the game’s best players to impart more spin on the ball from light rough than should be acceptable. While they promised no immediate action, it seems obvious they seriously want to consider an equipment rules change.

My question, and the question of many others, is whether a rules change on grooves is necessary or even advisable. Are they making rules for the top 0.5% of players in the world, or for they rest of us?

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Titleist Launches New Pro V1 and Pro V1x Golf Balls

Here comes the next generation of top line golf balls from the industry leader.

Bag DropEver since well before I took up the game 47 years ago, Titleist has been the most popular ball among the best players and, for most years, the best seller. That’s a remarkable run when you consider all the changes in design and manufacturing over those many years.

It’s also amazing when you consider the many competitors who have come and gone as well as the many who still scrape for a sliver of market share. According to Golf Datatech, a market research company, last year the Pro V1 and Pro V1x had an on-course market share greater than Bridgestone, Callaway, Nike, TaylorMade, Top-Flite, and Maxfli combined.

That kind of market dominance is no accident. Titleist rules because they continue to refine and innovate and produce a superior product. So, based on their overwhelming market share, here’s the story on the balls most of us will be playing this season…

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Early Season Disappointments

The FedEx Cup is off to a solid start, but a few things have kept it from being even better.

Thrash TalkAfter Phil Mickelson missed the cut at The FBR Open, I was ready to write his season off. Lefty bounced back this past weekend at Pebble Beach and proved he still has what it takes to seal the deal. He is obviously in better shape physically and mentally, and it was nice to see him win his 30th career PGA Tour event.

Mickelson officially put his name near the top of The FedEx Cup standings and will more than likely be a contender most of the season. After six events, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Lefty have all found the winner’s circle. That is great for ratings, and it will keep fans more involved throughout the inagural FedEx Cup season. It’s just unfortunate all three won’t be in the same field until the Accenture Match Play Championship in two weeks.

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Calculating the Handicap Indeces of the Pros

If Tiger Woods played you, how many strokes would he be giving up to make a fair match? The answer may shock you.

The Numbers GameYou may consider yourself a fine player with your three handicap. Or perhaps you frequently play to your 15 handicap. You may even think that Tiger Woods could spot you a stroke per hole and you’d have a close match.

And you’d be right… if you were the three handicap. And Tiger would still probably win.

We’ve talked about how to calculate your handicap here at The Sand Trap before, but the handicaps of our favorite PGA Tour pros remain a mystery. Sure, we know they’re in the “+” realm (which, oddly enough, means better than scratch while worse-than-scratch golfers have signless handicaps), but how far?

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TaylorMade SuperQuad and Burner Drivers, Fairways Unveiled

With the 460cc limit on head volume now routine in drivers, the next frontier is MOI or “moment of inertia.” It would seem TaylorMade now leads the race.

Bag DropOver the past few weeks we’ve covered the latest driver introductions by Callaway and Nike, Tour Edge, and Cleveland. Except for Tour Edge, every company brought out two different models at the same time… one more conventional and workable, the other more radical and forgiving.

This week and next we’ll be taking a look at the latest driver and fairway wood offerings from TaylorMade. TaylorMade has also followed the “two model” format.

What’s so interesting about the TaylorMade unveiling of its SuperQuad and Burner drivers at last week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is that their stated MOI number for both is very near the USGA limit. And they’re not shaped like a science fair project. Here’s the story…

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Postcards from Orlando

I waded deep into the bowels of the 2007 PGA Merchandise Show, and I’ve emerged with some gems (and notes).

PGA Merchandise ShowLast week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando gave me a chance to step out of my semi-retirement from The Sand Trap and check in to see what’s happening in the ever-interesting golf business. I played a couple rounds with the latest and greatest clubs and balls from most of the major equipment companies – at least the ones not named Titleist, Cobra, and Ping, since they are still AWOL from the Show.

What’d I learn? That driver designers really enjoyed geometry class in high school. That fans of forged irons have a couple new objects of lust. And that golf products are being marketed more and more to specific groups of players according to age and style of play.

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Nationwide Tour Graduates Taste Early Success

There are several 2006 Nationwide Tour graduates making an early splash during the new season.

Thrash TalkTiger Woods made his 2007 debut this past weekend at The Buick Invitational and won his seventh consecutive PGA Tour event. Wow, what a surprise! In all seriousness, it’s good to see Tiger again. There is no doubt the buzz around the PGA Tour is a lot higher when Mr. Woods tees it up.

Tiger’s win at Torrey Pines wasn’t as dominant as some in the past, but a win is a win. He intimidated and broke down a handful of youngsters along the way. The list of young golfers included the new FedEx Cup points leader, Charles Howell III. Chuckie may not ever win another tournament, but he has mastered the art of coming in second. It was actually refreshing to see CHIII have a solid final round compared to the usual choke job.

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Adams Golf Launches DiXX Digital Instruction Putter

For those of us who find putting a mysterious, elusive art, here’s a gizmo that can separate fact from feel to tell you exactly why you’re missing all those putts.

Bag DropFor something so seemingly simple as rolling a ball with a flat-faced stick, it’s a sad fact that sooner or later putting bedevils every player. Were you aimed wrong? Did you pull it? Push it? Was it your tempo? Your transition? Do you even have a clue?

Well now, if you have very, very deep pockets, Adams Golf comes to the rescue with answers to all the above. They’ve reached agreement with a South Korean inventor to become North American distributors for the DiXX Digital Instruction putter.

The device, which Adams will unveil at this week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, looks to me to be pretty amazing. Here’s the story…

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