It’s Time For Action, Says TaylorMade Chief

As I was about to write this blog, I had a big morning chuckle out of a posting from one of my Facebook friends.

“Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist. While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it! Sincerely, the Opportunist.”

It’s as if that message dropped into my lap considering the subject of this contribution, that being the state of the golf industry, the general consensus that something has to be done to draw new people to the game and the chatter about what should be done actually resulting in very little being done. Read more

It’s Unclear If Solheim’s Ball Proposal Will Fly

When United States Golf Association executive director Mike Davis made like the Three Musketeers with his recent “one for all” statement, it seemed to have implications on a proposal by PING chairman and CEO John Solheim to employ a three-ball system in golf, although Solheim wasn’t mentioned specifically.

You can read James Achenbach’s story in Golfweek about Davis’ comments here.

Solheim’s proposal falls into the growing trend towards bifurcation, or different rules and equipment that would help golfers draw more enjoyment from a game that is failing to draw newcomers. The best in the world would play under one set of equipment rules, while everyone else would play by different equipment standards. Read more

Links: One For All, Resistance To Golf As Business Expense

It would appear that one for all is the theme of the United States Golf Association, which stated recently that it stands solidly in favour of one set of equipment rules for all golfers.

A growing support of bifurcation, meaning elite players would compete under one set of equipment rules while recreational players would use another set of equipment rules, was dealt with by executive director Mike Davis at the recent United States Golf Association annual meeting. Davis endorsed one set of rules for all.

PING chairman and chief executive officer  John Solheim  proposed in December the use of three different categories of golf balls, one identical to the golf balls used today, one that would go shorter and one that would go longer.

Tournaments would have the choice of what type of ball would be played, while recreational players could adjust their handicaps based on what type of ball they used during each round. However, Davis’ recent statement is an apparent roadblock to Solheim’s proposal, even though Davis didn’t specify it.

James Achenbach of Golfweek has been all over this story from the beginning, including here and here, leading up to Davis’ most recent statement here.

In other news, it would appear that efforts to make golf a legitimate tax deduction may run into some resistance. You can read that Vancouver Sun story here.

USGA Rethinks Belly Putters

It’s thought by some to be the hottest trend in golf, but belly putters and the anchoring of a putter have the attention of the United States Golf Association and the R&A in what could certainly become a controversial decision.

Golfweek has the story. You can read it here.

Does Watching Pros Struggle Deter New Players?

Over the past couple of days, I’ve received several e-mails about one of my columns that appeared in Sun Media on Monday.

The column was sparked when defending U.S. Open champ Graeme McDowell predicted that the field would be hard-pressed to reach par next month at Congressional, which apparently will be a bear.

The question I asked in the column is when does the United States Golf Association go too far in its course set-up? Some took that to mean that I proposing that the USGA go easy on the world’s best players, which I wasn’t – the U.S. Open should always be a tough test.

I was talking about going over the top and wondered if seeing the top names in the game struggling to make par is good for the game or actually a deterrent to potential players who may develop a negative image of the game due to degree of difficulty, something the USGA of all groups, should be considering. Read more

Your Thoughts Please …

Mark King, president and CEO of TaylorMade-adidas, has never been shy about voicing his opinion on the challenges that face golf.

His latest call to arms includes the United States Golf Association, PGA of America and some of the top names in the game to endorse a second set of rules for recreational players, an idea that has also been discussed here on GNN in the past.

King got into specifics with Gene Yasuda of Golfweek, who interviewed him at the recently PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

Have a read by clicking here. Then, come back and tell us your thoughts in the Comments box below.

Promotion Takes Priority Over Equipment Rules

The controversy about Phil Mickelson using the Eye 2 wedge is a PGA Tour issue, but it may cause unnecessary concern among golfers across the country.

There is still not a lot of education out there about new groove regulations brought in by the United States Golf Association this year. People might start asking and we’ll have to address if when and if that happens.

As a club manager, I look at it this way. Who does it affect? About five per cent of my members? I think even that number is high. A lot of people don’t even know what kind of grooves they have.

I guess the one concern I have is, from a promotional standpoint, we’re trying to get more people playing the game and, all of a sudden, we’ve got another set of rules that golfers really don’t understand in most cases.

That five per cent of our members that it does affect, we will educate them and they’ll have conforming equipment and we’ll move on.

The other 95 per cent, I want to encourage them to play golf, but we keep changing the rules all the time and it’s confusing, especially when they hear the controversy on tour,

We also had to have rules when rangefinders came out. It’s an evolution of the game and it’s not going to stop because technology’s going to change and manufacturers need to find ways to sell more equipment. It’s a circle of life, so to speak.

I get out of bed every morning because I love what I do and I love telling people what a great sport that golf is and for the ones who grind it out in their shops every day, it’s just one more thing that, for my club anyway, is mostly irrelevant.

These rules are for certain people and that’s fine, but at the end of the day, if I take a list of my priorities when I go to work, such rules are not high on that list.

We need to educate on it because the consumer is going to come in and ask questions due to the confusion. You’re going to have a 15 handicapper walk into your office and ask if he or she is going to have to change grooves.

We’re trying to promote the game, not confuse people. We want more people playing. You want kids grabbing their dad’s old clubs and taking the game up.

It’s time to quit confusing them by always changing the rules about equipment.

Groove Debate Could Cause Unnecessary Consumer Concern

You may recall back in late November, a GNN Poll asked if there should be two completely different sets of equipment rules for competitive and recreational players.

The yes side ruled in that poll, with 65 per cent responding that, indeed, the United States Golf Association and other organizers should go easy on game-improvement clubs for rec players, instead of forcing high handicappers to adhere to rules set aside for elite players.

This is only an opinion, but I don’t imagine that too many people who play golf for the sheer fun of it were overly concerned about the grooves on their wedges with new rules being introduced, at least at the professional level, this year. Read more

Does The USGA Focus Too Much On Pros?

As reported on GNN last week, the United States Golf Association has listened to an appeal from TaylorMade and will go along with the sale of xFT (exchangeable face technology) wedges next year.

It’s all part of the USGA’s new rules on wedges that come into effect on the PGA Tour next year, but allow for the sale of larger U grooves to the general public in 2010. After that, the old grooves will not be allowed for sale.

The xFT wedges allow the faces to be changed with a torque wrench. The USGA had informed TaylorMade that xFT face plates with the large grooves could not be sold next year, prompting the company to file an appeal, saying the exchangeable wedges should be under the same deadlines as whole wedges with the old grooves.

To its credit, the USGA did show some flexibility here, with the prodding of TaylorMade’s technology titan Benoit Vincent, but showdowns between the USGA and manufacturers are common and have resulted in lawsuits and disrespectful treatment of golf icons, among other nastiness, in the past. Read more

TaylorMade’s Back In The Groove

TaylorMade will be allowed to sell its TP xFT (exchangeable face technology) wedges after an appeal to the United States Golf Association last week.

The xFT wedges allow the faces to be changed with a torque wrench. The USGA had informed TaylorMade that xFT face plates with large U grooves could not be sold next year, prompting the company to file an appeal.

While the large grooves will no longer be made or distributed by club manufacturers starting in 2011, they will be for sale in 2010. TaylorMade argued that exchangeable faces should have the same deadline as whole wedges, which can be distributed with the larger grooves in 2010.

Protecting The Game Means Growing The Game

Before writing this blog, I checked the current GNN Poll to double-check that a significant number of people within the Canadian golf industry believe that golf is feeling a decline in participation.

There’s no doubt among GNN readers that the numbers are dropping. The only question to be answered is by how much? Oh, there’s one more question.

What are we doing about it?

The first reaction might be that the numbers are dropping due to the economy or the weather. Affordability for consumers is another issue, but when will the industry turn the mirror towards itself when looking for a cause for the decline in participation, however great it might be?

Golf will never shake its stuffed shirt image until the industry is willing to move quickly to welcome and encourage those just entering the game by making their experiences as enjoyable as possible.

Yet, the game often doesn’t learn from mistakes of the past, despite the urgent need to evolve.

The latest example is a disagreement between the United States Golf Association and TaylorMade over the latter’s planned introduction of the TP wedges with xFT (exchangeable face technology) that allows a face plate to be removed and replaced quickly. Read more