Seve to become R&A honorary member

Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros has accepted an invitation by the Royal & Ancient to become an honorary member of the sport’s governing body.

Ballesteros, who won the British Open three times and the US Masters twice hopes to be present at St. Andrews – venue for the 2010 British Open and home of the R&A.

“I am greatly honoured.” Ballesteros said. “I have had, perhaps, the outstanding moment of my career at St Andrews and the town will always retain a very special place close to my heart.

“I sincerely hope that I will be able to come back next year and be part of the 150th anniversary of the Open Championship.”

Ballesteros, currently recuperating after a prolonged battle against a brain tumour, joins an illustrious list of honorary members which includes the Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of York, former American president George Bush Snr and some of golf’s greatest names including Tony Jacklin, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Peter Thomson, Lee Trevino, Roberto De Vicenzo and Tom Watson.

The Return of the Flyer: New Rule on Grooves to curtail Backspin

From 1st January 2010, a new V-groove rule will come into effect which will limit the amount of backspin a player can generate with iron shots from the rough.

The rule will be implemented by three associations – the United States Golf Association (USGA), the Royal & Ancient (R&A) and the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), and has been several years on the drawing board. The rule has been developed to bring back the challenging aspect of playing shots from out of the rough, which Tour officials across the three associations felt was being lost due to players’ ability to stop the ball close to the hole, despite playing from deep rough when missing a fairway.

The change in the rules will affect all iron clubs, but most effected will be the high-lofted clubs and wedges. Currently, most iron clubs have wide U-shape grooves which minimise the effect of grass between the clubhead and ball on impact, in order to ensure the best possible contact.

But while the change in grooves will have little effect on iron shots from fairways, there will be a definite effect on shots played from the rough, says Tiger Woods’ coach, Hank Haney. Haney believes the change will herald the return of the ‘flyer’ – a incidence where enough grass gets between clubhead and ball to prevent sufficient spin being applied, resulting in the ball travelling farther than anticipated.

“When you’re hitting off the fairway, you don’t typically get flyers,” Says Haney. “You can, but you don’t see it too often and especially on the fairways the pros play on because they’re mowed so closely. But when you get in the rough and you get grass between the club and the ball, with less spin possible, all of a sudden that 6-iron you might hit 175 (yards), might now go 200 — 25 yards over the green.”

Haney also believes the rule change will see players switching to a softer ball in order to compensate for the lack of spin; sacrificing distance for accuracy and control.

Several players have already begun to play using irons fitted with the new groove design in order to better prepare for the rule change, although clubmakers will have to work closely with the associations to ensure their grooves conform with the rules. Phil Mickelson has already fallen foul of the regulations after intending to use a prototype set of irons made by Callaway golf at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but was informed by the USGA that the grooves did not meet guidelines laid out by the association.

R&A to review age limits for the Open

In the wake of Tom Watson’s near miss at the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry, the Royal & Ancient are to review the age limit for past Open champions. The limit was reduced from 65 to 60 only two years ago and was designed to allow more players to qualify for the tournament on their merits and to increase the competitiveness of the tournament.

However, while few could have expected 59-year old Watson to be striding onto the 72nd hole as tournament leader, the fact that the last two Open championships have seen players in their 50’s still competing at the top of the leaderboard in the latter stages; in 2008 at Royal Birkdale Greg Norman was 53 when he led that tournament with nine holes to play, suggesting that veteran players can still compete at the top level.

After the drama which transpired at Turnberry, Watson’s appearance at the 2010 Open at St. Andrews would be his last under current age-limits, but had his eight-foot par putt fell then he would have earned himself a 10-year exemption. He could also qualify to compete in the British Open beyond 2010 if he finishes in the top ten at St. Andrews; he wins the 2010 British Senior Open or he qualifies through merit.

In the US, previous Masters champions are awarded lifetime exemptions for the tournament but are encouraged to stop playing when they no longer feel competitive while all three governing bodies of the other three Majors – Augusta National for the US Masters; The USGA for the US Open and the PGA for the US PGA – all issue special invitations each year. However, this is not an approach which would be favoured by the R&A as it could be argued that such invitations dilute the quality of the fields for championships of the quality of the Open and that exemption and qualification is a preferable method.

For Watson, coming so close to Sir Harry Vardon’s record at age 59 is something that no-one can take away from him, and despite being a year older he will be hoping to go one better at St. Andrews next year. He can also take consolation in a huge rankings jump which sees him jump from 1374 to 104th in the placings. Had he won, he would have entered the top 50.

« Previous Page