Golf world abuzz over possible technology ban
By Walter Bagley
SAN FRANCISCO, June 15 (Reuters) - The golf world was
waiting anxiously this week for what could be a momentous
decision -- the United States Golf Association's stance on golf
equipment technology for the next century.
The heads of billion dollar manufacturing companies and
legions of lowly duffers alike were waiting to hear the USGA's
position on the future of clubs and balls made with space-age
materials and inovative engineering techniques -- improvements
that have helped all golfers hit longer and straighter.
The great fear -- for both maufacturers and players -- is
that the USGA, which governs golf in the United States, will
move to ban the giant titanium club heads and super-light
graphite shafts that have undeniably made one of the world's
most difficult games a little easier to play.
Ever since newly elected USGA President F. Morgan (Buzz)
Taylor expressed concerns early this year about modern
technology "threatening the integrity of the game," the makers
and users of the latest hi-tech equipment have been terrified
the USGA will ban their use when the Rules of Golf are revised
for the year 2000 (in conjunction with the Royal and Ancient
Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland).
One of the main reasons for the great consternation is the
fear that the USGA may outlaw clubs, and perhaps balls, that it
has already declared legal, equipment being used by hundreds of
thousands of golfers, many of whom paid high prices to cure
their slices.
The USGA, whose officials have said little about the matter
since Taylor first brought it up in January, has promised to
make an announcement on the subject at this week's U.S. Open at
the Olympic Club here, probably on Wednesday, the day before
the championship begins.
The USGA Executive Committee met here over the weekend to
formalize the organization's position. However, with fierce
opposition already mounting from manufacturers like Callaway
Golf Inc. and Fortune Brands Inc.'s Titleist division -- and
amid the growing dismay of the people who use the equipment --
there was speculation that the USGA may adopt a go-slow
approach to the thorny issue.
Faced with huge antitrust lawsuits by companies with very
deep pockets, the USGA, a non-profit organization of
volunteers, may opt to negotiate, although Taylor insists the
issue is a matter of principle.
Taylor, it should be noted, once headed the company that
made Polara golf balls -- which the USGA declared illegal
because the ball tended to correct hooked or sliced shots.
Taylor did not appeal the decision.
According to Golf World magazine, Taylor became alarmed
about the advances in club technology when he learned that a
subsidiary of Bridgestone of Japan, which makes golf balls, had
obtained a patent on a driver that imparted a "trampoline
effect" when it struck a golf ball.
Such a club would be in violation of Appendex II Rule 4-1e
of the Rules of Golf, which says a club face "shall not have
the effect at impact of a spring." (The USGA does not have the
authority to test or regulate clubs made in Japan.)
Armed with that information, the USGA began testing some of
the exotic materials that have found their way into many golf
clubs, especially titanium, a metal that is both hard and
light. The tests consist of using an air gun to fire balls at
metal discs of varying thicknesses to see if there is a
"spring" effect.
According to some media reports, the tests have shown such
an effect. But the USGA has not released results of its testing
and manufacturers insist that metal cannot bend and bounce back
when it strikes a golf ball.
Even the USGA's testing method has come under fire, with
critics saying that shooting a golf ball with a high-powered
air gun is simply not the same as striking a ball with a club.
However, all arguments -- some of which have begun to get
acrimonious -- are moot until the USGA annouces its position,
and the notoriously conservative organization just might take a
cautious approach and not ban any existing equipment, just set
guidelines for the future.
The titans of titanium and their legions of believers will
just have to wait a little longer to see if the USGA is going
to take the fun away.
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REUTERS
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