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Golf Equipment Rule Changes - How Will They Affect the Pros?
By Larry Morrow
This year the USGA, United States Golf Association, will implement a new equipment rule change starting January 1, 2010. Several years ago the USGA began to notice that many of the professional players on all three tours, the PGA, the Seniors Tour and the LPGA were beginning to totally disregard the need to actually get the ball in the fairway. The players were starting to just let the driver go as far as it would go and then just hit the ball from the rough.
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The rough had become inconsequential because at the tour level the players could still hit down on the ball with a wedge and hit the green soft and stick it or spin it. So the USGA decided to look into how to make playing from the rough actually still have consequences and after 3 years of research they found that the way to do this was to change the grooves cut into the face of the clubs.
Not all clubs fall into this rule change, just clubs that use 25 degrees or more of loft which is any club greater than a 5 iron, including all wedges. What the rule does in essences is make the grooves have less sharper edges. By decreasing the sharpness on the grooves you now decrease the amount of spin that you can put on the ball, especially coming from the rough. This means that if the players play from the rough they are going to need to get more creative on their approach.
What does the new rule change mean for the PGA players? Well, the full impact is really not known but the immediate consequence is needing to get with their equipment providers and getting fitted for new conforming clubs. For the equipment manufacturers this is going to be a bit time constraining as most years they only need to check the tour players and make minor adjustments. This year all the professionals will be getting new clubs.
This concerns some manufacturers because even the slightest change in clubs may lead to a "trickle down" effect. For example, many players may decided to change balls to try and pick up some of the extra spin that they are losing from the new rules. It can also make the player decide to change other clubs in their bag like the driver or metal woods so many of the equipment manufactures are a bit uneasy about what this means for them.
The players however will be out on the ranges from now until the season begins trying to figure out how this change effects them personally. They will need to learn everything from feel to any yardage gained or loss due to less spin. This year you will most likely see some frustrated players as shots they used to hit and stick now go bouncing off the back of the green. The USGA set out to make golf more competitive on the professional level; it brings the rough back into play and actually makes a wayward tee shot have consequences and forces the players to try and play from the short grass again.
Golfers come in all shapes, sizes and ages. That's what is so great about the sport! Anyone can play! Therefore it is very important to have the proper equipment. As one who has played golf for almost 40 years Larry Morrow understands that one size or set of golf clubs does not necessarily fit all. At Larry's website, http://www.thegolfsetsstore.com , golfers can find the golf set most suitable for their game. Golf sets are available for men, women, and junior golfers. There is even a men's golf set especially made for golfer who suffer from one of golfs most frustrating maladies, the slice. All of the golf sets are made by Wilson, which is a world leader in golf and sports equipment. Larry's blogsite, http://www.thegolfsetsstore.com/blog , is also full of valuable information regarding golf clubs in general. Check it out!
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