Change back to V-shaped grooves in

irons will favour stroke-makers

FROM THE TIMESONLINE WEBSITE
By JOHN HOPKINS, named Internet Golf Writer of the Year
Changes in the shape and size of the grooves on irons is not a subject guaranteed to cause a buzz at the bar. It is a bit arcane for most golfers. In the world of the pros, however, the change from U-shaped grooves that have been in place for some time back to V-shaped grooves next year is threatening to turn professional golf on its head.
Who says so? Any number of leading players.
Tom Watson touched on the subject a little at Turnberry, forecasting that many of the younger players who have only played with U grooves are going to find the effect V grooves have on shots to be different.
At the Senior Open, Tom Lehman and Greg Norman both emphasised what an improvement in the game the new grooves are likely to be.
"Stroke makers will be back" is the message. Big-hitting without thought will no longer be an advantage because if a ball ends in the rough it will be harder to control the escape shot.
"Andy North said to Tom [Watson] and I when we were playing last week: You two should be out there playing every tournament at the start of next year because it will take from three to six months for these kids to figure out how to play with these new clubs," Norman said.
"V groove clubs will definitely show the difference between a shot-maker and an average power player becasue now you have to think about the shots you're going to hit. Now you've got to think about how hard you've got to hit the ball out of the semi-rough.
"Even at Turnberry, even round here (Sunningdale), the ball will go 30 or 40 yards further than these guys think it will. They will have to make adjustments.
"I know that if I was them I would be playing the last part of the year with the new grooves for 2010, no question, because they are going to make a dramatic change to the game and a great one, too. It is a positive move."
The significance of the grooves is this. When playing out of the rough a player is liable to get grass or water between his ball and the face of his club. Because this limits the purchase his irons have on the ball, this causes fliers when the ball travels 10 or 20 yards further than expected. V grooves cannot prevent this risk; U grooves, being wider than V grooves and differently shaped, can.
Norman said he had heard that Tiger Woods was already practising with clubs with the new grooves. "He's obviously trying to get a jump on it. If I was in Tiger's shoes, or if I was one of the leading players, I would be doing that now. It depends on who is willing to accept it [the changes] and make the adjustments fast enough to do it.
"Every great player has that ability. It's just a matter of getting on it straightaway. They are all great shot-makers. It is just that shot-making now is going to go to another level. now."