The Young Rascals had a big hit with the song “Groovin'” in the 1960s. Almost 50 years later, a different type of “groovin'” is making a few ripples, at least at some levels of the golf world.
The USGA instituted new golf club groove rules that took effect on the major Tours four years ago. The rules basically geared back the grooves on a conforming club so that the amount of spin generated wouldn’t be so great, particularly out of the rough.
All new clubs submitted to the USGA for approval after Jan. 1, 2010, have had to comply to the new rules, but manufacturers could produce previously approved clubs — and ship them to retailers — through the end of 2010.
But now the second shoe is dropping. After the new groove rules were adopted for the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open — and most of the qualifiers for those events — in 2010, the USGA is implementing the rules for all its amateur championships this year, along with the associated qualifying tournaments.
Meanwhile, though the CGA and CWGA are not adopting the new groove rules for any of their championships at this point, the three HealthOne Colorado Open championships are, starting this year. Players (amateur or pro) who are competing for the overall championship in the Colorado Open (July 24-27), Colorado Women’s Open (Aug. 27-29) or Colorado Senior Open (May 28-30) will be required to use clubs that conform with the new groove rules.
“The tournament committee agreed that this was a good year” to go to the new rules, given the USGA’s timeline, said Kevin Laura, CEO of the Colorado Open Golf Foundation. “And there hasn’t been any pushback from the competitive golf community.”
As is the case with USGA qualifying tournaments, the Colorado Open championships expect compliance through players reading the rules sheets thoroughly. If any issues arise, officials can check lists of complying clubs and take appropriate measures.
As for state and regional golf associations, it is up to them when to implement the new groove rules for tournaments involving what the USGA calls “expert players at the highest level of amateur golf”. Some state and regional associations are adopting the changes for selected state championships this year; others are waiting.
In the case of the CGA, its rules committee decided not to implement any groove-rules changes for 2014 or ’15 championships.
“We don’t want to make people buy new clubs for the Father-Son or the Four-Ball or something like that,” said Alex Crall, the CGA’s manager of rules and competitions. After 2015, “we’ll re-examine it on a year-to-year basis.”
The thinking in not implementing the new groove rules this year or next is that, as time passes, most elite-level players will have gotten a new (and conforming) set of clubs anyway, so eventually going to the new rules will have minimal financial impact for participants.
In the 2013 U.S. Amateur, the USGA reported that 88 percent of the contestants already were using clubs that complied with the new grooves rules.
As for the CWGA, it likewise is keeping the status quo regarding its championships.
“We flight our events and a very small portion of the (field) are elite players,” said Robin Jervey, the soon-departing CWGA executive director. “Because of the wide talent pool we have that plays in (our championships), we’re not doing it.”
But since the CGA and CWGA staffs run Colorado-based USGA qualifying tournaments — and help with the Colorado Open championships — they’ll be dealing with the grooves rules at some events but not others.
That’s a position some players might find themselves in also.
“I’d bet a lot of (elite-level) players have already dealt with it,” possibly by having separate sets of irons or wedges, Jervey said. “They already know about it. But there may be some players (in the slightly higher handicap range) that may occasionally play in a USGA qualifier that may need some education.”
