Groovy

This is a golf blog. A blog about golf. As such I feel it is my duty to not only provide you with the occasional picture of a golfer doing white right, and keep you informed on how to handle goolie emergencies, but to impart information on actual, you know, golf. So here is another in the long a** series of posts. At the end of which you will be ( better? ) informed about an issue that is currently causing ripples in the golf world, even though it effects most of us not one whit. Onward.

 ( Let me just say up front here that illustrations accompany this post. They are supposed to illustrate the issue at hand, not illustrate why I never once considered becoming an artist. I did my best people. Hopefully they are at least good enough for you to understand the issue. )

The USGA recently passed a new rule. In a nut shell what is does is control the cross sectional area of groves on all clubs, except drivers and putters, and limits the sharpness of the groove edges on clubs with a loft of 25 degrees or greater ( basically 5 irons and above ). This new rule goes into effect starting January 1, 2010 for any equipment used to play in the US Open, the US Women’s Open and the US Senior Open, and any of their qualifying events. All of those tours, The European Tour, Augusta National ( The Masters ) and The R&A have announced their support for the rules. Which basically means that any professional player, of either gender and any age, will have to play with clubs that conform to the new rule starting January 1 2010. For all USGA sanctioned amateur events the equipment doesn’t have to conform to the new rule until 2014. As for everyone else, current clubs will be considered as conforming to USGA rules until 2024.

So in plain English with helpful illustrations what does that mean? The faces of all golf clubs ( except putters ) are grooved. In lines that are parallel to the ground when the club face is set to hit the ball. Currently the grooves are shaped like A. With this new rule the grooves on all clubs will have to be shaped like B or C. 

And why did the USGA feel the need to pass this rule? A little history here. Back in the old days golf club heads were forged. Meaning a piece of metal was stamped and pounded into a club head shape. Think a blacksmith making a sword. Sort of. Anyway. Once the club head was done the grooves were etched onto the face. This resulted in grooves that looked like C. At some point ( in the early 1970’s I think ) they started casting the heads. Meaning they created a mold, filled it with metal, waited until it was cool and took it out of the mold. As it turns out it is easier to make a mold with grooves shaped like A, than like C. In 1984 Ping introduced its Eye 2 irons, which had the square groove. They were an immediate hit. However the USGA determined that they didn’t conform to it’s rules based on the shape and spacing of the grooves and the clubs were banned. A legal battle between Ping and the USGA followed which was resolved in the early 1990’s. Ping made some changes to the spacing of the grooves, but the square shape remained. And other manufactures quickly followed with their own square grooved clubs.

And at this point you are saying ‘So what? U or V, a groove is a groove.’ Well as it turns out there is quite a bit of difference between the two when it comes to hitting a golf ball. A square groove allows for much more contact with the ball. See the second set of handy dandy illustrations. And more contact with the ball means it is much easier to put back spin on a ball with a U groove than with a V groove. 

And why does being able to put back spin on a ball matter so much? Because greens are not flat. I know when you watch golf on T.V. they may look flat. But if you have ever played the game you know they are not. They are full of dips and ridges and they slope this way and that. So when you hit onto the green it would be really nice if you could pick a spot, land your ball there, and have it stick. Not roll down a slope, or down into a dip, or fall off a ridge. The way you do this is with backspin. There is an art to backspin. You have to match the amount of back spin to the speed of the green. Also, depending on the shot, you may want to hit the ball with enough back spin that not only does it stop and not go forward, it actually rolls backwards a little.

Backspin is especially important when you are trying to recover from a bad shot. If you land in the rough you need to hit the ball with more force to get it out of the rough. But more force means it will hit the green harder and roll. Maybe even roll right of the green on the other side. But if you can hit with force, and put back spin on the ball you can get it out of the rough, but still have it stop on the green where you want it.  

Putting back spin on a ball requires a great deal of club head speed. It is not something your average golfer can do. It also takes a lot of practice. So with a V groove getting back spin right was something not even every professional got good at, let alone your average weekend golfer. Then along came the U groove and suddenly every pro could put a decent back spin on the ball. As could a lot of non-professionals. This was not universally seen as ‘a good thing’.

The feeling is that if it is so easy to put back spin on a ball with the current groove structure, you aren’t really penalized for a bad shot up to the green. And you should be. A basic premise of golf being that hitting good shots means a low score, and hitting bad shots means a high score. If it is so easy to recover from a bad shot, accuracy and control become less important. Just bomb that drive down the fairway. Don’t worry if it goes left or right into the rough. It’s easy enough to recover from.

The new rule is an attempt to bring back the need for skill and accuracy when driving the ball, and get rid of the ‘grip it and rip it’ mentality that is so prevalent on the tours.

So professional players will need to work more on their driving accuracy, and also work on getting back spin with the new grooves. Of course this is their job. They have the time, and the monetary incentive, to do this.

As for the rest of us. Well for 80% of us it doesn’t matter. We either don’t generate the club head speed necessary for back spin, or never really got the hang of it even with the square grooves. No back spin means U groove or V groove, it’s all the same to us. No effect what-so-ever. The best we can do is hope for wet slow greens, so our ball will hopefully stop within 6 feet of where it lands.

Then there is that last 20%. Which happens to include The Golfer. For them this is a big deal. They generate the club head speed necessary for back spin and have great control with the U grooves. They play in local events where USGA equipment rules apply. Which means as of 2024 they will have to have clubs with the new grooves. Many of them, The Golfer included, learned to apply back spin with the V grooves. So they could do it once upon a time. But with the U grooves it became much easier and they got lazy. It will take a lot of practice to get their back spin back with the V grooves. And unlike the pros, it’s not their job. They don’t have the time or the monetary incentive. So for some of them it means the end of back spin. But not until 2024.

And in this way the USGA inadvertently created their own little ‘golfers stimulus package’. See, those grooves wear down. The Golfer replaces his wedges at least twice a year. But as of January 1 2010 all golf club manufacturers are mandated to stop making clubs with the U grooves. And although players may play with U grooves until 2024, the clubs with those U grooves had to be manufactured BEFORE January 1 2010. So this year The Golfer, and many others like him, will be buying enough wedges with U shaped grooves to get them through 2023. The Golfer figures that means about 20 for him. You might consider buying stock in the major golf manufacturers. Other sports equipment makers may see a drop in sales over the next year, but golf equipment manufactures are going to see a major run up in wedge sales this year.

So there you have it. Information on an actual golf issue. It may be an issue that really doesn’t matter one whit to most of us. But at least I have somewhat retained the right to call this a golf blog.

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