When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
“I jokingly refer to him as the Maytag repairman because he didn’t have much to do"
/Adam Schupak reports that the groove testers aren't having to work too hard:
Read MoreLetter From Saugerties, PING Edition
/Former USGA Executive Director Frank Hannigan writes in to share some background on the PING-USGA feud that became news this week after John Daly and Dean Wilson used 20-year-old "grandfathered" PING wedges in competition.
"Ping did not make a club that conformed that I felt comfortable with, and I wanted to practice and play with a club that I knew I was going to be able to use."
/Cameron Morfit reports on Bob Estes speaking out about John Daly and Dean Wilson using old Ping wedges:
Bob Es
Is This Really Smart Golf?
/Reader Pete Blaisdell confessed that he was the rules official who pointed out the Ping-loophole which Jim McCabe noted today. And like many of you, he takes issue with my view that John Daly and Dean Wilson violate the spirit of the rules by adding otherwise-illegal clubs to their bags.
Read More"I think a lot of guys are going to switch. I know a lot of guys are buying them off eBay."
/Doug Ferguson reports that the PGA Tour has two cheaters in the Sony Open field: John Daly and Dean Wilson. Each is getting around the new groove rule by using old Ping wedges grandfathered in because of a previous USGA settlement agreement with Ping:
Read More"It's not going to affect the way you play."
/Geoff Ogilvy's post-SBS Championship win transcript reads like something spit out by voice recognition software, but we'll make the best of it.
Read MoreKapalua, Day One Groove Comedy
/I've only caught a few minutes of the SBS Championship from Kapalua and it happened to be after Kelly Tilghman and Nick Faldo started talking about grooves. Kelly reported that she was subjected to a USGA briefing in which they were told how driving accuracy has not correlated to money won but armed with less spinny-grooves, the USGA believes players will have to be a lot more accurate off the tee this year if they want to enjoy success.
Faldo went on about how giddy he was at this development, then Frank Nobilo chimed in with some comments about the impact being greater around the greens as Bo Van Pelt was trying to get up and down on No. 8. That was followed by Mark Rolfing's thoughts on how different things will be.
Cut to Angel Cabrera pulling out driver and having a go at the 398-yard par-4 sixth.
"It already seems likely that players who prefer employing heavy spin with their wedges will be changing out those clubs as often as every tournament to get the sharpest grooves possible."
/The groove rule change has players flapping their gums not because they find it that interesting. It just beats answering Tiger questions
Read More"Most of the issues we've had could have been solved by better agronomy. Trust me."
/Thanks to reader Brad for making sure we didn't miss Paul McGinley's insights into grooves and the possible impact of this year's rule change. McGinley is one of the players I'd most trust to offer perceptive reasoning on the change and how it will impact play. Dermot Gilleece does the reporting and features extensive comments from the possible future Ryder Cup captain. Highlights:
Read More"The new standard golf ball has eliminated from the top-notch ranks the mechanical golfer of the past and the skilled shotmaker will now reap his deserved reward"
/I know many of you are tired of hearing about grooves already and you've got nerfs lined up to toss at the television for every announcer declaring a non-spinning shot to be a product of the rule change.
But (A) it beats talking about Tiger and (B) it will be fun to see if the as-advertised impact on skill and power will really happen. It's also fascinating because this is a fairly unprecedented rollback. Oh, and (C) have you seen the field list for Kapalua? Grooves look darn interesting in that context!
GolfDigest.com Groove Discussion, Vol. 2
/More good stuff, especially about 7 minutes in when Paul Goydos starts talking about how "architects have gotten lazy" and how it takes imagination to design short holes that test all kinds of players.
GolfDigest.com Groove Discussion
/Interesting how most of the guys think the groove rule change is a positive for the game, even as they don't see too much of an impact. Nice group assembled by Digest, hope we get to hear more of the discussion.
Read More
