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The piece was about how the United States Golf Association might soon outlaw new clubs with U-shape grooves in favor of the old V-shape. As I understand it, based on looking at a cross-section diagram, where the V-shape groove is as a diamond might cut it, a wedge, a U-shape groove is as a chisel might cut it, a trench. As one might imagine, the U-shape allows skillful players to put spin on the ball even when hitting out of the heavy grass of the rough, which has allowed the top pros to bomb away with their new big-head drivers with impunity.
All right, enough golf. What’s remarkable here is a top sports executive using statistical analysis to dictate how trends are going and how the sport needs to be tweaked to maintain its purity. Imagine if baseball had looked at the rising home-run statistics of the 90s and said, “Hey, we need to look into whether the balls–or the players–are juiced.” Instead, baseball turned a blind eye to the entire phenomenon. If Bud Selig were running the PGA Tour, he’d say fans love the long ball and let’s ignore whether technology is changing the game.
