It's Not for Nonconformists

By THOMAS BONK

Aug. 8, 2002 12 AM PT

It’s official. Hot drivers are cold, way cold, so cold that frost is forming on them.

The upshot of this week’s decision by the USGA and the Royal and Ancient to reverse their field and scale back on the standards of what they consider legal golf clubs is this: The major club manufacturers are angry, anyone who bought what they thought was a legal club is going to be angry and everyone else is weary about the whole thing.

In essence, the issue of what constitutes a legal golf club is back to square one, exactly where it was in June 1998 at the U.S. Open when the USGA introduced its plan to limit the so-called springlike, or trampoline effect of thin-faced, technologically advanced drivers.

The R&A; never had any limits, so at the very least, there is agreement between golf’s two rule-setting bodies. That must be good. There are just a lot of problems in the aftermath.

The facts: The coefficient of restitution, or COR, the measurement of the amount of force with which the ball comes off the club, is officially .830, beginning in 2003. On May 9, a proposal by the USGA and R&A; established a higher, .860 limit, for nonskilled players until 2008, but that idea is gone now.

So that means anyone who purchased a “hot” driver can’t use it now, at least if you want to play in a club event or post a handicap or play under USGA rules.

Callaway has a program to take the ERC II driver back and substitute a conforming driver. Plus, the company hedged its bets, anticipated something like this happening and has a conforming club ready to go--the Great Big Bertha II, which is making its debut this week at the PGA Buick Classic.

Meanwhile, TaylorMade, the other heavyweight clobbered by the USGA, is trying to assess the damage, which is considerable. The “hot” R500 driver is now toast. All the money TaylorMade spent in research and development and advertising is similarly toasted.

Assuming that the .860 COR would stand, TaylorMade aggressively shipped the R500 clubs to retailers, who sold thousands. All those clubs are probably going to be returned by golfers wanting their money back--and a new club that conforms. It’s shaping up as a huge financial challenge for TaylorMade, which still hasn’t commented on the USGA-R&A; move or how it will react.

As for Nike Golf and Acushnet, which makes Titleist, they had no problem with the USGA’s new rules, and for good reason. Neither manufactures a nonconforming driver.

In the meantime, the world of golf had better start getting used to the new law in town. No one argues that a worldwide standard is a good thing, but how high or low to set the bar is quite a different story. The USGA insists it needed to step in before technology got out of hand.

However, critics say the USGA’s intentions are based more on instinct and feeling instead of numbers, because scores haven’t changed much in recent years ... although driving distance is up. But you could blame that on the ball. Can’t you just see the fight over that one?

Contrarian

One manufacturer who doesn’t give a darn about the COR limits is Next Technology Golf, which has a magnetic assembly inside the club head of its 360-cubic-centimeter driver and conforms to the USGA guidelines.

Tiger Update

Tiger Woods received a liberal dose of criticism in the media and prompted Martha Burk of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, which is assailing Augusta National about not having women members, to single him out for being wishy-washy.

All of that happened when Woods failed to take a stand on the issue in some remarks he made at the British Open.

This week, Woods clarified what he said and now says he believes that women ought to be members at Augusta National, but he thinks his opinion doesn’t carry much weight.

“Everyone has to understand that Augusta isn’t quick to change things,” Woods said on his Web site, www.tigerwoods.com. “No matter what I or the press say, they do things at their own pace, such as allowing the first black golfer to play or join the club, and won’t buckle to outside pressure.

“Would I like to see women members? Yes, that would be great, but I am only one voice.

“I’m not even a regular member, I’m an honorary member, and it’s going to take a lot more than me, a women’s group or the media for Augusta to change its policy.”

More Tiger

Does this sound like getting your proper rest? Woods and Mark O’Meara played a round at Hazeltine at Chaska, Minn., to prepare for next week’s PGA Championship, then Woods had a 7 a.m. tee time Wednesday in the pro-am at the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich.

Fore ... No, Three

News item: Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems is No. 1 in Golf Digest’s list of CEO Golf Handicap Rankings. McNealy, who carries an 0.3 handicap, says: “There have to be better things to beat up on us for than golf.”

Reaction: Shares of Sun, which were trading for 63.47 in August 2000, closed Wednesday at 3.77.

The Daly News

News item: One of the so-called “game used” items authenticated by the PGA Tour and available on www.eBay.com is a cigarette lighter autographed by John Daly.

Reaction: Presumably the “game used” cupcake wrapper he signed is already gone.

Monty Update

News item: Colin Montgomerie takes a few days off for a boating vacation in Naples, says he feels buoyant, then goes out to try to defend his title at the Volvo Scandinavian Masters.

Reaction: He sinks to a tie for 25th.

Beem Him Up

The quote of the week is from Rich Beem, who won the International last week at Castle Rock, Colo., but had to wait out Steve Lowery’s charge that included an eagle and a double eagle. Beem stood at the back of the 18th green and kept taking off his cap and then putting it back on.

Said Beem: “My hair used to be blond and now I’m sure it’s gray.”

Green Mile

The second quote of the week is from Carol Semple Thompson, 53, whose victory in her singles match clinched an 11-7 Curtis Cup victory for the U.S. over Great Britain/Ireland at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh. Thompson made a 27-foot putt on the 18th hole but wasn’t sure about the precise distance.

Said Thompson: “It looked like a mile.”

Searchlight

Last week’s most-searched athlete on Lycos was Anna Kournikova, followed by soccer star David Beckham, Allen Iverson and Lance Armstrong. Woods was eighth, one place behind Martina Hingis, the girlfriend of Woods’ rival Sergio Garcia.

Good Luck (Not)

News item: Laura Davies wins for the first time in 11 months with a playoff victory at the Norwegian Masters, but not until she encourages nervous and unheralded Ana Larraneta of Spain just before the playoff.

Reaction: Don’t expect to see this any time soon on the PGA Tour.

Young Star

John Bramlett, 14, of Saratoga, Calif., who qualified for the 102nd U.S. Amateur, is the youngest to compete in the event.

Bramlett is eight days younger than James Oh of Lakewood, the previous youngest, who played in 1996. The youngest before that was Bobby Jones in 1916.

Bramlett, 5-feet-6, 135 pounds, will be a freshman at St. Francis High in Mountain View. The U.S. Amateur will be played Aug. 19-25 at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

List News

Pebble Beach tops Golf magazine’s list of “Top 100 You Can Play,” a rating of daily-fee, resort and semi-private courses. Other California courses: Spyglass Hill (sixth), Torrey Pines South (17th), PGA West Stadium Course (29th), Spanish Bay (41st), La Quinta (56th), Lost Canyons at Simi Valley (65th) and Pelican Hill at Newport Coast (91st).

Birdies, Bogeys, Pars

Joanne Carner, who won 43 times on the LPGA Tour, has been named the 2002 Ambassador of Golf, awarded each year for helping the game grow internationally and showing involvement beyond the golf course. Carner, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, will be honored at the NEC Invitational at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.

Billy Barty’s 30th Little People tournament will be played Dec. 6-8 at Landmark Golf Course in Indio. The event benefits the projects of the late Barty, including scholarships, automobile attachments and medical research in the area of dwarfism. Details: (800) 891-4022.

PGA Tour official auctions will offer on www.eBay.com, beginning Friday, a round of golf with Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla. The auction benefits The First Tee, CaP Cure for prostate cancer research and the Tour Wives Assn. for assistance for needy children.

Yahoo’s re-launch of its golf site includes a handicap tracker: www.sports.yahoo.golfserv.com.

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This Week

LPGA TOUR

Women’s British Open

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: Turnberry Golf Club, Alisa Course (6,479 yards, par 72); Turnberry, Scotland.

Purse: $1.5 million. Winner’s share: $225,000.

TV: ESPN (today-Friday, 8-10 a.m.) and Channel 7 (Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-noon).

2001 winner: Se Ri Pak.

Next week: Canadian Women’s Open, Quebec.

PGA TOUR