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USGA conforming equipment

SuperStroke
Benchmade

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I got mixed results in a search here. On a different thread about what is and isnt conforming. Lets get the strait and skinny on this.

Conforming vs illegal
There is equipment out there that is just illegal to play with under the USGA/PGA rules.

Conforming equipment. My understanding is PGA tour players must conform now. Clubs made now must conform. Rec or USGA handicap players are good till 2024.

Right or wrong???
 
Im assuming you are speaking about wedge grooves and not all rules on conforming equipment?
 
I think the grooves debate has had it's day. It seems like the consensus now is that everyone is ok with the new rule. PGA tour players have already swapped their clubs, manufacturers aren't making them any more. Now the rest of us have more than 10 years to find a new set of wedges and let's be honest most of us will get new wedges a lot sooner than that.
 
I thought the groove rules applied to irons and wedges.

But as was said on the similar thread, most of us here will never have to worry about it. :smile:
 
ezrider said:
I got mixed results in a search here. On a different thread about what is and isnt conforming. Lets get the strait and skinny on this.

Conforming vs illegal
There is equipment out there that is just illegal to play with under the USGA/PGA rules.

Conforming equipment. My understanding is PGA tour players must conform now. Clubs made now must conform. Rec or USGA handicap players are good till 2024.

Right or wrong???
Click to expand...

I believe you are correct in the case of grooves only. All other non-conforming equipment can be played by anyone anytime during a casual round of golf. Yet it is illegal to use non-conforming equipment in any USGA and in my case IGA (Idaho Golf Association) sanctioned events with the exception of the grooves rule.
 
the groove rules apply to both irons and wedges. PGA Tour players must observe the ruling. most section events in the US are waiving the rule this year. the USGA has recently ruled that Local Qualifiers for the US Open must observe the groove rule. it was originally noted that the groove rule would only take effect during the actual US Open. now they are implementing it for the entire qualifying process.


as an example....i can compete in the South Texas Section of the PGA with non-conforming grooves but if i enter Local Qualifying for the US Open....I must use conforming grooves.


it is my understanding that each PGA Section can determine whether they are oserving the rule. it is equally UNCLEAR as to when/if they will begin observing the groove rule. year by year perhaps?
 
it applies to all clubs above 25 degree i believe. and yes pga tour players must conform. also you need to realize that even if a club conforms if it is not on the usga's list then it is deemed illegal.
 
provx said:
it applies to all clubs above 25 degree i believe. and yes pga tour players must conform. also you need to realize that even if a club conforms if it is not on the usga's list then it is deemed illegal.
Click to expand...

Right, as a weekend golfer like many here. Playing a set of clubs "on the USGA list" that was made before the ruling "all clubs incl. the putter" Can hold a USGA handicap till 2024. Playing the clubs we own now. Correct ???
 
There is non-conforming clubs that are illegal for any play (tour and us everyday players - everyone) and there are non-conforming clubs that are legal for play (us everyday players) but not on tour (see 2011 PGA groove rule). Confused yet?
 
Last edited:
From Frank Thomas;


PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced Tuesday that the Tour will adopt the new groove rule as a “Condition of Competition,” which means that as of Jan. 1, 2010, Tour players will be required to use irons and wedges with grooves that are approximately 50 percent smaller in volume than the existing grooves – a rollback in equipment performance which is without precedent.

The groove rule change has its roots in the United States Golf Associations’s belief that elite golfers – less than 0.01 percent of the golfing population – are not being penalized enough for drives they hit in the rough. However, there is no evidence that a change to the grooves will resolve the problem, whereas less disruptive alternatives, such as growing the rough higher for the major events, might address the problem more effectively.

Based on PGA Tour stats, the average score per round was 71.5 in 1988 and 71.2 in 2008, during which time driving accuracy increased (from 64 percent in '88 to 69.5 percent in '98) and then decreased, leveling off to about 63 percent since 2005. Driving accuracy is a measure of how many times the golfer hits his ball in the fairway per round. Without any assurance that the problem will be solved, should we not test the proposed solution where the problem seems to exist, before requiring that the manufacturers change their entire production process for all clubs marketed after Jan 2011, affecting all of us?

Unfortunately, the rest of us are going to be detrimentally impacted by this change. Our next set of clubs – if we buy them after Jan. 1, 2011 (the date manufacturers are required to begin shipping products with the new groove configurations) – must have the new grooves, which will not only cost more than clubs with the existing groove specs, but will cause the ball to spin less. If we ever hit that perfect shot from the light rough, using a soft covered ball, it will not stop on the green the way it would with today’s grooves. This reduces the enjoyment of the game, and does not enhance the challenge the game presents. The game is already challenging enough and nobody has ever given up the game because it's too easy.

The USGA rules require that we must abandon our existing clubs by 2024. There is some comfort in knowing we have some time to use our existing clubs, but a little discomfort when we realize that there is no evidence to demonstrate that the change will resolve the problem, specific to the performance of the elite player. We are all being adversely affected even though we are not causing any problem ( if there really is a problem.)

The USGA gets its authority to govern our game through the consent of the governed. We do not go to jail for violating the rules, which we voluntarily adopt, but if a rule doesn’t make intuitive sense to us we may choose to ignore it. The groove rule change is such a rule. It is a travesty, based on the lack of ample justification, the manner in which it was adopted and the isolated problem it is meant to resolve.

The real problem is that if we selectively abide by the Rules of Golf because some don’t make sense or “apply to us”, then the USGA loses its authority. The integrity of the game and the very foundation, on which it is built, is then fractured. This is not good for the game.
Would it not be prudent for the USGA to suggest a “Condition of Competition” for only the elite golfers (PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, European PGA Tour) to determine whether or not the problem has been resolved, without affecting 99 percent of the golfing population? In the interim, we will have a bifurcation of the rules but for less time than the proposed phase in (i.e. until 2024) and the disruption to the game will have been minimal.

Commissioner Finchem made the right decision on Tuesday because it's best if the USGA and PGA Tour agree on the adoption of a rule, but this doesn't mean it's a good rule. It's a very questionable rule, because of the universal disruption and without evidence it's going to solve the problem.
 
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