It's rare, but golf kills. Unfortunately, 69-year-old Hiroshi Tango was struck in the head while playing Los Serranos Country Club in Chino, California, on October 7. He complained of head pain - obviously - and was taken to a local hospital. On Saturday evening, Mr. Tango died from the injuries sustained from the accident.

This is one of those unfathomable incidents for most, but for a friend of mine, was all too real. When we were in high school, a couple of my friends were taking up the game in the wake of the Tiger craze. Just learning, they liked to play a local par 3 course. I would go to get in some short game practice.

The opening hole of the course we patronized was this downhill 80 yard hole. Site of many a hole-in-one-for-a-lot-of-money contests, the tee shot was about a fifty foot drop from the range mat that designated the first tee outside of the fenced-in adjacent mini-golf track.

On this day, though, I was at home (or with my girlfriend, or something).  My buddies played the first hole - making who knows what - when they were making their way to the second tee. They were going to the second tee when out came this horrible scream and thud. My friend Ed had been struck in the head by an errant tee shot that sailed much too far. He got no warning from the goofs up on the tee. Maybe they didn't know what to do or were paralyzed by the fear of a horrible shot.

Either way, Ed was the victim here. He had a massive gash on his head from where the ball struck him. The bleeding was pretty profuse but not unstoppable. He would be ok, but that was probably the nastiest injury I've ever seen playing sports.

We can talk about my head injury another time.

Remember Rebel With A Cause? The James Dean film defining a generation of youth who would give lip back to their parents? I don't, though my equivalent might be The Breakfast Club or Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Either way, the theme is the same: the Man can't hold me down.

Feel Golf, a small OEM with annual sales of about $1 million, feels the same way about their, um, Men - the USGA and the R&A. They have decided to continue selling wedges with grooves conforming to old and new specifications until consumer demand runs out for older grooves.

And some of you thought I was crazy when I suggested earlier in the week that the USGA and R&A are effectively powerless to stop companies like Feel from doing this. 

The case for Feel Golf is easy. Economics, baby. Sales are up for wedges with grooves that mostly won't be sold after December 31, 2010, so why not shake things up and offer the wedges straight to amateurs? It should help their bottom line.

For months now, we have been telling you to stock up on wedges this year because, starting in 2011, manufacturers and retailers will no longer be able to sell equipment that does not conform to the USGA's wedge standard which is now in place for professionals. 

Ok, so I did one post on it - and then re-posted it. And it completely mocked the OEMs for fear mongering in this dire economy, particularly when PGA Tour pros have exhibited almost no difference in how they approach the game despite the new rule.

But, apparently, all of the fear inspired by some OEMs regarding this change over has been working for golf retailer Golfsmith. In a press release sent to me this weekend, they touted a 22% increase in year-over-year sales for wedges. I wonder why.

To make a social reference, it's like the episode of Family Guy where they mock tobacco ads from the 50s with allusions to subliminal messaging.

Buy. Buy wedges. Have you bought new wedges yet?

Rather than imploring you to buy wedges because - let's be serious - you're not good enough to know the groove difference, I wonder what the penalty is to retailers that do horde and sell psuedo-compliant wedges with old grooves in 2011. A slap on the wrist? A loss of contract? I honestly don't know what the penalty is. Since the USGA doesn't really have police authority, it is solely left to the supplier-retailer relationship to keep sales in check.

And what becomes of the secondary market? It's thrived for tickets, why not for wedges? Sure, OEMs can't sell non-conforming wedges to retailers, but what about auctions on eBay? The handle VokeyRules50 might be fishy, but does it break any rule?

Even further, there could develop a sub-black market of niche wedge manufacturers which intentionally don't conform to the Rules of Golf. For amateur players, the rules won't come into play until 2014, but most likely 2024. I find it very hard to believe an enterprising golf club designer hasn't considered cornering the recreational golfing market for the next thirteen years by manufacturing clubs that conform, but can't be sold. If the manufacturer could sell direct to consumers - a la Dell - and not care about having a tour staff, such a market could spring up almost overnight.

Again, what would the penalty be for a company who knowingly refuses to submit their clubs to the USGA for approval? Makers of knock off clubs could have found new life and, perhaps, enter the mainstream.

This is all grand thinking and a lot of mental wandering, but it only seems logical that if there is a gap between the soon-to-be current market and demand, then someone will step in to fill the gap. And, frankly, that may the be most dangerous thing of all to the game.

The TV commercial advertising the Stack & Tilt swing method ends with Dean Wilson - holder of one career PGA Tour win - saying, "You've gotta try this golf swing." Really now? Do I? 

Well, Stack and Tilt has more or less disappeared from the PGA Tour landscape - barring a special week in the opposite-field Turning Stone event - compared to its pinnacle. In just a few short years, the swing method taught by Andy Plummer & Mike Bennett has gone the way of the dinosaur. The technique, which emphasizes concise movement and focusing weight on the front leg, has lost its zeal in most golf circles. Once having a roster of players like Mike Weir and (then promising) Aaron Baddeley, Plummer and Bennett have lost their traction on Tour driving ranges.

Just a few weeks ago, NY Times golf writer Bill Pennington did a piece on Stack & Tilt. His piece was good and even-minded. It was likely orchestrated by the Stack & Tilt PR team as Plummer and Bennett are miffed that newly anointed swing guru Sean Foley preaches some tenets of their method.

In fact, I received a press release from the Stack and Tilt team telling me that Tiger Woods was working with a guy that was teaching their method. The case they were attempting to make is their mojo is being plagiarized by the Canadian flavor of the week. (For his part, Sean Foley has taken shots at pretty much anyone he can. That, too, is behavior I don't appreciate or respect.) The pitch also directed me to the method's website - and what legitimate golf swing has its own site? - telling me about the world rankings of current and former members of their stable before, during and - in many cases - after their stints with Stack & Tilt.

It was an ignorant pitch at best. Plummer & Bennett threw their former players under the bus by using the Official World Golf Ranking. Charted smack talk about Mike Weir is ill-advised, particularly as Weir has been hampered by injuries, but that's no matter for two guys who are desperate to hang onto whatever traction their method has gained in a half dozen years.

The two teachers are denigrated for teaching an unconventional system rather than individual swings. Whether the method works or not is an argument above my pay grade, but the war of words coming from the Stack & Title camp - sometimes in response to fair criticisms - is not.

Plummer and Bennett complain that Foley - among other teachers - rip off portions of their method. Again, their argument doesn't hold water. Stack & Tilt may be a system, but it is a series of swing thoughts and components. Many of them have been taught for decades. That's no matter for guys who are convinced the golf world is out to get them.

Few high-profile disciples of the method still exist. The only one of recent relevance is Charlie Wi as he is playing well in Chicago at the Western Open BMW Championship. Following Friday's round, Wi spent several minutes talking about Stack & Tilt and talking trash about former cult members and Sean Foley.

"All the players know and all the caddies know who all the best teachers are out here. They're really quiet. They don't go around looking for press or anything. But I think that because it is different, other teachers have a tendency to bash them. Maybe they might be one generation ahead of them, but in the end they're not teaching something that is new," Wi said.

He added: "I'm not going to say the person's name, whoever Tiger is working with, you know, he's got Andy and Mike's DVD, his book, and he always calls them asking questions."

It's that kind of shot across the bow, emblematic of the brash arrogance of Plummer and Bennett, that continues to turn people off to the method. If they're not careful, Stack & Tilt will only be talking about in reference to a dump truck disposing of boxes filled with DVDs, books, and magazine clippings.

Only you can prevent forest fires. But a whole lot of things can start one. That's what a California golfer found out on Saturday.

According to the AP, a golfer at Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough, near some rocks. On his recovery shot, the golfer nicked a rock with his backswing, causing a spark, which then lead to a 12 acre fire. 150 firemen were called to the scene!

For you Tom Fazio anti-fans out there, this is one of his tracks. It plays to 7012 yards.

If you're my age (27) or somewhere in the vacinity, (+/- 5 years), then you probably remember Hypercolor. It was a line of clothing that changed colors when heat was applied to the fabric. It was awesome. I had two of them - and there was definitely a picture of me wearing one shown at my wedding. (You will not see it.)

But, the trend kind of faded away, har-har. Now, thanks to Quagmire Golf, it's back!

Quagmire is introducing ColorFusion apparel for next year. It's Hypercolor for golf. And the guys at Quagmire showed off the ColorFusion line at the PGA Show in Vegas after Whistling Straits. Viewing a slideshow from SI, the shirts immediately caught my eye.

For the set that loves their Dockers or thinks cargo shorts are an abomination to the game, they probably won't like this. But to me, it's awesome.

And Robert Garrigus would totally love it. It would transform his swampass from a mess-your-pants-rumor-inducing free for all to a delightful fashion statement.

Get ready for six hour rounds at the US Open in 2015. Chambers Bay is showing us this week in the US Amateur that the 7700 yard test is going to be an awfully long trek - and Phil Keoghan won't be waiting in the scoring trailer.

Sean Martin reports from outside of Tacoma, Washington, that in the opening round of the US Amateur - almost ironically highlighted by a speedy, record setting 62 by 47-year-old Jeff Wilson - twelve players were assessed one stroke pace-of-play penalties. Martin describes a line out the scoring tent at times of player seeking to appeal the penalties.

For the US Amateur, a checkpoint system has been adopted by the USGA to enforce pace of play targets. If players fail to meet them, they are given that one stroke penalty.

With Chambers Bay being a long walk from any set of tees, much less the championship posts, and the course bordering on too difficult, penalties were a possibility.

As a harbinger of what may be to come for Chambers in 2015, Mike Davis was asked in an interview for the USGA website before the 2009 US Open  about bringing the checkpoint system to their three Opens.

His response?

"At the end of the day, if we were concerned about nothing more than improving pace of play at the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open, we would go to that because it absolutely, positively works. We can improve pace of play by probably a half-hour to 40 minutes at the U.S. Open if we did this, but I think it would be so disconcerting to some of the players. I think long-term, you might see this. "

As perhaps further evidence that the Rules of Golf are more complicated than the self-contradictory Catholic Catechism, there is some confusion about the rule that got Juli Inkster disqualified on Saturday evening. The rule is 14-3.

Here's the text of itfrom the USGA.

14-3. Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment
The United States Golf Association (USGA) reserves the right, at any time, to change the Rules relating to artificial devices, unusual equipment and the unusual use of equipment, and make or change the interpretations relating to these Rules.

A player in doubt as to whether use of an item would constitute a breach of Rule 14-3 should consult the USGA.

A manufacturer should submit to the USGA a sample of an item to be manufactured for a ruling as to whether its use during a stipulated round would cause a player to be in breach of Rule 14-3. The sample becomes the property of the USGA for reference purposes. If a manufacturer fails to submit a sample or, having submitted a sample, fails to await a ruling before manufacturing and/or marketing the item, the manufacturer assumes the risk of a ruling that use of the item would be contrary to the Rules.

Except as provided in the Rules, during a stipulated round the player must not use any artificial device or unusual equipment, or use any equipment in an unusual manner:

• a. That might assist him in making a stroke or in his play; or
• b. For the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play; or
• c. That might assist him in gripping the club, except that:
  • (i) plain gloves may be worn;
  • (ii) resin, powder and drying or moisturizing agents may be used; and
  • (iii) a towel or handkerchief may be wrapped around the grip.

But, it wasn't that rule specifically. Rather, it's a decision by the USGA under Rule 14-3, which is decision 10 under rule 14-3.

14-3/10 Use of Training or Swing Aid During Round

Q. During a round, may a player make a stroke or a practice swing using a club with a weighted headcover or "donut" on it, or use any other device designed as a training or swing aid?

A. No. The player would be using an artificial device to assist him in his play in breach of Rule 14-3, but see also Decision 4-4a/7 for use of a weighted training club.