As for regular Joes at their local club events, the rule change may have no immediate impact. According to the Notice, "Currently conforming clubs manufactured prior to January 1, 2010 may continue to be used in all situations wherein the Condition of Competition is not in effect until at least 2024. The final decision regarding the ongoing status of these clubs will be reviewed no sooner than 2020. If it is determined at that time (or later) that the rule change should apply to all clubs, there would be a minimum 4-year implementation period."
The rule change represents a dramatic shift from decisions golf's governing bodies made nearly 20 years ago when it was determined that so-called "square grooves" were not a threat to the game.
"There were some research techniques available today at the [USGA] Research and Test Center as far as trying to find how important the U-groove was vs. the V-groove that were only available 20-25 years ago with the expenditure of a huge amount of money," said USGA President Jim Vernon. "We were able to do some things as far as putting together experimental club faces that just weren't available 20-25 years ago. So that enabled us to have a much better grasp of exactly what it was about the grooves and edge sharpness and groove spacing that made them important parameters in generating spin out of the rough."
"This is an acknowledgement that we have a lot more information today and we have a lot more equipment available today that wasn't available anywhere in the world for that matter," said Rugge. "When you have that, you have the ability to make different conclusions, and that's how we got where we are today."
In addition, Rugge said the way the game has been played at the elite level changed over the last 15 years. He has repeatedly pointed to the decrease of the correlation between driving accuracy and success on the PGA Tour money list to the point where it is now near zero today when in the past it was at a level nearly equal to putting.
"I think you look at the equipment and how players today decide to use that equipment and what that means in terms of an impact on some parts of the game that we might think are important," Rains said. "Obviously, we think that driving accuracy has historically been an important part of playing the game well."
More importantly, Rugge points to research that the rule largely will affect elite players overwhelmingly more than average golfers. According to USGA research, average golfers, don't hit greens with their approach shots from the rough with any near the accuracy that elite players do. Also, according to Rugge, two-thirds of the golf balls used by average players are not urethane-covered and thus would not spin enough to see green-holding benefits.
Asked if it weren't true that sometime in the next 15 years, all golfers whether they play on the PGA Tour or the third flight of the club championship would be using less effective equipment, Rugge disagreed.
"Less effective grooves perhaps, but that's a small part of the game and a small part of the reason for the way a club works," he said. "For the average player, it really makes no difference to them today. And [this change] is not going to be noticeable to most players one iota. The reality is what's important here: It doesn't matter off the tee, it doesn't matter off the fairway and unless he's hitting greens out of the rough, which people do very infrequently, the rule change will make no difference."
One company that was at the center of the square grooves debate 20 years ago and filed lawsuits against both the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA Tour is Ping. And initially its reaction sounds just as disenchanted today as it was back then.
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