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
Or the option to play one of three golf balls...report Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson on the latest bizarro proposal from the PING folks in Arizona, hoping to stave off the governing bodies from more regulatory moves.
Peter Stone with the story of Perry Somers, acclaimed Australian hickory golfer, who wanted to use his decrepit old sticks in the Australian PGA this year, but was told they were non-conforming.Courtesy of AP's Doug Ferguson, more of the kinder, gentler Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein talking about the relationship between rulemakers and manufacturers.
The debate between tradition and technology has been around more than a century, and that is not likely to change. Uihlein said he can make an argument "for or against bifurcation" – different equipment rules for pros and amateurs – although that should not be an agenda that any manufacturer could promote.
"We still have a commercial genesis to that thought process," he said. "We can't argue that we have the best interest in the game. We can make that argument, but the fact is we represent the commercial landscape. And so, it doesn't matter how noble our argument is. It's still going to be seen as to some degree commercially prejudiced."
Uihlein said it's up to the R&A and the USGA to not only set the rules, but to assume greater responsibility in the game's future.
"If not, who does?" he said. "There's always going to be that question of whose game is it, and who's responsible for its perpetuation and sustenance."
Granted, it's the Gecko EuroPro Tour, but you have to start somewhere!
Just as Phil Mickelson was seen practicing with a belly putter at this weeks FedEx Cup, Deutsche Bank Championship, the Gecko EuroPro Tour’s director of golf Paul Netherton said “With the anchoring of the putter into a players midriff, we feel this gives a player an unfair advantage over the rest of the competitors in the field, which goes against the ethos and spirit of the game."
Paul went onto say, I have no problem with the development of equipment, especially for amateur golfers to progress and enjoy the game, but I feel at the top of the game the professionals, shouldn’t need gimmicks to compete.”
And they may not stop at the belly anchoring, assuming people play in these events!
How long it will take any of the big tours to follow suit remains to be seen, but at least the second tier tours are moving quickly. Paul Netherton told me the Gecko EuroPro Tour are also contemplating going with one competition ball, and are in talks with a manufacturer at the moment. He sees the situation similar to Formula one where the competing teams all use the same tyre for the season.
...let it be known that I am taking a Wednesday tour of the sexily named "Ball Plant 3" near Fairhaven, Massachusetts, followed by a press conference with Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein and new Chairman Gene Yoon.
To my fellow scribblers attending the presser: if I don't appear at the Bay Club by noon sharp, it means my rants about technology got me sleeping with the future NXT's in a molten pot of Polybutadiene.
However, if I live to tell about it, expect some Tweets and video.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
