Steve McCracken, the senior executive vice president of Callaway Golf, understands the proposal is an attempt to change the way the world's premiere pros play the game, but he and other industry executives say it will raise costs by perhaps 10 percent and lower durability and performance on clubs for all players.

"All data clearly indicates that the best players (PGA Tour pros) are spinning the ball more with iron shots out of the rough," McCracken says. "What's left is a philosophical decision: Do you need a new rule?"

The USGA says a change is needed because volumes of statistics show there's little correlation between driving the ball in the fairway and winning golf tournaments. It says the game at the premium level has become more power than finesse; that improvements in irons have diminished the penalty of hitting a ball in the rough.

Some of McCracken's competitors — John Solheim of Ping and Benoit Vincent of TaylorMade — say the price that will be paid for the change will be too high for the magnitude of the problem.

"We hear that with every other rules proposal we make," says Dick Rugge, the USGA's senior technical director. "That's a constant theme."

Vincent, who is TaylorMade's chief technical officer, says the proposal affects "one little corner of golf," but if it becomes law, "it will affect every corner of golf, from the 40-yard pitch shot out of the fairway to wedge shots out of the rough."

Solheim, the CEO of Ping, says, "They're trying to bring us back to V-grooves."

There are two types of grooves for an iron: one shaped like a V; another like a U.

V-grooves go back to the era when irons were forged from a piece of steel; the more modern U grooves are on irons made by casting molten metal into a mold.

The proposal does not ban U-grooves, but it does require them to be limited in width or depth so they do not impart more spin on a ball than a club with a V-groove.

To Solheim that means a return to V-grooves, because he doubts clubs can be cast to the "aerospace specs" that would be required.

"No doubt we'd have to redesign every groove," he says, echoing Vincent's opinion.

Grooves might have to be milled into the face and then buffed to meet the USGA's guidelines. Solheim says that would add another expense to the manufacturing process.

Vincent estimates the changes could add 10 percent to the suggested retail of TaylorMade's premium irons, priced at $1,299 for a set of eight.

Further, Solheim says, the manufacturing process might require softer metal, which would degrade quicker and limit durability.

If adopted, the rules will take effect for elite players on Jan. 1, 2009, for everyone else Jan. 1, 2010. And even though there will be a 10-year grace period, Solheim says manufacturers are unlikely to make any clubs with the non-conforming grooves since they have to make conforming clubs for the pros.

The USGA will accept comments from manufacturers and the public until Aug. 1.