"OK, Tommy, maybe you can answer this one!
How much influence on ball flight, spin etc. does the direction of mowing actually have? If the answer is "not much" then isn't it just an eye candy issue from the point of view of the player?"
Rich:
You did not disappoint---that sure is a stupid question!
How much influence does the direction of cut have on ball flight??
I guess one could safely conclude not much at all since the when in flight the ball is in the air not on the ground.
As far as whether the darker side (into the grain) slows the ball down much during rollout compared to the lighter side (down grain) my feeling is that would be extremely minimal at best.
It really cracked me up a few years ago during the US Senior Open at at Essex (I believe it was) in Boston when some of the pros actually tried to hit their drives down the light half of the fairway thinking they'd get yards more roll. Even Johnny Miller commentating got into it.
So to answer your question about whether the up and back (dark half/light half) is just eye candy, I'd say definitely not. If it can get good players and others to actually think they'll garner significant additional rollout by driving down the light side I'd say it could be considered a pretty good psychological hazard, wouldn't you Richard the Magnificent? If that's what that mow pattern can do it would seem to some it's psychologically effectively narrowed the fairway to about half. And in my book if a mow pattern can accomplish that in the mind (rather slow mind I might add
) of any golfer it's worth doing for that reason alone.
