When it comes to alternative spikes, there is a thin line between love and hate.

Some golfers swear by them, and others just swear at them.

But there is no denying that non-metal spikes are quietly gaining favor, from the country club level to the top professional players.

On average, more than 40 percent of each field at PGA Tour stops have worn alternative spikes, according to Kelly Elbin, vice president of marketing for Softspikes, Inc.

Softspikes got its start in the summer of 1993 as the first alternative spike company. ``It was a grass-roots push in terms of getting courses to ban metal spikes,'' Elbin said.

Players who wear non-metal spikes include Davis Love III, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Jose Maria Olazabal and Fuzzy Zoeller, to name a few.

``It's a very strong list,'' Elbin said from his office Tuesday. ``It's a real testament to how good our cleats are.''

More importantly, more than 4,000 courses around the world have made it mandatory for players to wear alternative spikes. Locally, that list includes The Golf Club at Jones Creek and Augusta Country Club, Woodside Plantation in Aiken, and the River Club in North Augusta.

``Those numbers will continue to escalate,'' Elbin said. ``The metal spike is for all intents and purposes dead.''

According to Darrell Survey statistics, which track who uses what products on the major professional tours, more than 75 percent of women and 65 to 70 percent of seniors wear the alternative spikes.

At last week's Freeport McDermott Classic in New Orleans, 62 players in the field of 144 were wearing non-metal spikes. So far this year, players wearing non-metal spikes have racked up five wins on the PGA Tour and 16 out of a possible 35 on the four primary U.S. tours -- PGA, LPGA, Senior PGA and Nike.

However, not all players are ecstatic about the spike revolution.

Three-time Masters champion Gary Player criticized them as ``the biggest junk ever introduced to golf.''

``They make it far worse, far worse,'' he said.

Player said safety concerns are a problem, and actually makes the greens ``waffle'' from the depressions they leave.

``For a club to say it is imperative, they are asking for lawsuits,'' he said.

Two-time Masters winner Tom Watson said he has always slipped in the alternative spikes, and agrees with Player that they sometimes make the greens worse.

``On a very soft green, they actually make it worse,'' Watson said. ``It won't hurt these greens (at Augusta National). These greens are like concrete.''

Augusta National has no official policy on the wearing of spikes. Members may wear whatever they wish on the bentgrass greens, Augusta National director of communications Glenn Greenspan said.

One popular notion is that big hitters don't like the non-metal spikes because of slippage.

Nonsense, said John Daly, who is arguably the game's longest driver.

``I love them,'' he said, noting his spikes are ceramic. ``I played at Pebble Beach in them and didn't slip, and it was pretty wet.''

Daly began wearing them in January, and said he actually slips more when he wears metal spikes.

Still, despite the naysayers, Elbin said the sheer number of professionals who wear them is testament to their performance.

``It's been tremendous,'' he said. ``The growth and acceptance on tour is more than we expected.''

More recently, the trend got a boost when Foot-Joy announced, effective April 1, it would include Softspikes as original equipment in all its products. For players who prefer metal spikes, they have to be special ordered. Foot-Joy is the leading manufacturer of golf shoes.

And the United States Golf Association will hold four of its 13 championships this summer on courses that ban metal spikes.

``It's a real testament to the performance of our cleats,'' Elbin said. ``It's an original idea -- greens without any spike marks. For tour players, one thing is performance in terms of traction. Two is comfort. They walk for a living. Once they can feel performance and traction they get from our cleats, I think they are hard-pressed to go back.''