"But keep banging your shoe on the table, Khrushchev. I'm sure you'll get your way for a cause that makes just as much sense as his."

Bowell and Gout had me fooled for a minute. They actually posted negative thoughts on the USGA's preposterous concept of regulating grooves to make pros throttle back and therefore, hit the ball less far. GolfDigest.com's finest bloggers make several fine points about the number of problems this will create, particularly on the enforcement end. Great stuff.

And then, that sensitive subject of the golf ball was brought up by a commenter Chuck, and Gout flew into his traditional tizzy.

Here's Chuck:

Yes, you guys are right about these kinds of rules seeming to be incomprehensible to the average golfer.

And yes, you guys are right to worry about the confusing effects of this kind of 'bifrucation' of the rules, in grandfathering older model clubs for 10 years or so.

And yes, you guys continue to miss the boat on coming to the realization that better regulation of golf balls would probably avoid both of the aforementioned problems.
Fix the problems with the golf ball regulations. Period.

Okay, strap in, here's Gouge/Stachura in full-blown Ted Stevens mode, almost as fun as his last meltdown where he said we need to move on stop worrying about protecting Augusta and St. Andrews.

GOUGE responds: Chuck. You are the ultimate one-note song. Changing the ball regulations is a pursuit only justified if you think it important that we keep certain major championship courses relevant. I don't care how far the ball goes. And I'm never going to care until I hit 400-yard drives. At the PGA Championship, there are nine players under par at the shortest major championship course of the year. What do we do? Roll the ball back 10 percent, 15 percent? What does that accomplish other than letting us go to Merion and a bunch of other courses that time has passed by.

Oh boy.

They don't run the Indianapolis 500 on bricks. They shouldn't play major championships on venues that don't demand the ultimate skills from the competitors. But I'm bored by this argument. Roll the ball back. See if it makes you pedantic luddites feel better.

Getting personal! That always makes your case.

I know it won't make a dang bit of difference to anything that happens in the game at the elite level, but you'll feel better and superior.

No, it wouldn't make any impact at all to see guys hit drives and to have courses no longer getting narrower and longer at their own expense. Nah... 

Great. Let's see if we can get everybody to hit it no farther than 285, what does that accomplish? Reduces the game to a second shot exercise, big deal. Take 15 percent off every tee ball? What does that do other than shift the same rank order down 30 or 40 yards? Why, why is that better off? So we can go back to Myopia Hunt? So we don't have to stretch old courses outside their current boundaries, destroying the charm of these layouts? But keep banging your shoe on the table, Khrushchev. I'm sure you'll get your way for a cause that makes just as much sense as his.

Wow, such passion. I wonder if the new logo has anything to do this passion? Is that a paid placement? Or just a happy coincidence?