Iron men: New rule change separates pros from joes

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The distance between us and them is about to grow even broader than the yardage gap between an 18-handicapper's poke off the tee and a bomb off the driver of Tiger Woods.

Not like the chasm hadn't been increasing already.

Not only will you not have Tiger's skills, but you won't have the same equipment. (Getty Images)

One of the cool things about golf used to be the ability to occasionally identify with players and their accomplishments. In football and baseball, there's no way for the average fan to relate to the feats on the field. In golf, when Jack Nicklaus used to pull out an 8-iron for a shot from 150 yards, fans knew that from the same position, they might be having a go with a 7-iron.

The average muni-course chop could hit a shot, step back and say, "Trevino couldn't have hit it better." In a titanium era of rocket balls and 175-yard wedge shots, the commonality and connection has grown dim. The game's governing bodies threw another shovel of dirt on the nexus between us and them on Tuesday with the news that the game's two governing bodies and professional tours have agreed to institute a rule change that will separate the public and pros more than ever before.

Frank Thomas, a former technical director at the U.S. Golf Association, was nibbling on a snack on Tuesday at the 90th PGA Championship when the change was broached. He wiped the crumbs from his chin and offered one word.

"Bifurcation," he said.

For the uninitiated, that's a red-letter term that means split and separate, and most assuredly not equal.

Golf's global governing bodies, the USGA and Royal & Ancient, after months of procrastination and consternation, announced that beginning in 2010, players on the professional level can no longer use irons with so-called U-grooves, which allow players to spin the ball out of the rough. It's an attempt to make driving accuracy more meaningful, since in the era of tee-ball bombers, finding the fairway has become little more than an afterthought in many cases.

The intent of the rule is laudable. Whether it goes far enough to reign in the dump-and-chase mindset of the new millennium is debatable. Players will gravitate toward softer-covered balls that allow more spin from the rough and circumvent the intent of the rule entirely. We'll see.

Plenty of traditionalists, tired of watching players win events while missing half the fairways, have backed the rule tweaking in principle, the realization that the change will create another golfing gulf in a game that needs unification, not division.

There are now two sets of rules, for Us and Them.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, the professional tours and golf's major championships have agreed to enforce the new U-groove ban. Moreover, any amateur player who hopes to qualify for the U.S. Open or tour-sanctioned event will have to use the new V-grooved clubs, which will be introduced to the market in the same time frame.

Stay with me. Here's the quirky disconnect.