"I question whether we can ever really be confrontational with the USGA."

In their Golf World recap of the USGA and R&A groove announcement, E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura review the story and offer this stunning statement from Taylor Made's Benoit Vincent.

 "The USGA cannot be the center of our attention," said Vincent. "For any company now to engage would be a major distraction. Plus you know that the day you start to be really confrontational with the USGA, the next 20 rules they put together are going to feel way harsher. I question whether we can ever really be confrontational with the USGA."

Comments

[thusgone]

this is a little at odds with the portrait of the ruling bodies we usually read from the roll-back crowd. to hear them tell it, the usga, tour and r&a are quaking in their boots due to the manufacturers' constant threat of litigation.

i think the truth is that there is a healthy respect on both sides.

also, i don't believe the groove ruling will affect the manufacturers all that much. mandated obsolescence (even on the glacial timetable set forth in the rule) is a good thing for manufacturers because it leads to players updating to conforming clubs. plus, who's to say that the new grovve rules will mean an end to the 2-minute product lifecycle? the hype machine will work just as well as it does now, and there's always updated badging or weighting or something they can do to drive replacement sales after everyone has the first generation of conforming grooved clubs. finally, it may be that the new grooves need a new type of ball, and it's off to the product races again.

[Raider Fan]

If Obama can take on the Clintons and win then the equipment companies can take on the USGA.

I don't get the point. Is the USGA trying to ruin the lives of the equipment companies? I guess I am old fashion and feel they are still upholding the integrity of the game.

[86general]

I'm thinking that additional details would make this surprising comment by the Titleist guy more understandable.

My impression was that the case of the Ping lawsuit over grooves, the USGA and PGA Tour had some problems. They had no proof in their studies that the grooves were actually doing what the tour and USGA claimed, and there was a dispute as to the method of measurement of the grooves--Ping was basically saying the USGA was using a rubber ruler.

In this case, the USGA is brilliantly armed in terms of the science, and they have made the rule change very judiciously, and openly, inviting commentary and input from the equipment companies and any other interested folks long before a decision was made.

I doubt any equipment company would have anything to sue over.

I suspect there is alot more angst on the part of people like J. Solheiam as to what this might mean for future developments in equipment technology.

There is also the very real chance that this groove rule will address the concerns of many different parties in the golf world, harming almost nobody. Again, it's just a chance, because we don't know what's gonna happen until the players start using these clubs.

I don't like the rule for what I'd call "philosophical" reasons, but for practical reasons I love it and hope that perhaps it will end the screaming. Do I think it will? No, I don't. But I can hope.