BOMB: Hey partner, hope you’re enjoying your Memorial Day picnic while I’ve been in the office since 6 a.m. But when you work on the weekly, that’s part of the deal. Of course, being in the office has its advantages, too. Like learning that Cleveland Golf’s HiBore XL 10.5-degree right-handed driver is going on the USGA’s nonconforming driver list for exceeding the CT test for spring-like effect. That makes it four now, joining the Nike Sumo2, Callaway Big Bertha 460 13-HT and Cobra HS9 F, 9 degree. For anyone out there with the offending Cleveland club, they have, like the others, instituted a conformance program. The program runs from May 28 through July 15, with information available at clevelandgolf.com or by calling 800-999-6263. And since there are a few of these clubs out there, the phone lines could be busy.

GOUGE: Hey, it’s not all play and no work. I have to respond to you, don't I? Anyway, while not surprised another club has zipped past the speed limit, what people really want to know other than how an 11-year-old kid bagged this sucker is this: Are we freaking done yet? Hate to disappoint you folks, but the answer to that is not until we walk into every Edwin Watts, Golfsmith, Dick's and Golf Galaxy with a CT machine and start removing shrinkwrap. But the bigger issue is what happens at your member-guest when people start looking for the microscopic dot on your Cleveland HiBore XL 10.5? Also disturbing is that these “manufacturing variances” are happening at the biggest and best shops in China that make clubs for almost every large equipment manufacturer. Done? I doubt it. Good luck, Dick Rugge. I’m going back to my ice tea now.

GOUGE: Because Geoff Shackelford deserves to be arrested for incompetence, a clarification: When I mentioned the other day that the Overall Distance Standard had not changed, I was technically incorrect. In truth, it has gotten shorter. In 2003, the USGA changed the equipment used for its golf ball test and the ODS. It also changed the swing speed. Those changes (from 109 mph swingspeed to 120 mph and from a wooden driver to a titanium driver with a coefficient of restitution at the USGA limit) did lead to an increase in the yardage allowed by the ODS, from 296.8 to 320. But that yardage is in fact shorter if you realize that the 11 mph increase in swing speed, plus the increase in COR from .77 of a wood driver to .822 in a titanium driver conservatively account for 30 yards of distance, but the ODS has only increased 23.2 yards. No less an authority than  Frank Thomas acknowledges the rule is a form of control.Maybe not the best. But again, look at numbers: Driving distance is down 4.4 yards from where it was a year ago. If that's not a big deal to you, again, I ask you if driving distance were up 4.4 yards, wouldn't there be outrage. Average courses aren't being ripped up because all us double digit handicappers are making them obsolete with our 225-yard tee shots. But go ahead and believe Shackelford. Why research the truth when you can continue to promote a lie. And for those keeping records, my handicap index has improved. But it still allowed me to shoot 103 yesterday.

GOUGE: A 5-iron. Let me repeat that: A 5-iron. That is what Jack Nicklaus believes some players will hit into the 8th green at Oakmont for this year's U.S. Open. For those who haven't fully checked in yet, the 8th hole will play or has the potential of playing 288 yards. Jack Nicklaus said he thinks 5-iron could be the club some players use this year from that tee marker. First of all, I don't care if they play the hole with a chipper, a baseball bat or a Coke bottle and the field average on the par-3 is 1.087. But Jack is off his meds if he thinks the prevailing club of choice will be 5-iron.

But let's forget that argument because I'm sure Bomb can back me up about how unlikely the field will be firing 5-irons nearly 300 yards. Let's talk about a fair test, and the fact is in this day and age for these players, a 288-yard par 3 is well within reason, no more unrealistic than a 500-yard par 4. If you can't hit it 280 and straight, you're having a tough time making it on the Champions Tour, let alone the PGA Tour, let alone the toughest major of them all. But go ahead, make them all hit 5-irons. And there will be another 5 that will be part of the 8th hole's equation, and that's as in a stroke average of about 5, too.

BOMB: Can Jack Nicklaus be more of a curmudgeon? Seriously. I mean, the man, arguably, knew how to swing the sticks better than anyone. But now he’s simply the king of hyperbole on matters relating to distance. In fact, anyone thinking the club of choice is going to be a 5-iron might enjoy this CD.

But have your back I do. Let me get this straight. A 5-iron? The numeral 5? FIVE????? When Tiger Woods played there last month the number was 3. As in Three. Wood. Geoff Ogilvy responded to a question about the hole by saying, “We don't have driver or 3-wood par 3s, so it's going to be interesting to see how that's going to shape up.” But perhaps the most interesting comments were made by USGA setup man Mike Davis, who I think probably knows a thing or two about what club these boys might be pulling from the bag.

Said Davis, “We thought this distance would really put, you know, 1-irons, 3-woods, even drivers back in the players hands. If we have a few players that just cannot get it there, so be it, because at the end of the U.S. Open, we're looking for the guy that scores the lowest on 72 holes.”

Woods, Ogilvy and Davis talking about drivers, 3-woods, 1-irons and guys who might not reach it at all. A 5-iron, Jack? Pardon me but I don’t think so.

BOMB: I feel sooooooooo dirty. I need a shower. I need to go see my priest and confess. I am, possibly, a cheater.
Now, before my wife reads this and thinks I’m steppin’ out on her, I’m referring to the fact that I took a look at the Cobra HS9 F driver I used for a period last year. A period that included our company match-play event and our annual interoffice Ryder Cup-like Seitz Cup event. I looked at the loft praying I wouldn’t see what I did—9 degrees. The exact club that is now on the USGA’s non-conforming list.
Now, that doesn’t mean the club is over the CT limit for spring-like effect (239 microseconds plus an 18 microsecond tolerance). But I am sending it in to find out. I have to know. Was I cheating or wasn’t I? OK, by the law I was not no matter what the result. The club was on the conforming list at the time and neither Peter Morrice or Ron Kaspriske asked for my club to be checked for CT conformance. Thank god.
The reason for this revelation are two-fold. First, I’m not big on cheaters. Just read the column I wrote on it a few weeks ago . Second, this is just the sort of thing that is going to crop up in the coming months as the member-guest and club championship season get underway. It’s unavoidable. Unless you are an absolute golf junkie and read magazines or blogs or whatever, you don’t know about the clubs that have been ruled nonconforming. Seriously, go to your club or course this weekend and ask as many people as you can what the last three clubs were to be ruled nonconforming. Not many will know. But some do. And those that do are likely to check bags on the first tee. I know I will. And if I see someone with a driver that has been deemed nonconforming I’m telling him to take it out of the bag or lose the hole. And I’m sure that will be met with a reaction similar to this. Just what we need in golf, right?

GOUGE: Just which one of us is Smokin' Joe Frazier in this situation? But let's face it: there are more than a few roundhouse lefts already being thrown in this whole nonconforming driver business. We both know another manufacturer turned in Nike and Callaway, so you can bet it's safe to assume that the witch hunt is on. And frankly, it's a good thing, because the truth is the industry has gotten dangerous in its flirtations with the upper limits of the CT rule. From two different knowledgeable sources I have heard that it is possible that this problem is bigger than one isolated loft here and one discontinued model there. It is believed by some that there are models of clubs being made where the average Characteristic Time reading for in-store products is 257 —THE AVERAGE. Another said to me not all that long ago, "There but for the grace of God go I." But it's more than that. If CT is going to be regulated by the USGA and its staff in the marketplace, which they seem to be saying they will be doing, I want to know what the CT of the driver I'm buying is. Why should I buy a driver with 239 CT when the one right next to it is 246? Do seven microseconds matter? Not one bit. But that will be the mentality, and consumers will be well within their rights to demand such disclosure. Good luck, though. You have to receive a USGA-approved license to purchase a CT machine, and the USGA doesn't grant those licenses to golf shop owners or equipment editors of major golf publications. The USGA (and let's not forget the R&A, too, because China, where most of these "manufacturing variances" are occuring is within their jurisdiction) is looking for a solution to this problem. I had a long talk with Steve Otto, the R&A's director of research, and it was his belief that the development of certain nonconforming drivers is more tied to manufacturers' not always being acutely aware of the range of manufacturing variances that occur within their designs. He believes everybody is learning about this issue now. Let's hope what's being learned is that the game is still about having the highest respect for the rules, to the point where you will go out of your way to ensure that there is no chance that a rule will be broken. Of course if a rule can't be enforced to 100 percent compliance, is it really a rule at all? I know there aren't plans to bring a CT machine to Golf Digest's intramural Ryder Cup event next fall. Given what you've just revealed, maybe there should be. At this stage, it appears, nothing in golf is more revealing about a man's character than a CT machine.

BOMB: So, Jack Nicklaus is at it again. In a piece written by Gene Wojciechowski for ESPN.com, Nicklaus responded to a question as to what he would do if he had been named golf czar and could change anything he wanted. The answer was as predictable as “Well, if I shoot 65 I can get back in the golf tournament” Nicklaus would say when he was in his 50s and 8 shots back going into the final round.

This time, Jack went after the bats and balls—again. "Equipment," he said. "That would be one thing I would do. I would fix the friggin' equipment."

The olden bear went on: “The problem is this: The difference between what a pro can do with the latest club technology compared to what an amateur can do with it continues to grow wider. Unless golf's two ruling bodies can figure out a way to even things up (a standardized golf ball?), the pros will continue to make courses obsolete and create a bigger disconnect with the amateur players.”

Really? Interesting. I went rummaging through the PGA Tour’s media guide to see what courses are getting obliterated. I didn’t look at any majors other than the Masters because they move around, nor any event without at least 20 years under its belt. That left 35 tournaments. Know how many tournament records have been set since 2000 out of that group? Twelve. Of that group, these are among the architectural “gems” that got whupped up on:

Kapalua
The Hope courses
TPC Scottsdale
Mirasol
Colonial
Cog Hill
Brown Deer Park
Firestone
La Cantera
Annandale
The Vegas courses
East Lake
Seriously, except for Colonial and East Lake, do any of the others really break your heart? Firestone and Cog Hill, maybe. But fact is, the earth didn’t stop. They’re not obsolete.

The record at Riviera has held up since 1985. Westchester since 1982, Doral since 1993 (Furyk tied it in 2000), Bay Hill since 1987, Harbour Town since 1996. Heck, Jack’s own tournament record has stood since Tom Lehman tore it up in 1994. Didn’t hear Jack bellyaching then. And the yardage increases on these courses has been minimal for the most part, if at all.

Driving distance has flatlined. Courses are being lengthened out of ego of those in charge, not out of necessity. It’s time for everyone to shut up and simply enjoy the show these folks put on. It’s not creating a disconnect. It’s not ruining the game. It’s just golf.

GOUGE: Sometimes you have an urge to tell someone to shut the frig up. What would we fix about the equipment, precisely, Jack? Reduce clubhead size? Wouldn't get it done because all my understanding of golf club engineering suggests that a smaller clubhead wouldn't revert to pre-1995 performance levels in terms of on-center hit performance. In other words, they wouldn't make drivers less hot than they currently are with one major exception. They'd be less hot for us choppers who hit it all over the face. Roll the ball back? To what, precisely? The Overall Distance Standard is essentially the same, updated based on clubhead speed and test driver specifications since it was established 30 years ago. Are balls better than they were 30 years ago? But it's not because the longest balls are going longer, it's because the longest balls can be used to hit finesse shots around the green. Thirty years ago those long balls couldn't do that. There is no question that a lot of rancor could have been avoided if the USGA had not allowed metal drivers. But there is no evidence to suggest the game has been critically damaged by technology. Are some courses too short for elite competitions? Sure. Big deal. Is the gap between pro and amateur too friggin' big, to paraphrase Nicklaus? Is the gap between beer league softball and Major League Baseball too big? Hasn't killed participation. Is the gap between Bobby Flay and me grilling turkey burgers on my Char-Broil in the backyard too big? I still do it, and I'm even inspired by him. Are tour players crazy better and super longer than I'll ever be? Sure. But I can still par a hole that they might someday bogey. That's the game. And I'll tell you this: I'm certainly longer than I was 15 years ago. Which makes me no different than Fred Funk. We're playing the same game. They're just better than I am. And because they're better, they need the most extreme examination of those skills. Again, Jack is worried about something that is not a problem.

BOMB: Just so you don’t think that all I do is “product testing,” thought I’d take the change to catch the folks up on some stuff they’ll be seeing in the coming months that, if you looked carefully enough at The Players, you might have picked up on. For starters there was Sergio’s putter—a Yes! Golf prototype mallet called Valerie that is scheduled to hit store shelves in early August. Then there’s Henrik Stenson’s irons, another prototype, this one from Srixon dubbed I-701, that will be out come fall. And Joe Durant’s irons? Cleveland’s new CG Gold model. Not in the bags of anyone this week at Sawgrass but new to the market is Cleveland’s CG12 wedges with a new groove design that shows until the USGA acts on grooves, companies will keep trying to make them better. And speaking of the USGA, another driver finds its way onto the nonconforming list—Cobra’s right-handed HS9 F, 9 degree model. While I’m all for any nonconforming product being hauled out of the hands of players, the fact that two of the drivers recently banned have been one loft of one model seems to speak to the conventional wisdom that all this is not intentional.

GOUGE: All I know is the next time you injure your back it better have something to do with giving a new driver a workout and not because you were out clearing the back 40 with a pickax and weedwhacker. Strange time for trying out the new stuff, but seeing as Phil Mickelson is trying out new people, everything is fair game.
Two things: First on the grooves bit: The deadline for comment from manufacturers on the USGA's proposed rule change on grooves is less than three months away, and I've heard little in the way of specifics on the planned response to the USGA from manufacturers. As a group they do make the point that the rule as proposed would roll back groove performance to pre 1980 playability. Why? Because the golf ball today still spins less than the old balata ball. They say that with less spin to start and a groove configuration that trends toward V-groove (less capacity to channel away moisture), you presumably might have even less spin generated for shots from the rough than in the V-groove/wound balata ball days. Of course, the ball might change to meet this condition.
Second, on the nonconforming business, I'll grant you it's not intentional, because if it were, those over the line would be way over the line and in mass quantities. Nevertheless, I think all parties (USGA included) are finding out things about the pendulum CT test that they didn't know originally. I'm not sure exactly what plan would end the possibility of being over the line, but I don't see a solution that would entirely extinguish the desire to make drivers as hot as possible. And that means someone will be tempted to look the other way at a convenient time. And now that consumers know there is an element of variability in CT among entire lines of drivers, what's to stop them from demanding to know which drivers on their favorite retailer's shelf have the highest CT number?

GOUGE: Bomb's taking this glorious afternoon off to do some product testing, but in the interest of keeping the discussion going, I'll throw a few notes up on the bulletin board to keep the hounds at bay.
First, there's square drivers. While sales have softened, two of the biggest selling drivers continue to be the Callaway FT-i and Nike Sumo2, according to sales reports I've seen. For those keeping track, it's been roughly 100 days since TaylorMade's Mark King suggested square drivers would be done in 90 days. So he was wrong at least on the timeline. We all know Tiger tried one in his Oakmont preparations, and some of us know that more square clubs are on the way, including the Nickent 3DX Square to be unveiled shortly. None of that ensures the survival of the square shape, of course. Increasing moment of inertia as a number is easier with a boxy shape. As a number. The question remains whether increasing moment of inertia as a substantive improvement in performance is necessitated by a boxy shape. Of course the era of substantive improvement based on clubhead technology may be winding down.

Secondly, let's talk about substantive improvement. Lost in the USGA announcement about grooves is a proposal to expand the degrees of freedom in the rules regarding clubhead adjustability. Expect to see very shortly (within a year certainly) a slew of product options that allow a consumer to match heads and shafts together as components and walk right out of the store with a self-built (more or less) driver. Callaway and TaylorMade's clubfitting systems are the foundation, and the rumor that Nike is going that route, as well, means everybody will need to be there soon, if they''re going to compete. One retailer is certain it will dramatically change the landscape of golf shopping. I hope it gets more golfers thinking about their options instead of grabbing a new club off the shelf like it were another can of peas.

Third, Titleist's club design business got a big boost when it lured Dan Stone away from Cleveland Golf. Stone will be the new head of R&D for Titleist clubs, and his sense of inquisitive innovation has been an important element in Cleveland's emergence over the recent past as something a great deal more than a wedge company. Should be fun to see what direction the inventive Stone goes with the traditionally conservative Titleist approach.

Fourth, don't look now but driving distance on tour is down 4.4 yards from where it was this time last year. Statistical quirk? Maybe, but that's not what we'd be saying if it were up 4.4 yards year over year. If maintained, that would be the first drop in driving distance average since 1992 and the largest one-year drop since the tour started doing statistics in 1980. Sure, they could be hitting more 3-woods, I guess. Sure, it's early in the year and the weather hasn't been great. Sure, I think people calling for a rollback should be forced to play in tweed jackets and hobnail shoes. But honestly, why would it go down? Why is the number of 300-yard hitters a third of what it was this time last year? It's perplexing. Maybe the tour is trying to make it look like distance is not a problem anymore by rigging the way they take the statistics. But what can be gained from the tour (which is all about entertainment) by producing evidence that shows your stars aren't hitting it as far? Food for thought. Now go out and join Bomb on the teebox.

BOMB: We know, it’s been a while since we posted. Sorry about that, folks. We’ll try to be better. Sad fact is we have day jobs, too, and are not full-time bloggers.
But nothing like another blathering idiot to get the fingers dancing on the keyboard. Got a phone call this morning from a manufacturer’s rep asking, “Hey, what’s up with the nonconforming Cobra and Cleveland drivers?” I had heard the rumors, but had thought nothing was going to be done—at least this week. So when I told him that, he said, “No, they’re on the nonconforming list! I just read it in Terry McAndrews newsletter.”
I asked him to send me a copy of the piece. And when I saw it, I just shook my head. McAndrew writes, “This past week a couple of other companies joined the growing list of nonconforming drivers. Cobra Golf, via its parent company Acushnet, has seen multiple lofts of its Unlimited SS 370, King Cobra 400 SZ Unlimited, King Cobra Unlimited SS 430, King Cobra Unlimited SZ 440, King Cobra 414 Comp Unlimited and King Cobra 454 Comp Unlimited models added to the USGA list on nonconforming drivers. Also too has Cleveland Golf with its Launcher NC, 460 NC-X and 460 NC-X2.”
Hey Terry, here’s the real news. Those models are sold only in Asia (where COR of .860 is legal until the end of this year). For crying out loud, the NC in the Launcher NC actually stands for non-conforming. And if you actually picked up the phone to call Dick Rugge at the USGA (as I just did a few moments ago), you would know that the Cobra drivers went on the list in August of last year and the Cleveland drivers in September of last year. In fact, the very high majority of clubs on the nonconforming driver list ARE clubs only sold in Asia. No drivers currently marketed in the U.S. by Cleveland or Cobra are on the list. That’s not to say that couldn’t change, but for now it’s simply not true and to report this as “news” is borderline irresponsible.

GOUGE: It’s unfortunate, but it seems the whole industry is caught up in nonconforming hysteria. That’s when misinformation or the slimy residue of obfuscation runs rampant. An example: When the second driver to trip over the CT rule landed, one insider told us, “Listen, boys, this really is small potatoes.” That, friends, was wishful thinking, at least, or a diversionary tactic at best, or maybe as someone much wiser than me once suggested just the kind of lie you tell your prom date well past each other’s bedtime. Manufacturers are doing their best to manufacture right to the limit because, well, there’s no money in making drivers that hit it shorter. And every bit of face tweaking more often than not will help, won’t hurt, when it comes to the search for distance. Not that it matters to you and me. Our inconsistencies overwhelm the technology in most of our clubs. But then that’s not the point when it comes to the rules, is it? We can look long and hard at this question of bifurcation and what we come away with is nothing other than a leap into the moral abyss. How do we decide what rules matter and what don’t? What’s worse is that consumers don’t know and never will know whether manufacturers routinely dance around the CT rule, whether the CT rule is a valid test or whether the USGA matters any more in their golfing lives. There is little doubt that the USGA should matter. There is some doubt that it currently does. That disturbing tendency is not enhanced by false reporting. It only adds to the confusion.