BOMB: With a little digging, here's the full text of the R&A/European Tour survey of tour players on grooves. The questions, undiluted, are even more loaded than we originally thought.

GOUGE: And just as clueless.

BOMB: Here you go. I love how they put forth the USGA and R&A findings in the intro and then expect to get unbiased answers? What a crock.

GOUGE: Well, it's generally been proved that U-like grooves do spin the ball more from the rough than V-like grooves.

BOMB: But that's the point. Why poison the survey with that information stated at the top in big letters? Why couldn't they ask them that without putting forth what their research shows.

GOUGE: Good point. And like I've said before how valid are these opinions if most players have never played with V-like grooves, certainly not grooves that would approach what the new rule proposes? Ad seriously, what do we suppose the R&A plans to do with the answers to Question 12 (Leave the grooves alone.)? If the overwhelming majority strongly agrees with Question 12, does that mean the proposed rule is dead? If the overwhelming majority strongly disagrees with Question 12, does that the mean the proposed rule has the green light? I'm sure all of this paperwork has a purpose, but since the R&A isn't answering questions about the proposed rule (they're just asking them, as it turns out), I guess we won't know until it's too late. Again, grooves is a difficult and complex subject, but this survey doesn't make it any easier.

BOMB: Maybe we should let the questions speak for themselves. Although if the most common answer to Question 15 is "Don't know," we may have a different problem on our hands. Here's the full survey, including the preamble.

European Tour Player Survey
       
Introduction & Background

Clubs are currently permitted to have V-grooves or U-grooves (also known as ?square? grooves). 

The R&A and USGA have proposed a change to the regulations controlling grooves on the face of irons and wedges.  Extensive research has shown that square grooves used with modern construction golf balls allow a higher level of spin to be maintained when hitting shots from the rough.

The proposed change would make it necessary for clubs to have grooves whose performance characteristics would be similar to V-grooves. 

For the purpose of this survey you will be asked to compare the performance of V-grooves to U-grooves (or ?square?).      

1.    V-grooves make shots from the rough more challenging.  (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

2.    Having to play V-grooves only would make me try to stay in the fairway more than I do today.  (choose one)   
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

3.    Having to play V-grooves would make some of the longer hitters try to stay in the fairway more than they do today.  (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

4.    Square grooves add significantly more control on full wedge shots from the rough.  (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

5.    Square grooves help a lot on short wedge shots around the green. (choose one)         
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

6.    Square grooves help a lot out of the rough on short iron shots. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

7.    Square grooves help a lot out of the rough on mid-iron shots. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

8.    Square grooves help a lot from the fairway on mid-iron shots. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree   
  5=Strongly Disagree

9.    Square grooves help a lot out of the rough on long-iron shots. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree   
  5=Strongly Disagree

10.    Square grooves help a lot from the fairway on long-iron shots. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

11.    Making V-grooves mandatory would make play on the European Tour more challenging.  (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

12.    If it was up to me, I would leave the grooves alone. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

13.    If it was up to me, I would require all irons and wedges to have V-grooves as soon as possible. (choose one)
  1=Strongly Agree
  2=Somewhat Agree
  3=Neither Agree nor Disagree
  4=Somewhat Disagree
  5=Strongly Disagree

14.    How many years have you played on the European Tour?    ___________

15.    Do you use U-grooves or V-grooves in your irons?
  1=U-grooves
  2=V-grooves
  3=A mixture
  4=Don?t know