Over the Green

An interview on Golf.com with Dick Rugge, Senior Technical Director of the United State Golf Association, revealed a couple of interesting facts amid the criticism of the change in the allowable configuration of grooves in irons 25 degrees and higher loft.

Rugge says the USGA doesn’t like the idea of two sets of rules, one for “elite golfers” and one for the rest of us, however it was necessary in the case of grooves to soften the change for non-elite players. In essence postponing implementation of the V-groove replacing the U- or box grooves until 2024 for everyone but tour players and those few amateurs that play in USGA competitions gave us two sets of rules but having one set of rules is still desirable.

He did not address the obvious fact every golfer will buy a new set of irons in the next 14 years thus making them play with irons of lesser performance…just like the elite players.

He confirmed box grooved irons had decreased the need to drive the ball in the fairway – box grooves have been around for more than 20 years since the Ping Golf law suit. Looking at the situation the Association felt the game had changed so much with the advent of driver clubheads of titanium with graphite shafts hitting the solid core balls ever farther, something had to be done.

Speaking of law suits, rolling back groove cross section thus hurting performance from long grass, is probably the only thing they realistically could have promulgated without a scream from both players and club makers. Can you imagine Titleist giving up the Pro V1? Or how about TaylorMade discarding the Tour Burner? Not likely without a heck of a fight. So grooves took the hit.

Rugge also talked about rolling back the performance of balls and clubs.

“Strictly based on their potential to change the game, two other rollbacks could be considered—reducing golf ball distance and reducing clubhead size. However, in both cases, a rollback would impact virtually every golfer, not just the very best players, so we have no plans to roll back either.”

“… if driving distance once again began to increase significantly, there may be a need to consider changes to the rules governing clubs or balls. It’s purely hypothetical, but there could also come a time when environmental issues place such significant burdens on building or maintaining golf courses that reducing distance could become a necessity.”

Sounds like he setting up the case to rationalize just what he said is not needed. It certainly doesn’t let me sleep any more soundly.

A lot of golfers felt a twinge of sadness when the venerable club manufacturer MacGregor bit the dust after spending its’ last years traveling down a tortured path of mismanagement and misfortune.

The company which started making clubs in 1897 had for several decades produced the clubs of choice for the best golfers in the world. Those who played MacGregor seemed like a Hall of Fame roster. Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and dozens of other premier players all won with MacGregors at some point in their careers.

However by the end of the twentieth century MacGregor, having been sold in the late 1960’s by the founder’s family to Brunswick Corporation was then sold and bought and sold and bought by a succession of other owners including Jack Nicklaus, finally wound up in the portfolio of a private investment company run by the flamboyant and passionate Barry Schneider. Schneider vowed a restoration of MacGregor Golf to its’ glory years but was unsuccessful due to a failure to market clubs capable of catching the public’s attention and other management missteps. MORE…

The announcement yesterday that latest chapter in the long running feud between Acushnet Company and Callaway Golf over the latter’s claim Acushnet’s Titleist Pro V1 violates Callaway patents appears to be a win for Acushnet.

A U.S. District Court in a jury trial said early versions of the best selling Pro V1 ball did not infringe on Spalding Golf patents which be came property of Callaway when they purchased the former number two ball manufacturer. The four patents in question were invalid according to the decision, which had been Acushnet’s position since this fight started. MORE…

Here’s a trivia question – who was the first player to win on the PGA Tour using a golf ball that was not white?
Answer: Wayne Levi won the 1982 Hawaiian Open with an optic orange ball.

This of course was the high water mark for non-white balls during their brief period of acceptance unless you count an even briefer resurgence a few years ago as a fashion statement to be coordinated with a female golfer’s top or shoes. Today non-white balls are still offered by many manufacturers and used by a small minority of players, mostly ladies; with the singular exception of LPGA Tour star Paula Creamer’s pink golf balls which are both a fashion accessory and support for her brand image. MORE…

In the battle for golf ball market share against the segment dominating position of Acushnet Golf, other ball makers have come up with some pretty strange ideas – remember yellow balls? One recent idea though which was definitely not strange is Bridgestone Golf’s ball-fitting program. In three years the company has sponsored 50,000 plus fittings giving golfers get hi-tech help to determine which golf ball is best for their individual swing and game.

The ball-fitting idea produced two significant results. Bridgestone doubled their market share and the popular B330-RX ball was conceived. MORE…

The Titleist NXT three-piece ball is a worthy Titleist Pro V1 substitute

The three-piece NXT Tour has a faster dual core than the previous model and a Titleist-proprietary Fusablend cover rather than Surlyn as with some other competitors’ balls in the category. The dimple pattern has also been improved all of which make the NXT Tour a worthy substitute for Titleist’s market leading Pro V1 at about a 35% lower cost.

“The New NXT Tour and New NXT deliver even higher performance and longer distance, further establishing each model as benchmarks in their respective categories,” said George Sine, Vice President, Golf Ball Marketing and Strategic Planning for Titleist’s parent Acushnet Company. “Based upon comprehensive machine testing, as well as positive feedback captured during player testing with current NXT family loyalists and competitive golf ball users, we have delivered two exciting new ways for golfers to lower their scores.”

The NXT is a two-piece model similar to the old NXT Exreme. MSRP for the NXT Tour is $40 and for the NXT $34 but street prices are $29.99 and $25.99 respectively.

Shush! Quiet! Do you hear it?

Aw, it’s gone…the predicted uproar from PGA Tour players now they no longer are allowed to play with square or box grooves.

Unless of course your name is John Daly and then you put 20 year old Ping Eye-2 wedges and thumb your nose at the rest of the suckers who follow the rules in form as well as intent. The Ping Eye-2 grooves are conforming not because they are not box grooves but because they are grandfathered as part of the settlement between Ping Golf and the USGA of the original groove issue law suit in the late 1980’s.

Some had predicted a semi-revolt by Tour players over the rule change which effectively makes it more difficult to generate enough ball spin so shots will stop on the green particularly with short irons out of the rough. Exactly what form the revolt was to take was not revealed, refusal of courtesy cars or paying for lunch instead of bellying up to the free buffet, who knows. In any event, it’s a non-issue after the first two weeks of the season.

So did scores balloon, were there more “flyers” or balls skidding across putting surfaces than when the same types of shots were played last year?

From all evidence, no.

No matter how hard the Golf Channel commentators Nick Faldo and Mark Rolfing tried, the scores were about the same both weeks as last year after factoring in what does make a difference, the wind.

This isn’t to say wedge shots stopped dead or spun back every time but as the Tour slogan says,”These guys are good.” They compensated by hitting different types of shots into the greens, started using softer covered balls or added a degree or two loft to their irons. And besides the events are held on courses covered with varieties of Bermuda grass which is notorious for “juicers” or shots with less than the usual spin.

What hasn’t changed though is the USGA has created one set of rules for the good players – toursters and top amateurs – while the rest of us play by another set. This is not reasonable, smart nor effective in the long run.

It detracts from one of golf’s attractive virtues; we play on the same grounds with the same implements under the same conditions as those who are truly talented.

Each year around this time I start looking at the news items that have crossed my desk since last Christmas for possible golfer gift ideas, think of this as sort of my ‘wish list.’ They range in price from the very expensive to a few dollars therefore potentially filling any gifter’s need. So, in no particular order:

No Golf but a Lot of Relaxation
Buccament Bay Beach Resort opens in July 2010 on the southwest coast of St. Vincent in the Windward Islands has a great year round vacation location, exclusivity, 12 restaurants, a tennis academy, the Liverpool Football Club’s soccer school, a cricket academy, activities for children, a 24-berth marina and NO GOLF. Since there’s no direct air service you have to fly into St. Lucia and take a launch to St. Vincent…sounds like fun.

Bushnell Promos
The Bushnell Tour V2 laser range finder has a permanent spot in my bag and until the end of 2009 they are offering a number of promotions for their various models. The one that caught my eye, since I like the V2, is called the ‘Tour V2 Limited Edition Holiday Pack.’ Included besides a Tour V2 laser rangefinder are a premium carrying case, two 3-volt batteries and two SKINZ™, silicone protective covers, at $100 off the usual retail price of $400.

House of Carrington
“Call me old fashioned but I think the clothes you wear are important, including on the golf course. They speak volumes about you and your attitude and many of the modern “youth-orientated” styles just don’t cut it. Cargo shorts, enormous basketball shorts, tank tops, etc. may look fine on a six-year old but on middle aged weekend warrior they look ridiculous.” That was the lead paragraph of my story about the House of Carrington clothing from two brothers named Bell, classic in design, quality construction using the best of fabrics at middle of the road prices. To locate a retail or green grass shop visit houseofcarrington.com.

Let’s Face It
The TaylorMade Golf TP wedge with xFT (Exchangeable Face Technology) gives players the option of changing out a worn wedge clubface; definitely a neat idea certainly worth consideration given the banning of box grooves by the USGA. Street price is $129 per and comes with a Z groove face (i.e., one conforming to the pre-2010 USGA rule). Other xFT wedge faces with either the Z groove or ZTP groove (conforming to the new 2010 USGA rule) are $39.

Sink More Putts
Dr. Craig Farnsworth’s book, The Putting Prescription, is a great reference on how to putt or at least how to understand what’s going on during the stroke. Farnsworth really does understand putting and has coached everyone from Azinger to Yang how to make more putts. John Wiley & Sons, $24.95

Another Golf Book, But Different
Frank Thomas is a very interesting guy, opinionated to be sure but as knowledgeable person as you can find regarding golf equipment and the game in general. Each week he answers questions sent in by readers of his web site and now has compiled the Q&A into a book, Dear Frank… which is available on his at franklygolf.com for $17.99

More suggestions in a couple of days.

Wilson Golf Intros Two Additions to Its Line Up

Wilson Golf has a new iron combo set for low- to mid-swing speed players, the D-FY, which the company says delivers more distance with no sacrifice in performance or precision. D-FY uses Wilson’s iron technology and the FYbrid in eight piece sets of a 19.5 degree FYbrid utility, 4-hybrid, 5- and 6- super-wide sole irons and 7i-PW perimeter-weighted short irons.

According to Bob Thurman, global director of R&D, “The fastest growing style of golfer is a player who benefits from a combo/hybrid set in the super-game improvement category. To meet the needs of this player style, the D-FY combo set marries our distance iron technology to our FYbrid technology. This was accomplished by combining it with an extremely durable Half-and-Half shaft that allows players to get the best of both worlds while maximizing performance.”

MSRP for the Wilson Staff D-FY iron set is $999.99 and they are available now.

The Wilson Staff D25 golf ball is a two-piece low compression ball meant to be used with the D-FY iron/hybrid set. The company says it has low spin off the driver and uses Traction Control Technology to produce higher iron spin for stopping power on the greens in light of the recent change in the Rules of Golf covering allowable groove configurations. MSRP is $29.99 per dozen.

While writing the item on the new Titleist Vokey wedges it occurred to me wedges or for that matter clubs in general are probably not very high on the list of REALLY important agenda items at parent Acushnet’s Fairhaven, Mass. headquarters. The reason of course is they have around 60% of the ball business and for this roughly $1.5 billion operation golf balls represent a huge chunk of the annual profit.

Sure, sure, Acushnet owns other big players in their respective market segment like FootJoy but it’s the ball business that runs this train.

Where this idle speculation led me, was when are we going to see a new Titleist Pro V1?

The current model hit the streets as the New 2009 Pro V1 in you guessed it, the beginning of 2009. And since Titleist has a history of going two years between introductions it would seem 2011 is next.

But there’s a problem. The USGA went and changed the grooves, effectively making them smaller, so all the highly paid Pro V1 endorsers on the PGA Tour will have to compensate for the resulting lower spin (read, can’t stop the darn ball on the darn green). I predict they won’t like that one bit and are already clamoring for a softer cover ball to compensate for the smaller grooves which in turn means the players won’t have to compensate by not hitting the ball in rough but hitting it in the fairway…which is what the USGA wanted in the first place, using the tortured blue-blazer logic, this is the way to reign in the increase of driving distance that is making all those wonderful old courses obsolete.

Boy, talk about – well as you can tell I’m not a fan of taking away something from golfers to aid their scoring ability like the present box grooves, but that’s another column.

By the way, in case you didn’t know TaylorMade Golf makes golf balls too and though they have a single digit market share they are working hard at increasing their sales. Of course the big target is Acushnet not Calloway or Bridgestone or whoever. TaylorMade has announced the first ever five-layer golf ball called the Penta TP (clever, huh?) specifically for use by their staff players and supposedly it does help to compensate for the loss of spin from the smaller USGA grooves.

Therefore, while Acushnet is probably not laying awake nights worried about TMaG, I’d bet a dollar to a doughnut we will see a new improved Pro V1 by the start of the 2010 PGA Tour season.