Rule 4.2.b Clubs - Foreign substance

[RayG]

... Pam will work.... barely noticeable and lasts almost all round. But anyway- I recently went to my local range and the balls were still wet from the machine. I would hit 10 while still wet, then 10 after drying them off. It DID make a slight difference on ball spin. The wet ones tended to fly a bit less distance but not a lot of side spin. The dry ones flew in a more normal (for me) ball flight.

[TJBam]

I wonder if OP greases his driver in scrambles to impress business colleagues and the only reason he made this thread was to familiarize himself with the rules against it and garner a valid excuse to "grease" if caught.

What a scumbag.

[Rulesman]

Originally Posted by RayG

The wet ones tended to fly a bit less distance but not a lot of side spin. The dry ones flew in a more normal (for me) ball flight.

Perhaps you had loosened up by the time you got to the dry ones.

[RayG]

Perhaps you had loosened up by the time you got to the dry ones.

I alternated between the wet ones and the dry ones. 10 wet, 10 dry, 10 wet, 10 dry, etc...

[TJBam]

I'm sure someone will jump in and tell me I'm wrong. But it is no secret that a wet ball or club face has a little less friction upon impact, meaning less spin on the ball during flight. This results in a straighter shot.

[saevel25]

There was a study on this, I think it was in golf digest. A wet ball has nearly the same spin as a dry one. Rain doesn't bother things that much, it's rough, and wet rough that will kill the spin.

[TJBam]

That didn't take long.

[TJBam]

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2013/02/wedges-and-water/ This guy suggests that a wet ball w a dry club loses a lot of spin with a wedge. His study looks legit. Think it applies to a driver?

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by TJBam

I wonder if OP greases his driver in scrambles to impress business colleagues and the only reason he made this thread was to familiarize himself with the rules against it and garner a valid excuse to "grease" if caught.

What a scumbag.

The scumbag is the one insulting others for asking a question about care and maintenance of his clubs, to be sure he was not breaking any rules.

[saevel25]

Originally Posted by TJBam

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2013/02/wedges-and-water/

This guy suggests that a wet ball w a dry club loses a lot of spin with a wedge. His study looks legit. Think it applies to a driver?

Probably but probably less of a drop in RPM. Remember a dry wedge, dry ball is 6600 RPM. A driver is 3000 RPM or less. So there is probably going to be substantially less drop in spin, because there is less spin to begin with. I doubt the drop is proportional. They lost about 1200 RPM. Still, that's probably the same RPM as a middle to long iron spin. So you'd probably be able to hold the green, but probably not enough to check up. I would say, if you want an application purpose, take a little off the club and plan for a tad more roll out than your use to.

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by ApocG10

The scumbag is the one insulting others for asking a question about care and maintenance of his clubs, to be sure he was not breaking any rules.

The OP is me. I was making a self-deprecating joke. My attempt at humor.

[TJBam]

Originally Posted by saevel25

Probably but probably less of a drop in RPM. Remember a dry wedge, dry ball is 6600 RPM. A driver is 3000 RPM or less. So there is probably going to be substantially less drop in spin, because there is less spin to begin with. I doubt the drop is proportional. They lost about 1200 RPM. Still, that's probably the same RPM as a middle to long iron spin. So you'd probably be able to hold the green, but probably not enough to check up. I would say, if you want an application purpose, take a little off the club and plan for a tad more roll out than your use to.

I see what you're saying about the driver.

Also to take into consideration is that the link I posted is in a controlled environment.  He is hitting wet balls in a dry environment with a dry club.  If your ball is wet on the course, chances are your club will also be wet by the time you make contact.

[jselliott2014]

I had a opponent wet his club in the grass dip it along the edge of the bunker to put sand on it, then chip on.  Since it takes the spin off the ball That’s a no no rule 4.1 (3)

correct?

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, jselliott2014 said:

I had a opponent wet his club in the grass dip it along the edge of the bunker to put sand on it, then chip on.  Since it takes the spin off the ball That’s a no no rule 4.1 (3)

correct?

FWIW you asked a question about a rule that no longer exists, as the topic pre-dates by a number of years the 2019 rules revision.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, jselliott2014 said:

I had a opponent wet his club in the grass dip it along the edge of the bunker to put sand on it, then chip on.  Since it takes the spin off the ball That’s a no no rule 4.1 (3)

correct?

Perhaps you are looking at 4.1a(3), which talks about applying a substance to the clubface to affect how it performs in making a stroke.  Do you KNOW he did this deliberately to change the club's performance?  Perhaps he was dragging it through wet grass to clean it.  I don't see a violation of the rule there, not without knowing the intent of the player.  Neither do is see a violation of old Rule 4-3b.

 

[Bonvivant]

22 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Perhaps you are looking at 4.1a(3), which talks about applying a substance to the clubface to affect how it performs in making a stroke.  Do you KNOW he did this deliberately to change the club's performance?  Perhaps he was dragging it through wet grass to clean it.  I don't see a violation of the rule there, not without knowing the intent of the player.  Neither do is see a violation of old Rule 4-3b.

 

Did you read the part about dragging it through the sand too? I am assuming this guy was looking to get the ball to check, and some extra friction is what he desired. Sounds like a breach to me.

[DaveP043]

On 11/20/2021 at 6:20 PM, jselliott2014 said:

I had a opponent wet his club in the grass dip it along the edge of the bunker to put sand on it, then chip on.  Since it takes the spin off the ball That’s a no no rule 4.1 (3)

correct?

2 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Did you read the part about dragging it through the sand too? I am assuming this guy was looking to get the ball to check, and some extra friction is what he desired. Sounds like a breach to me.

Interesting that you're concerned that the action would make the ball spin more, when @jselliott2014 is concerned that the ball would spin less.  No matter, the Rule is concerned with DELIBERATELY applying any substance to affect the way the club performs.  That's why I asked the question, do we know the player's intent?  If he did it to add spin, or to decrease spin, its a breach.  If not, its not a breach.

 

[Bonvivant]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

Interesting that you're concerned that the action would make the ball spin more, when @jselliott2014 is concerned that the ball would spin less.  No matter, the Rule is concerned with DELIBERATELY applying any substance to affect the way the club performs.  That's why I asked the question, do we know the player's intent?  If he did it to add spin, or to decrease spin, its a breach.  If not, its not a breach.

I completely skipped over his "take spin off" part. I assumed that he was trying to add grit to the clubface to make it stop more quickly, since it was a chip (no mention of short side but i would guess so). Almost like a rusty face, but only applied for 1 shot. I don't know if this actually works but the logic follows for me.