Repair Guy has been to the PGA Show stretching all the way back to when it was in Miami Beach, FL, which is more then a few years ago. So, it takes quite a bit to impress and well, I wasn't much impressed with the 2012 version. As it has been for awhile, the equipment part of the Show is a fashion industry more so then presenting any new technology that increases ball speed or distance control. Don't blame the manufacturers though, they've scraped up against the USGA's performance limits so what other choice do they have but tinker with the cosmetics?

The PGA Show's Demo Day continues three trends, providing a great avenue for trying out the new clubs on an expansive driving range, throwing industry insiders together for access to lots of scuttlebutt and of course, demonstrating what happens when Northerners forget to apply the sunscreen. The Orange County National Golf Center & Lodge's circular 42 acre range, where Demo Day is conducted, is a perfect venue even with the longish bus ride from the Orange County Convention Center factored in. Starting at one end of the circle, one starts walking and talking and yes, even hitting some golf balls despite not yet having the lunge timed well enough to hit a straight shot.

Each OEM's driving range space has a similar look with clubs stuffed into golf bags to the rear and range balls piled beside multiple hitting areas to the front. That is, each OEM except for PUMA/Cobra, which had a multistory, inflated structure with a facade that resembles golf ball halves. Pretty neat, including the games that were placed inside this structure such as pop-a-shot, craps table, etc... Oh yes, free beer too, until they ran out after going through 7 kegs. Can't blame them for underestimating the thirst for free beer.

So, here is some of what I heard, usually by simply eavesdropping on other's conversations. I can't verify any of this as fact, just the topics about which people were talking either during the Demo Day or during the Show. Adams Golf is for sale and being looked at by Under Armour. Aldila, for the first time since they began exhibiting at the Show, did not have a booth and probably saved themselves around $100,000, Mitsubishi did not have a booth nor did Lamkin, Mitchell Golf is expanding into a complete line of aftermarket shafts and grips, Hireko continues to diversify into assembled OEM clubs but their component business is still doing well, one of the large retailers did an internal study and determined developing and selling in-house brands is not as profitable as assumed once all costs are factored in, it's amazing how successful Ping has been by incorporating the "Ping" look even into very traditional profile irons....well that's not much to pass along but it's better than nothing.

Don't want to sound like a complete cynic. If this was your first time at a PGA Show, you would have been blown away. Seems that attendance by vendors and visitors is still down significantly from 2006, the high-water mark for both categories, but probably up each of the last three years.

I was enjoying the great theatre of the final round of the 2010 Masters telecast when several jarring comments from Ian Baker Finch interrupted. Finch, apparently sensing an opportunity to promote a point of view he thought to be underreported, made several comments while observing Tiger Woods hitting shots.

The first I noticed was when Woods’ overshot the green on a short approach shot from the fairway. Finch commented that he had seen Woods over shoot the greens on at least 10 different occasions and stated it was Woods’ unfamiliarity with the new grooves that was causing the problem!? The fact that Woods’ playing partner, K.J. Choi, immediately also hit his short approach over the green caused no follow-up comment from Finch.

On the next hole, Woods was faced with a short chip shot from just off the green. The ball rolled beyond the hole and Finch again asserted it was the grooves and Woods’ lack of experience playing with them that created the problem. Finch explained that with the new “V” grooves, the ball rolls up the face and takes backspin from the ball. Later, Tiger Woods faced an explosion shot from a green side bunker and the ball rolled past the hole. Finch, reaching the point where it can be fairly said was now beating a dead horse, again explained Wood’s lack of experience with the new grooves had caused the ball to roll beyond the hole.

Here’s the problem with Finch’s statements. They are not correct. One could argue that for Tiger’s first shot, a short approach from the fairway, grass clippings or moisture had gotten between the ball and club face and if Tiger had used box grooves, there would have been some minute increase in back spin….but for the chip shot? No way. There is no difference in back spin between “V” and box grooves. Lastly, for the sand explosion, Ian…listen up…the club face does not make contact with the ball! Come on dude; be a little better prepared for future telecasts.

In the March 1, 2010 issue of GolfWorld magazine, an article was printed under the title “The Innovation Issue” by E Michael Johnson. In the article Mr. Johnson correctly notes that previous forecasts that advances in golf performance technology had reached a ceiling, have been wrong. For example, Johnson noted Dick Rugge, at the time TaylorMade’s product technology manager (now the USGA’s senior technical director) was quoted as saying in 1997; he did not think club heads could get bigger than the 300cc range, which is where the industry had maxed at that time. Of course, soon thereafter, head size stretched well over 400cc.

Other points made in Johnson’s article included statements from industry insiders who claimed cost was a limiting factor to better performance, implying if the consumer could pony up the cash, the industry could provide even better performance. Limits to current material and manufacturing processes were cited as another performance limiting factor but the reader was assured that patience would be rewarded upon the arrival of technology like the fusion of aluminum and titanium that is on the horizon.

In the article, only once was a point made about USGA rule restrictions and then only in passing, “To be certain, there are hurdles. The rules are one. Cost is another.” The rules comment was curiously never revisited when in fact, the USGA rule restrictions make today’s environment on technology and club performance limits very different from previous periods when forecasts of technology and performance limits were in fact, premature.

Once upon a time, the USGA’s distance testing was focused only on the golf ball and to ensure consistency over time, the USGA hit each new ball with the same persimmon driver, despite the industry having left persimmon in the dust as a head material for first stainless steel and then titanium. The USGA eventually caught up with the technology and began enacting rules that have served to stop advances in distance and direction control. True, there is still some room to improve Moment of Inertia (resistance to club head twisting on off-center shots) on irons but extra distance on the driver? Forgetaboutit. The industry can come out with titanium fused to kryptonite but that technology will have to be dialed back to meet the restrictive USGA rules.

Because of the USGA performance restrictions, club manufacturers have been put in a box and the golf club industry has very much become a fashion industry. Club head cosmetics and aesthetics have improved dramatically but real performance advances since the rules have been tightened, meh, not so much.

Getting back to Johnson’s article the difference between today and way back when is, now there are rules in place that limit performance when in the past, no such rules existed. Where real game improvement can be gained is replacing ill fitted golf shafts with new shafts that better fit your swing characteristics and ball flight tendencies. Check with a club fitter to find out how to improve your performance and then check out our broad selection of the latest and greatest graphite and steel shaft offerings.

As we followed televised tournaments in the 1980's & '90s, one of our favorite TV personalities was Bob Rosburg, probably the original roving golf reporter. Rosburg, who unfortunately died earlier this year, frequently spoke the classic line, when observing a player attempting to hit a ball from a tangled lie, "He's got no chance". Rosburg's second most famous line, as he observed the ball fly from trouble, "That ball has nothing but topspin, it's got no backspin at all". Rosburg can be forgiven for speaking the latter untruth because he did not have access to the data to which we currently have access. We now know every shot, no matter how horrible the lie, has backspin except for a ball that is topped.

Today's TV personalities pass along just as many half-truths and fables as they did a quarter of a century ago, despite the proliferation of technical information and high speed images. Just recently, at a televised event, a PGA player was preparing to hit a ball from the fairway, using a 9-iron. The color commentator chimed in with the line, "A year from now he'd have to approach this shot differently when everyone has to use 'V' groves but for now, with the 'U' grooves, he can fire right at the pin". There are a couple of problems with that comment, first, the new USGA rule governing grooves does not mandate the use of 'V' grooves. Box or trapezoidal shaped grooves are still ok as long as they conform to certain other dimensional restrictions (to keep this readable, we won't delve into the minutia of the rule). Again, USGA rules do not mandate only 'V' shaped grooves. Secondly, the USGA undertook the rules change specifically to limit the amount of spin for shots from the rough so the spin for a shot hit from the rough is similar to that of a ball coming off the face of a traditional 'V' groove club. Note the key words in there are "from the rough". The USGA is perfectly happy with spin rates on 'V' and 'U' groove clubs from fairway shots because they are virtually the same! The strategy used by a PGA player to strike a shot from the fairway next year, will be the same strategy employed this year. Where a different approach will be required is shots hit from the rough, but not the fairway.

As you watch televised golf events, if you hear anything that sounds fishy, take it to the comment section and share with us.