Will They have to Give Up Their Drivers?

Something interesting has happened in the last few weeks.

The USGA does not label any piece of golf equipment as illegal, but instead calls such equipment “non conforming.” They have tried to set the parameters as golf's governing body so no player would have a distinct advantage with his equipment.

We talked about COR value in a recent article. It has now come up with questions involving the driver used by at least five PGA players.

Without exception, tour players visit the USGA trailer on the tour venue site. In the event they win the tournament, no question would come up as to the equipment they are playing, especially the driver. All winners must submit their club for review of the COR value. Generally a player will not do this once he initially has his club tested. There's no need, since the USGA has already documented it as conforming. But something happened to cause one player and five of his buddies to want their club tested after a 72-hole tournament. It seemed their driver became juiced up during each round. Now it was determined that the club had become non-conforming, or close to it.

Could it be that the face of club was becoming more responsive due to many hits? What was also of concern to the USGA was that it appeared the driver was made by  one company. But the USGA is not going out on a limb. All drivers would now be tested and documented. In addition, these manufacturers were in a frenzy to fix the problem. We will see how that turns out.

What about the club you are currently playing? Chances are you are playing a non-conforming club. How would you know? All tour player equipment goes through rigorous testing to make sure their endorsed player has a driver which conforms, but not so with your driver. Companies are not going to pay the USGA fee to test all clubs. So if you purchased your club off the rack at your pro shop and are curious as to the COR value, you can send it off to the USGA for evaluation. My feeling is if you enjoy your club and you are hitting it well, stick with it. It is a great game isn't it?

If you have questions or comments, please write to me at Dcharn1@sbcglobal.net.