Rugge: "We are criticized, and probably rightfully so for letting technology go too far"

Stephen Edelson in the Asbury Park Press with the admission from USGA technical director Dick Rugge that marks the first time anyone at the USGA has acknowledged that maybe they've gotten something wrong:

"We are criticized, and probably rightfully so, for letting technology go too far over the past 10, 11 years or so," he said. "And I used to be on that side of the fence pushing the technology for TaylorMade. Now my job is to make sure it doesn't grow at the break-neck speed it has been growing at."

Unfortunately, we then get the groove campaign. But hey, it's a start.

So what is Rugge's primary focus right now?

A firestorm continues to rage concerning the golf ball. Many critics feel the one simple way to solve the sport's problems is to reduce the length the ball travels, even if it entails using a "tournament" ball to be played by the best players.

And while Rugge's department is in the final stages of a study on the ball, their primary focus right now involves making it more difficult to drive the ball off the tee.

"People who are relatively short but accurate ought to have as good an opportunity as the guy who is very long and inaccurate, and that isn't the case nowadays," Rugge noted.