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Golf has been a game forthe "Ubber Talented" and then there is the game that the rest of us,95%, know and sometimes love. I am no super talented golfer myself, I CAN driveit further than most and my putting isn't so bad, but like most of you, myweakest point is of course the rest of my short game. I have been devotingcountless hours these past few weeks to the fine art of chipping, pitching,sand work, and flop shots. I must say the results can be amazing, and I canhonestly say that my game has gone down 10 strokes over 18 holes. But how longwill the glory days last? I am confident that a good part of my recent successhas been due to the wedges I have become so fond of using. I have a 52 and 60 Clevelandcg 12 and a 56 cg 14, these utilize the "Zip Groove" system which ofcourse depends the grooves to allow for improved spin and control around tightand nasty lies. And I am sure that most of you out there are familiar with thenew rules change effective at the end of THIS year, you know the one that bansthe sale of all wedges that don't conform to the V grove specifications. Thisof course means that I can no longer buy my favorite wedges or any that fall inthis category, this of course includes the big bertha "Mac Daddy"groove tech and the Mizuno MP milling groove tech and of course our all timefavorite, the Vokey series wedges.

Now, just for somequick clarification, the rule still allows us to use our illigal contrabanditems until 2025, but come one! this date is arbitrary, the grooves on a wedgewill quickly wear down. Most serious players require new wedges every 2-3seasons, and I can notice it's time after a few years. I have had my wedges asidefrom the CG14 for two years now, I would be replacing the gap and lob in a fewmore seasons. I know a lot of you are in this boat already. My question isthis, will you buy your wedges before or after the cutoff date? I noticed in aresponse recently on "Frank Thomas' article that some are even consideringpaying the extra cash ($1200) to stock up on several wedge sets for the nextdecade and change. This would of course be the logical option for those of usenot realling from a recession.

No, two or threeyears from now I will be forced to buy new wedges because my current ones willbe so worn down that even V grooves will look tasty. Another question I wouldlike to propose, if you're like me, and you have put in all this extra timeinto your short game, been able to consistently stop the ball on a dime, understandhow much run will actually occur for each club, and have all the pre-designatedfail safe shots mastered for some time; "Do you worry that you will haveto rediscover your game in a few more years because of this new rule?" NowI don't expect my HC to be in the low single digits by then, but I am hopefulof becoming a strong 10-14 HC due to my short game improvements. This may notworry a lot of hackers, since any ol'e club will due, but for those of us thathave already invested all the blood, sweat, and tears on the practice range,what will become of us? Did the commissioner really think about what was ingolf's best interest? Will this rule change really affect the professional players?In Tiger's own words, most of the pros, himself included don't even use the Ugroove wedges, they have been playing with the V grooves all along. Tiger feltthat the premium spin ball on the market were the real reason why he and allthe others could generate so much back spin in 12 inch rough and out of the Britishpot bunkers. So, either the commissioner was blind to the fact that his rulingwould have NO effect on the pros, or maybe it was just that the higher-ups havebecome too weary of us more skilled weekend warriors. Like the medicalcommunity, allowing a certain number of doctors begin practices each year, thegolfing higher-ups might be trying to limit the average Joe from really hittingthe big times. I understand that the driver and iron play are meaningless foran average golfer who wants to lower his HC, and putting is nice, but it'sreally about the short game. If, for example, 60% of the golfing community isset back 10-20 years in wedge technology, I would bet that overall HCs would goup 5-15 points depending on the armature and of course the willingness topractice. Now, for those who aren't pros and have their HC well established inthe lower single digits, I wouldn't expect a rise at all in your scores. Youare the ones that have seen all the technologies on the market and will have noissue making a switch back to the V grooves.

But like I said,about 3/5 of all golfers in the next 4 years will begin to see a markedincrease in their scores based on the new wedge rules. Those who survive thislatest assault against the average Joe will be the ones willing to bite thebullet and buy new wedges THIS year or early next year. Only weeks of practice anda better understanding will allow those of us, willing to learn : how to play ashort game with less bite and more role, with a little less loft and a littlemore unpredictable trajectories. I know that in the end, my game will be fine,but I really don't want to give into the rules officials EVERY time they decideto change the game. If technology is so bad, then why not ban the super deepcavity back irons? The multi layered golf balls? How about all of our supersized super cored, super moi'd monsters we call Drivers? What about our spaceship looking putters? Don't even get me started on Hybrids! I made a switch toMizuno bladed irons for my own hope of learning better ball striking, but Iwouldn't recommend such a thing for everyone, the technology is out there forthe golfer that doesn't have the time or money to learn to play the game effectively.Golf is a game that is meant to be fun at all skill levels. And by taking awaythe U grooved wedges I feel a little bit of that fun will be lost. Even a beginneron the occasion could hit a close wedge shot like Phil or Tiger, and you knowwhat? Those days are gone, Say goodbye to YOUR short game.