{"id":938,"date":"2012-03-24T22:22:49","date_gmt":"2012-03-24T22:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jaystuller.com\/?p=938"},"modified":"2013-05-10T18:14:39","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T18:14:39","slug":"check-those-spikes-and-pick-up-your-damn-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/golf\/equipment\/938\/check-those-spikes-and-pick-up-your-damn-feet","title":{"rendered":"Check Those Spikes And Pick Up Your Damn Feet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Small nubs of tread, such as in this Ecco Street Premier, may be the future for healthy putting surfaces.<\/p><\/div>\n

The crunch of metal spikes on a pro shop\u2019s concrete porch was once one of the coolest sounds in golf, right up with a ball plunking into a cup. But when soft spikes emerged in the 1990s, players and courses quickly embraced the footwear evolution. \u00a0Decidedly easier on the feet, shoes with plastic spikes also provided good traction and better still, didn\u2019t tear up putting surfaces.<\/p>\n

Courses around the world banned metal spikes and as The Daily Show\u2019s<\/em> John Hodgman would say, \u201cYou\u2019re welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem, however, has not remained solved.\u00a0 Damage from a new generation of soft spikes is a troublesome issue for superintendents, green committees and players forced to roll putts over a green that looks as if it\u2019s just been hit by a John Deere 714 Mulch-Master.\u00a0Says Marin Country Club<\/a> Superintendent Kevin Pryseski, \u201cI never thought that I would look back and long for metal spikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the old-style shoe had only about 12 points that made contact with the ground. \u00a0While it killed grass, the damage was limited to spike marks.\u00a0 In some new shoes designed to give firm traction to hard-swinging golfers, each individual \u201csoft spike\u201d may have up to 8 hard points.\u00a0 Although the soft spikes don\u2019t kill as much turf, they can leave a scuff mark up to an inch wide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese rototillers,\u201d says Pryseski, \u201chave gone too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a recent communication with Marin\u2019s members – – the club is about 35 miles north of San Francisco – – Pryseski published a link to a John Reitman article from Turfnet.com<\/em>, in which superintendents discussed the damage and remedies, including the cost of re-rolling greens during the day. \u00a0(http:\/\/turfnet.com\/view_news.php?obj_id=953<\/a>) <\/strong>According to several of Reitman\u2019s sources, the major cause behind the soft spike destruction is golfers who drag their feet.\u00a0 One superintendent rather un-gallantly blamed women.\u00a0 Others blamed seniors.\u00a0 And juniors.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen fat guys and healthy young men drag their feet, a no-no on greens that has nothing to do with one\u2019s age, gender or condition.<\/p>\n

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Marin CC Superintendent Kevin Pryseski.<\/p><\/div>\n

While some courses have banned the more aggressive plastic spikes, most course operators are reluctant to engage in policing footwear. \u00a0Pryseski, who clearly understands the power of positive reinforcement, makes it a point to stop and personally compliment golfers who are wearing Ecco Street Premier shoes, and other brands with pebbled tread designs. These casual golf shoes leave temporary dents in soft greens, but don\u2019t rip turf.\u00a0 And in print Pryseski has made the suggestion, albeit indirectly, that golfers need to step more carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much you can say to people about picking up their feet,\u201d added a New Jersey-based superintendent in the Turfnet.com story.\u00a0 \u201cSome of our better golfers try to police it internally.\u00a0 I like that; it takes me out of the equation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fashion may ultimately solve the problem as more shoemakers follow Ecco\u2019s lead. \u00a0Callaway<\/a>, Adidas, Puma and Nike, among others, are producing shoes with rounded pebbled treads. What’s more,\u00a0Tiger Woods has been wearing a pair of non-invasive prototypes, although that’s probably more about his Achilles tendon and knees than spike marks.<\/p>\n

Future golfers will never get to experience the distinctive sound of metal spikes clacking in a locker room, which was almost like a starting gun that had players salivating about getting to the first tee. \u00a0In some dimension it’s a loss for the game, but in the here and now it’s a gain healthy greens. \u00a0And if we can get rid of the turf-ripping types of soft spikes, superintendents can keep those healthy putting surfaces playing much more straight and true.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The crunch of metal spikes on a pro shop\u2019s concrete porch was once one of the coolest sounds in golf,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,152652,3,17],"tags":[371754,371983,370960,403,370962,370963,370964,5308,634,53,1246,2387],"class_list":["post-938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-callaway-golf","category-equipment","category-courses-and-travel","tag-the-daily-show","tag-john-hodgman","tag-kevin-pryseski","tag-adidas","tag-john-deere","tag-john-reitman","tag-turfnetcom","tag-marin-country-club","tag-san-francisco","tag-tiger-woods","tag-ecco","tag-callaway"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2012\/03\/ECCO-2010-2011-Golf-Street-Outsole-Detail-Mens1-e1332622053888.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/jaystuller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}