Illegally soft urethanes at 2024 U.S. Open harm credibility of competition, gambling columnist writes — backing my stance
JEFF RICHGELS | Posted: 1/27/2024, 8:00 AM
The PURPLE HAMMER, left, and Storm PITCH BLACK, right, are the only two balls reported to get soft with use. Photo by Jeff Richgels.
There are a myriad of problems with USBC’s failure to govern the sport by eliminating urethane balls shown to become illegally soft with use.
As I’ve said and written countless times, a legitimate sport must have logical rules and enforce them, or it must change them.
USBC has reported that its studies found that the natural softening to below the minimum hardness of the PURPLE HAMMER and PITCH BLACK don’t matter in performance — a dubious proposition some experts disagre...