their short iron shots, especially their wedges, from
the rough. The view was that as a result, there was
no longer a premium on accuracy and finesse, and
golfers could fearlessly boom their drives. It was
a style of play that came to be known as “bomb
and gouge.” Says R&A head Peter Dawson: “The
research showed without any doubt at all that mod-
ern grooves in iron clubs were capable of spinning
the ball from the rough as much as spinning the
ball from the fairway. So, the controllability from
the rough, or lack of it, was not causing a problem
for players.”
The R&A and USGA felt the correlation between
driving accuracy and success on Tour had disap-
peared and concluded that the new groove rule
would restore some semblance of shotmaking ability.
“The biggest loss of spin (with the new grooves)
occurs from rough in wet conditions. However,
greens hold better when wet. The most challenging
shot (going forward) will be from the rough, to a
tight pin, with firm greens.”
much of a difference. But you have to hit greens
to try and hold them.”
WHAT ARE THE PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN CLUBS WITH NEW, OLD GROOVES?
“Trajectory, for one,” says longtime PGA Tour
pro Brad Faxon. “The ball comes off the club-
face higher with the new grooves, which means
some of us might end up using less-lofted wedges.
Also, the ball does not spin as much with the new
grooves, so we have to allow for greater run-up
onto greens.”
Players will see the greatest disparity with their
highest lofted irons shots out of the rough. “Our
testing has shown there is not much of a differ-
ence in spin out of the fair way with regards to
both launch angle and spin,” says Brian Bazzel,
who heads product creation for irons and wedges
at TaylorMade adidas Golf. “Launch angle goes
up five percent and spin rate goes down an equal
amount. But there are significant differences out of
the rough, with the spin rate declining by as much
as 40 percent while the launch angle increases
roughly 20 percent.”
Titleist found similar results with research it
conducted with PGA Tour players at the company’s
Oceanside Test Facility in California, and at 2009
Tour events. It measured performance differences
between wedges with new and old grooves using
full and partial swings from the rough with 56- and
60-degree wedges. And testers learned that spin
rates dropped from 30 to 50 percent with the new
grooves, launch angles increased by as much as five
degrees (and from seven to 20 percent) and balls
rolled out from nine to 15 feet more once they
landed on the green.
What all that means is that touring pros will
be hitting higher shots out of the rough with
their wedges and short irons. Balls will run out
more, and suck back less. In addition, the new
groove rule will likely lead to the return of the
“flyer” lie.
Adds Titleist wedge designer Bob Vokey: “The
biggest loss of spin (with the new grooves) occurs
from rough in wet conditions. However, greens
hold better when wet. The most challenging shot
(going forward) will be from the rough, to a tight
pin, with firm greens.”
more problematic. They will have to allow for more
release when those shots hit the green. There will
be no such thing as spinning a wedge to a stop
from the longer grass.
WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT
ON GOLF EQUIPMENT MAKERS?
Of course, club makers have had to absorb the
costs of testing and re-engineering their products
as they worked to conform to the rule changes.
They have also had to deal with the confusion
among consumers of having to make and sell
clubs with different specifications — and the
problems that may cause. It seems likely that club
makers will try to make a marketing opportunity
out of the rule change and heavily promote the
sale of “high-spin” wedges in 2010. At the same
time, they will no doubt seek to push the envelope
under the new regs in hopes of wrangling as much
performance from them as possible.
HOW SIGNIFICANT WILL THOSE
CHANGES BE TO THE TOURING PROS?
They will no doubt have a tremendous effect
on wedge play from the rough. Shots from off the
fairway within 100 yards of the green will be much
HOW WILL THE DIFFERENCES
AFFECT AMATEUR GOLFERS?
Elite amateur players will likely struggle with
some of the same issues with wedge shots out of
the rough as the tour pros. But the casual golfer
will probably not notice much of a change. The
vast majority of them don’t put that much spin
on their shots out of the rough. They also tend to
use hard-covered balls that don’t spin much even
in the best of conditions — and certainly not as
much as the urethane-covered balls favored by the
best players that helped create the groove issue
in the first place. And as Dick Rugge, the USGA’s
senior technical director, points out: “Most of us
(casual golfers) don’t hit greens out of the rough
anyway. Time will tell if the rule change will make
WILL EQUIPMENT COMPANIES MAKE ANY CHANGES
TO THE GOLF BALL TO COMPENSATE FOR THE
LACK OF SPIN PRODUCED BY THE NEW GROOVES?
Not likely, because whatever is done to increase
spin out of the rough will also increase spin off the
tee and on approach shots off the fair way, which
could well hamper distance and/or accuracy. Plus,
no equipment maker wants to alter spin characteristics for a type of shot (wedge out of the rough to
a green) that makes up such a small percentage of
those played during a round.
WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT ON GOLF RETAILERS?
While manufacturers may continue to produce
“U” or square-grooved irons through the end of
2010, retailers may sell them for as long as they are
available. They may enjoy a bit of a run in wedges
this year as consumers look to stock up on ones
built under the old regulations. At the same time,
retailers might have to carry more inventory in
their shops to accommodate club sets with just new
grooves and club sets with just grooves. l
