Backing For Metal Spikes

A top turf specialist has given a vote of support to traditional metal spikes, claiming that the popular new plastic cleats actually do more damage to greens.

During a recent conference of the Association of Golf Club Secretaries in St Andrews, Gordon Child, the immediate past chairman of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Asociation, said that steel spikes did not harm healthy grass whereas the latest evidence suggested that high-grip plastic caused greens to become bumpy.

An American delegate pointed out that there were some 500 court cases pending in the US where golfers were suing for personal injuries they attributed to the enforced wearing of plastic spikes which had made them slip.