Groove Survey Results
By Terry Koehler, The Wedge Guy
Terry Koehler has been in the golf industry for over 30 years and currently spends his days as the President of EIDOLON Golf, a small premium wedge company in Victoria, Texas. He's been blogging for over 3 years and has written hundreds of articles ranging from golf tips to equipment issues. His blog will appear on ClubSG twice per week. You can reach Terry to have your golf questions answered at askme@thewedgeguy.com. Three weeks ago, I posted a survey to see how you readers felt about the implementation of the new Rules of Golf as they apply to the changes in the grooves on wedges and irons, which go into effect January 1, 2011. That was triggered by a press release by one small wedge company that stated the company’s decision to continue to make their wedges with current grooves past that date, even though they would be ruled non-conforming by the USGA. The survey was to find out what you guys thought about the rule and what you planned to do about it. The results, to be honest, really surprised me. We had 215 respondents to the survey, and all but one were aware the rules were changing, so that means the USGA and golf press has done a pretty good job of informing us all of this. Of course, it’s been in the golf news for almost two years now. The rest of your responses surprised me. Q. Do you think wedge and iron manufacturers should continue making clubs with the "old" grooves, despite the USGA's ruling? 81% of you said that we should continue making “old” grooves, while only 19% thought we should follow the USGA Rules. That’s pretty interesting to me, as it indicates maybe the USGA isn’t really recognized as the official rule making body for golf. At least not by this group. Q. Would you buy wedges in the future, even though they are sold as "non-conforming" to the USGA Rules? Here again, you guys surprised me, but your answers were consistent with the earlier question. 73% of you said you would, and only 27% said you wouldn’t buy non-conforming wedges. Does that mean there is a demand for openly-marketed “non-conforming” equipment? Hot drivers and balls, pendulum putters, etc.? What do you think? Q. Have you purchased new wedges in the past 12 months to get ahead of the rule? or Q. Are you considering purchasing new wedges in the next three months to take advantage of the availability of more spin? 40% of you have already purchased wedges to get ahead of the rule, and another 55% of you are considering doing so in the next few months. That’s probably why this has been one of the best wedge sales years ever in the industry, and looks like a big fall is ahead as well. Introduction of the NEW EIDOLON Multi-Loft Wedge Line-Up I don’t use this forum to talk about EIDOLON very much, but you all are my loyal readers, and I want you to be the first to know about what we’re up to. By later today or tomorrow, Saturday, October 9, our website will begin offering our new Multi-Loft Line of V-SOLE wedges. The same outstanding V-SOLE technology, high-spinning grooves and custom-build philosophy we’ve always offered, but with a re-aligned array of lofts to allow us even more custom-build flexibility. We’ve replaced our 52 and 56 degree models with a 51, 54 and 57. Complemented at each end by our 48 and 60, we can now craft any combination of lofts from 47 to 61 degrees into a set of scoring tools that fits any golfer perfectly. We never have to alter a head by more than 1 degree, so we can ensure optimum V-SOLE performance, regardless of what your specific set make-up might be. You can read more about the new Multi-Loft line on the site tomorrow – www.eidolongolf.com. And my readers can get $10 off any and all wedges during this introduction. Just use Coupon Code “sg10”. Thanks for your following and support, and I’d like to hear what you all have to say about the survey results and the future for non-conforming equipment. * The Wedge Guy's views and opinions are his own do not necessarily reflect those of SkyGolf.
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[ comments ] careymd says:
Its one thing to talk about the results of a survey, but to promote a wedge company is shameless! 10/11/10
bubbagolf says:
Promoting a wedge line is no big deal. The bigger picture is gathering opinions of amateurs. The USGA and R&A should use different rules for different levels of competition. The Pros and top level amateurs use present rules. Those of us who play "club" golf, weekend golf, etc (Member/Guests, weekly state golf assoc. events), let us play under another set of rules that will allow us to enjoy the game more and help speed up the pace of play. Rule changes I would like to see made are: * Eliminate "stroke and distance" penalty. Play as lateral hazard * If the ball is in a divot in one’s fairway, roll it out. Common sense and integrity here; we know what a divot is and when the lie is going to affect a shot. Same for a ball in one’s fairway or around the green, with mud adhering to the ball; the player should be allowed to clean it off. We are not good enough to hit balls out of divots or with mud on them. Psychologically it's a load w/o the physical attempt of executing the shot *No groove change is 2023 10/11/10
 scottishguyiniowa says:I personally have no issue with Eidolon using this oppurtunity to push their new wedge range thats up to us to decide whether we wish to buy it or not, same as commercials during the Superbowl for example. As for your comment about different levels of rules for different levels of golfers is atypical of local American club golf clubs who seem to make local rules just to suit whoever is on the commitee. The R&A and the USGA make rules for the game of golf which is EVERYONE, if you don't want to play by these rules stick to your 4 balls with your buddies who don't care about playing by the rules of the game and don't play in competition. 10/12/10
boringgolf53 says:
Scottishguyiniowa: Wow, pretty strong words about local American club golf clubs. I am offended. Why would you feel it's necessary to bring in a whole country into the discussion by saying American in the statement. If you don't like local rules that is fine. I feel if the R&a and the USGA make the rules then we should follow them. With that said, there are golfers that aren't as serious as others about the game and just play for fun and exercise. If you don't like the local rules then don't play at that club(s). I do know there are hundreds if not thousands of clubs that have local rules. The last thing I will say is, hope you memorized the rule book so you aren't called out doing something wrong. 10/15/10
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