A $1.1 million value, yours for just $69.99: Bomb & Gouge: Golf Digest

A $1.1 million value, yours for just $69.99

Monday, April 27, 2009 Comments

BOMB: Well, it wasn’t quite Bobby Nichols holding off Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to win the 1964 PGA Championship using a putter he bought for five bucks out of a barrel at Louisville's Owl Creek Country Club, but you have to love Jerry Kelly cashing a check for more than $1.1 million at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans using a Cleveland Classic 3 flat stick that he bought for $69.99 at a Nevada Bob’s in Madison, Wis., just before Christmas. Comes from the same family of putters honored in the 2009 Hot List.

Not only is it heartening to see a PGA Tour player actually reach into his pocket once in a while, but it also proves the point that even the price point equipment can, in some instances at least, hold its own in the performance area, too. Of course, going cheap isn’t always going to work. Joe Durant tried out the $23 a dozen Srixon TriSpeed ball this week and didn’t come close to making the cut.

So it leaves me wondering if Kelly just lucked out or the cheap stuff is now nearly as good as the not-so-cheap stuff? I mean, you’re the cheap-is-good guy. What say you?

GOUGE: Well, if you're looking for technological sophistication and engineering dexterity and manufacturing gymnastics, a cast putter with a milled face isn't going to require having a pass key at NASA. So it shouldn't be $300. That said, the skill and diligence to get a putter right can be reflected in any design, regardless of cost. The fact that Jerry Kelly runs through more in the value of his golf balls IN A WEEK than he's spent on his putter for the year shows that spending a lot these days isn't a requirement.

But to me the big takeaway from Kelly's purchase is what happens if this was a wedge and it's a year later? Stay with me, but Kelly clearly isn't the first pro to pick up a club at a local golf shop and put it in his bag. But with the groove rule changes set to go in place next year, aren't we creating a situation where a casual purchase could lead to an accidental disqualification? One of the many discussions that needs to take place is how the groove rule is going to be applied in a practical sense. Will there be microscopes on the first tee? What about the equipment used in Monday qualifiers? What about lesser tours? What about section events and the PGA National Professional Championship? (A section event qualifies you for the National Club Pro and the National Club Pro gets you into the PGA Championship. Can't really have people qualifying for one event using different equipment rules, can you? I don't know. Maybe you can.) And don't give me this nonsense about it's only going to apply to PGA Tour events. It doesn't make much sense to me to have a Monday qualifier event under one set of rules and then force the guy who gets through it to switch to a different set of equipment for Thursday's first round.

I'm guessing we'll have some clarity to this situation in the coming months. I would expect a conforming list of irons and wedges at some point in the near future, just like we have for drivers. But that's only a marginal first step in this process. It's a tiny problem in scope, but within that little world, it's a growing headache for manufacturers and elite golfers alike.