Best Non Conforming Golf Drivers
I play in a lot of Captains Choice 'best ball' tournaments and I know many of these people in these tournaments cheat which is whatever. They are just for fun.
I'm not the type of person to pencil whip my score and neither is anyone I play with. What I am willing to do however is gain an edge by using a non-conforming ball along with a high COR driver.
Does anyone know where I can find some legit high COR drivers and some non-conforming balls that are long.
Comments
- #2Fasten your seat belt OP /smile.png' alt=':)' />0·Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
- #3First off nonconforming balls are very hard, the equivalent of hitting rocks. Secondly, they will destroy a hi-cor driver face. Hi-cor drivers are not intended for use with nonconforming balls. You should use lower compression balls with hi-cor drivers.
Its your $ & game, do whatever you want to.Driver: Callaway V Series Adj. 10.5*
Driver Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Bassara
Irons: Callaway 2017 Steelhead XR Matrix Ozik F15 graphite 6I - AW
Hybrids: Callaway 2017 Steelhead XR Matrix Ozik F15 graphite #3,#4,#5,#6
Wedges: Titleist Vokey 56* & 60* TT DG S300
Putter: Pro Gear PG100 C-Groove with Lamkin 'Technique' Mid-sized Grip
Grips: Chamois 'Avon' Grips
Ball: Srixon Q-star Tour
Bag: Sun Mountain C130
'Hope is not a solution'! - #4Should be able to pick up the callaway erc 11 it's older but non conformingTaylormade 2017 M1 10.5
Callway x hot 3w
Taylormade 2016 M1 5w
Wilson d100 4-Gw
Nike Engage 52,56,60
Odyssey Crimson Red Putter - #5Isn't the brand Polara still around? As I recall these balls were smaller and thus went further, or so they said.
I found/hit one some years back and I guess they had some additional distance but we're not talking a lot.
As for a non-comforming driver, OP I believe there are companies out there that specialize in shaving down your driver face to increase the distance.
Also, as a quick fix, there was a thread on here where the OP at the time mentioned using PAM cooking spray in his driver face which somehow affected the spin and distance.
My honest suggestion though..
Play honest. I would rather lose honestly than win as a cheat. My personal integrity is worth more than some bogus trophy I really didn't earn or whatever prize might be involved.
Want to get away from the cheats? Enter two-man team scrambles and avoid the others.Callaway Epic with Fujikura 62s in 45.25 set at 12.5*
Taylormade Rbz FW (17*)
Callaway X-Hot Pro 20* Hybrid
Callaway Steelhead 4-PW w/KBS 90s
Titleist Vokey 50*
Titleist Vokey SM-6 56*
Titleist Vokey SM-6 60-08 M
Tad Moore TM-1 35'
Callaway Chrome Soft - edited Apr 3, 2017#6Using non confirming equipment in the best ball tournaments I play in really wouldn't be cheating since I highly doubt anyone is abiding by USGA rules in these drink beer hit it hard tournaments.Isn't there Japanese companies that make high COR drivers?0·Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
- #7Build yourself a potato gun. Golf ball will go about a half mile using Aqua Net as accelerant.Ping G400 LST 8.5 Synergy Proto 65TX
Ping G400 14.5 Tensei Pro Orange 80 TX
Mizuno JPX 919 Tours 3-PW Super Peening Blue X
Vokey SM5 52, 56, 60 DGTI-s400
Cameron Newport 1.5
TP5X/ProV1X
Jones Player 003/ Jones Utility Trouper - edited Apr 3, 2017#8I've got a high cor Titleist 983k, conforming in Japan. Thinking of bringing it back to Canada when I come back for fishing this summer.D - Titleist 915 D3 Tour Ad MJ 6X
15 - Titleist 915 FD Attas G7 6X
18 - Royal Collection SFD X7 Speeder 757X
22 - Mizuno CLK Daimana Thump 90X
3-PW - Mizuno TN87 Modus3 120S
54 - KM Miura
60 - Ping Eye2 XG / Ping Eye2 BECU - #9Just cheat and write a lower score. Less money than cheating and buying non conforming equipment.Former professional golfer. Current amateur human being. Reformed club ho.
In the bag:
PING. Lots of PING. - #10Diamond Tour Golf Felon and Power Play (Hireko) Juggernaut come to mind.. not sure if they're high-COR or just >460cc, but they're non-conforming. DTG has balls too.Cobra King F8+Driver 10.5* Matrix 65M4 Black Tie S
CobraKing F83/4w 14.5* Aldila NV Blue 2KXV S
Cobra King F8 5/6w 17.5* Aldila NV Blue 2KXV S
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Cobra [/font][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]King F8[/font]4h 22* Aldila Rogue Pro 75 S
Cobra Bio Cell +5i - GwTT Dynalite Gold XP S300
Cobra King WideLow56* & 60* TT Dynamic Gold S200
Cleveland TFi 2135 Satin Elevado CBPutter 35' Counterbalance
Ogio OZone Cart Ogio Shredder StandOrlimar Pitch & Putt Stand - #11https://www.amazon.com/Nitro-12-Pack-Non-Conforming-Golf-Balls/dp/B000E9TES6
The first illegal distance ball lol. 'Exceeds usga standards for distance'
There's a bunch of stuff on Amazon. Walmart sells some nitro balls, not sure which ones tho - #12Looks like the Juggernaut is both High-COR and >460cc.. the newer versions even have different version for different swing speeds.Cobra King F8+Driver 10.5* Matrix 65M4 Black Tie S
CobraKing F83/4w 14.5* Aldila NV Blue 2KXV S
Cobra King F8 5/6w 17.5* Aldila NV Blue 2KXV S
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Cobra [/font][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]King F8[/font]4h 22* Aldila Rogue Pro 75 S
Cobra Bio Cell +5i - GwTT Dynalite Gold XP S300
Cobra King WideLow56* & 60* TT Dynamic Gold S200
Cleveland TFi 2135 Satin Elevado CBPutter 35' Counterbalance
Ogio OZone Cart Ogio Shredder StandOrlimar Pitch & Putt Stand - #13Are condor golf balls still around? I used to play in a scramble once a year with a guy who at the time was in his 70's and that's what he used.
- #14
You can find them on Ebay. Search for HI COR drivers, illegal drivers or 860 drivers. All price ranges.
Before some of you go all out and call me a cheater, let me explain why I am looking for these.
I play in a lot of Captains Choice 'best ball' tournaments and I know many of these people in these tournaments cheat which is whatever. They are just for fun.
I'm not the type of person to pencil whip my score and neither is anyone I play with. What I am willing to do however is gain an edge by using a non-conforming ball along with a high COR driver.
Does anyone know where I can find some legit high COR drivers and some non-conforming balls that are long.
To be honest the NC drivers aren't going to magically give you 20-30 yards extra distance even if you use an illegal ball. The .860 drivers on sweet spot hits might be 6-7 yards longer than a conforming driver. - #15
Using non confirming equipment in the best ball tournaments I play in really wouldn't be cheating since I highly doubt anyone is abiding by USGA rules in these drink beer hit it hard tournaments.Isn't there Japanese companies that make high COR drivers?
I've never understood everyone's obsession with whether or not equipment is conforming. It always comes up quickly in any wedge concerning grooves. Almost all golfers on the planet play casual golf where no governing body is involved what so ever. - #16
To be honest the NC drivers aren't going to magically give you 20-30 yards extra distance even if you use an illegal ball. The .860 drivers on sweet spot hits might be 6-7 yards longer than a conforming driver.
I agree - edited Apr 3, 2017#17There is no such thing as a legit high COR drivers and some non-conforming balls that are long. It's like saying if there is such a thing as legal heroin. For non-conforming balls I suggest you try Rogue balls..I bought a doz for my girlfriend as she would like to play from the same tees as I am. These balls are about 2 clubs longer than regular balls. As for high COR drivers, I suggest you go to Ebay and find them, especially ones from Japan and you are more likely to find those.
For those that are curious if I use those balls myself. I did use them for a few holes in the past and haven't used them since as they're rock hard and has the spin characteristics of a beat up range ball.10.5 deg Titleist 905R with stock UST Proforce V2 Shaft
Titleist DCI 990 Irons (3-PW) with stock Dynamic Gold shafts in S300
Taylormade ATV 54 deg & 58 deg wedges with stock KBS shafts
Taylormade V-Steel 5W & 3W with Grafalloy Prolaunch Red shafts
Ping Anser 2 Stainless Steel Putter - #18Oh wow. I never knew that high COR drivers were only 5-10 yards further. Now that I know, I don't even think that is worth it.
- #19
There is no such thing as a legit high COR drivers and some non-conforming balls that are long. It's like saying if there is such a thing as legal heroin. For non-conforming balls I suggest you try Rogue balls..I bought a doz for my girlfriend as she would like to play from the same tees as I am. These balls are about 2 clubs longer than regular balls. As for high COR drivers, I suggest you go to Ebay and find them, especially ones from Japan and you are more likely to find those.
For those that are curious if I use those balls myself. I did use them for a few holes in the past and haven't used them since as they're rock hard and has the spin characteristics of a beat up range ball.
legal heroin----morphinePing G 10.5 Kuro Kage
Ping G 3W
Callaway Apex 3 and 4 hybrids
Taylormade SLDR 5-Gap
Cleveland CBX 54 58
Odyssey White Ice DART - #20
There is no such thing as a legit high COR drivers and some non-conforming balls that are long. It's like saying if there is such a thing as legal heroin. For non-conforming balls I suggest you try Rogue balls..I bought a doz for my girlfriend as she would like to play from the same tees as I am. These balls are about 2 clubs longer than regular balls. As for high COR drivers, I suggest you go to Ebay and find them, especially ones from Japan and you are more likely to find those.
For those that are curious if I use those balls myself. I did use them for a few holes in the past and haven't used them since as they're rock hard and has the spin characteristics of a beat up range ball.
legal heroin----morphine
What the **** do I know..I'm not a DEA agent..10.5 deg Titleist 905R with stock UST Proforce V2 Shaft
Titleist DCI 990 Irons (3-PW) with stock Dynamic Gold shafts in S300
Taylormade ATV 54 deg & 58 deg wedges with stock KBS shafts
Taylormade V-Steel 5W & 3W with Grafalloy Prolaunch Red shafts
Ping Anser 2 Stainless Steel Putter - edited Apr 3, 2017#21
Oh wow. I never knew that high COR drivers were only 5-10 yards further. Now that I know, I don't even think that is worth it.
Yeah..it's not a huge difference..you can squeeze out those extra yards the legal way with a proper driver fitting.10.5 deg Titleist 905R with stock UST Proforce V2 Shaft
Titleist DCI 990 Irons (3-PW) with stock Dynamic Gold shafts in S300
Taylormade ATV 54 deg & 58 deg wedges with stock KBS shafts
Taylormade V-Steel 5W & 3W with Grafalloy Prolaunch Red shafts
Ping Anser 2 Stainless Steel Putter - #22Check out worlds hottest drivers. I sent them a beat up old g30 ls tech and had it shaved to .890 just for fun and to see if it works. It does..but you have to use soft low compression balls like duo. As I understand it, driver shaving was once a common practice on the tour not too long ago. I imagine there are threads on this site about driver shaving.Ping G400 Max 9.5* TPT Golf 16 MKP-MT-SW
Ping G400 14.5* TPT Golf 15 LKP-MT-SW
Ping G400 Hybrid 22* Kuro Kage Silver 80s
Srixon U85 19* Graphite Design Tour AD-95x
Srixon 585 5-P N.S. Pro Modus Tour 105s
Cleveland RTX-4 50, 54, 58 N.S. Pro Modus Wedge 115
Scotty Cameron California Del Mar Custom
Srixon Z-Star XV - #23Check out worlds hottest drivers. I sent them a beat up old g30 ls tech and had it shaved to .890 just for fun and to see if it works. It does..but you have to use soft low compression balls like duo. As I understand it, driver shaving was once a common practice on the tour not too long ago. I imagine there are threads on this site about driver shaving.
Interesting. I have some old drivers I wouldn't mind trying this on. - Kingcat990European Tailored Golf SocksMembersPosts: 3,813✭✭Geotech makes a solid non conformer. Good looking driver. Never used one but the RF800 a spec looks really good and is non conforming.0·Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
- #25I still have my HiCor 975LFE. I can assure you modern drivers are longer.
- #26I still have my Nike Ignite DFI+ Driver from Japan from back in the day. 460cc's carbon top great DEEP face and feels amazing. Never gonna get rid of this guy even though I barely hit it.Cobra F8+ HZRDUS Yellow 75
Cobra F8+ 3/4 Tour Blue 85
Cobra F8+ 5/6 Tour Blue 85
Cobra F9 4H PX6.5
Cobra Tour Forged 5-Pw KBS Flighted 125
Nike Vr Forged 50/54/58 DG
Some form of a Scotty
PLUS A PLETHORA OF NIKE BACKUPS
WITB:http://www.golfwrx.c..date-nike-time/ - No_Catchy_NicknameKyushu,_JapanMembersPosts: 5,186✭✭For new non-conforming drivers, PRGR's egg springs to mind. They make a conforming and non-conforming version. Here are details of the non-conforming one:
https://www.prgr-golf.com/en/product/driver/new16-egg-driver-long.htmlDriver: Ping G400 Tour 65S
4w: TaylorMade R9 stock Fujikura Motore X flex
7w TaylorMade V-steel, Quadra Fire Express RB 6SX
Hybrid: RomaRo iBrid 23* Attas EZ 85S
Irons (4i-PW): Wilson fg-62 S300 4/5-PW or MP4 Yoro Modus 125X 5-PW
Wedges: Callaway MD2 T-grind combination of 52*, 56*, 58*, 60*
Putter: Mac Jack Nicklaus Muirfield
Old stuff: Tons of persimmon and older irons. - #28If your seeking the very best driver, but with the added hi-cor feature, look no further than the JDM market, specifically the Ryoma Maxima 'special tuning' model. Everyone I've ever talked to that has hit this club raves about its feel, forgiveness & especially the effortless 20 - 30+ yard distance gains. The biggest drawback is the price. However you can find used Ryomas @ http://global.rakuten.com/en/category/101078/ & occasionally older models @ the bay.
IF your gonna play a hi-cor, this is the one to game.Driver: Callaway V Series Adj. 10.5*
Driver Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Bassara
Irons: Callaway 2017 Steelhead XR Matrix Ozik F15 graphite 6I - AW
Hybrids: Callaway 2017 Steelhead XR Matrix Ozik F15 graphite #3,#4,#5,#6
Wedges: Titleist Vokey 56* & 60* TT DG S300
Putter: Pro Gear PG100 C-Groove with Lamkin 'Technique' Mid-sized Grip
Grips: Chamois 'Avon' Grips
Ball: Srixon Q-star Tour
Bag: Sun Mountain C130
'Hope is not a solution'! - #29[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Drivers : Taylormade RBZ S2, JetSpeed, SLDR S[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Fairways : Taylormade SLDR S, Callaway X2 Hot[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Hybrids : Taylormade RBZ S2, SLDRS S[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Irons : Mizuno JPX 800 HD, Yamaha Inpres X Z Cavity 2013 & Z 2016, Maruman Titus & X1 [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Wedges : Mizuno T4[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Putters : Oddyssey Tank 2 balls, Works 2 fangs[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Shoes : Footjoy DNA[/font] - #30Who cares about an extra even 20-30 yards off the tee? I need a non-conforming ball that goes in the hole with the putter. I hit it 300 all day long and it never seems to help my scoring...Driver: GBB Epic SZ
3 Wood: GBB Epic SZ
4 Hybrid: Callaway Rogue
4-GAP: Mizuno JPX 919F w/ DG AMT X100 Tour Issue Shafts
Wedges: Mizuno T7 Blue Ion 55-13, 60-10
Putter: Scotty California Del Mar w/ SS Pistol GT 2.0 Grip - #31Geek Golf had the Lil bastxxx. It was based off of the DCT head with a .860 COR if I remember correctly.Driver: Taylor Made M4 D-type
FW: Titleist 917 F2 16.5*
HYB: Titleist 818 H1 19*
HYB: Titleist 818 H1 23*
Irons: Adams CB2 5I - PW
Wedges: PING Glide 2.0 Stealth 50*SS 54*SS 58*WS
Putter: Bettinardi Queen Bee #7[/size][/font]
Last month’s PGA Merchandise Show might be a lot of things, but tucked around every corner and emanating from every aisle and booth is the sense that this is golf’s annual convention of the unconventional.
Devices from drivers to carts all seem to offer game-changing—or even life-changing—improvement. But in an era where generating excitement seems to be at the core of every company’s mission statement, Dono Kim simply, quietly thinks the game needs more fun, and he doesn’t really care if that means his latest club is “illegal.”
“My business is to do something radically different from conventional,” said Kim, a trained mechanical engineer with past experience working in marketing for the Korean Olympic Committee. Somewhere mixed within all of that is his passion for inventing golf clubs. Kim said he developed the patent for the square driver a decade or so ago. “It doesn’t matter if people accept the idea, I love developing things that will change the game.”
Kim’s latest effort, however, is a far bolder step than a four-sided driver. His company, Amazing Cre LLC, is debuting the RVS9, an otherwise conventional-looking driver—save for the gaping hole that swirls down from the crown all the way through to the grass below. Kim is standing next to his spartan tent during the PGA Merchandise Show’s annual Demo Day, where about a dozen golfers are flailing away at ball after ball using his latest invention. The sound is decidedly more softball bat than shotgun blast.
Holding a support pole tightly as the wind nearly blows over his rickety tent, Kim says that nonconforming drivers in the Asian market fetch big money today. “They don’t care about that sort of thing,” he said of clubs that aren’t in compliance with The Rules of Golf. “It’s a totally different mind.”
To be sure, in a convention where “odd” often is the preferred currency, Kim’s product is the only one on the entire 42-acre driving range that is overtly nonconforming. And while he doesn’t trumpet that feature on the simple card he hands out touting the RSV9’s “aerodynamic” and “perimeter-weighting” benefits, he doesn’t hide from it, either. In fact, Kim says he isn’t planning to submit the club to the USGA for conformance testing, even though its design is almost exactly duplicated in Appendix II, Rule 4a, Figure 19, as an example of a nonconforming wood head.
“I’ve ahad products where I’ve had to wait so long to hear [from the USGA] that I was already in the market before I found out it was nonconforming,” Kim said. “If the general public likes the club, then I don’t care if it’s nonconforming. It’s OK. I think a lot of people are waiting for something new, something really strange.”
But are golfers really interested in breaking the rules? Kim’s attitude may come across as subversive at worst or cockamamie at best, but viewed in a larger context his philosophy is one that cycles through the golf business about as often as reports of flattening club sales or free-spirited, serial entrepreneurs buying their way into the equipment game.
At the 2016 PGA Show, just like at nearly every PGA Show for the last two decades, there is always grumbling about decisions from the ruling bodies that limit performance or restrict innovation, or utilize arcane testing methodologies. This ends up being about as focused and useful as complaining about the weather or rush-hour traffic.
A 2014 Golf World study showed that nearly 1 in 4 golfers would be interested in a nonconforming driver that promised an additional 15-20 yards. Of course, the research isn’t clear from physics that such a club or result could be produced. Even so, what is clear from a Golf Digest study in 2015 that the average golfer already is leaving 23 yards on the table simply because he hasn’t had his swing and specs dialed in on a conforming driver.
Still, there is recent historical evidence that nonconforming products aren’t entirely the scandal that traditionalists make them out to be. It is not unusual for everyday rounds to be used with a laser rangefinder that features a slope function, which is specifically against the rules. Also, when several major manufacturers produced certain lofts of drivers that were found to be nonconforming after they had been manufactured back in 2007, the outcry was fairly self-contained, barely a ripple. In fact, in the case of Nike’s Sumo2 SQ, golf shops routinely continued to sell the club because customers had come in asking for the “hot” Nike driver. Nike officials admitted that a return program for the nonconforming driver generated little response from those who had originally, unintentionally purchased the nonconforming version.
The market in Asia has been somewhat schizophrenic over the last decade. Most manufacturers decided to move away from nonconforming or high-COR drivers in the early 2000s, after the USGA and the R&A agreed to adopt the same standard. But within the last five years, the interest from manufacturers in the East in hotter drivers has increased. A section of the tourspecgolf.com website, which deals in clubs issued originally only for the Asian market, is devoted exclusively to high-COR drivers from Japan. And they don’t come cheap. Several are in the $1,000 range. Those are the kind of numbers that have caught Kim’s attention.
Knight rider the fan game demo. Knight Rider The Fan Game. 2724 likes 7 talking about this. Jump behind the wheel of everyone's favorite 80's talking super car KITT! The Fan Game. Mar 24, 2018 - Play if you are a Knight Rider Fan! You can use Turboboost for your kitt. And Scanner mode has been updated! Don't forget to turn on WIFI!
Kim believes golf should change because society is changing. “Everything is changing so fast, and in my opinion golf should be changing, too. Maybe two sets of rules. Insisting on keeping the traditions of the game doesn’t make sense to me. If you watch how average golfers actually play, I don’t even know what those traditions mean anymore.”
Although he seems that way, Kim isn’t necessarily a voice crying in the wilderness. We aren’t even a year removed from the leading trade group in the second-largest golf market in the world endorsing at least the existence if not manufacture of nonconforming equipment. The Japan Golf Goods Association’s statement from a year ago at the Japan Golf Fair read in part, “JGGA believes that it is desirable for the stimulation of the golf market to have a wide variety of golf equipment available in the market from which all types of golfers may choose in order to find one that really fits their respective purposes and needs, hoping that more and more golfers will enjoy playing golf as a result of such improvement in the golf equipment market.'
After that statement, the JGGA responded to questions from GolfDigest.com in part this way: “JGGA recognizes that there is a clear desire or preference among amateur golfers in general for more distance from a driver shot or more back spin from an iron shot that makes a ball stopping or coming back on a green as professional players do. JGGA believes that it will contribute in the healthy growth and revitalization of the Japanese golf market to create an environment in which each golfer may choose and use golf equipment that matches his or her unique goals and needs.”
The JGGA stressed subsequently that it did not wish to recommend amateurs use nonconforming equipment. Rather, “recognizing the recent trend in the Japanese market where an increasing number of nonconforming golf clubs are being marketed and distributed year by year as a reality, JGGA felt strongly that we needed to demonstrate the leadership in guiding manufacturers of such nonconforming clubs to provide consumers with a clear indication and appropriate explanation when they sell those products to avoid any confusion by consumers.”
Download video dangdut palapa mp4. A length that continue going for 6 Minutes 41 Seconds, which is seen by 4,461,033 (Four Million And Four Hundred And Sixty-one Thousand And Thirty-three) of customers. To download the file click the button(Download Button).
Even with the nonconforming marketplace existing in some fashion in Japan, there has not been large-scale interest from the country’s top golf companies for making and marketing “illegal” clubs. Typically, only smaller boutique brands like Katana, Kamui, Geotech are touting nonconforming drivers.
But no major U.S. company is looking at the nonconforming market and getting intrigued. Several major manufacturers contacted by Golf Digest said they would not be pursuing nonconforming equipment; others had no specific comment on the issue. Typical was this response from Callaway: “We think there is a lot of runway to give distance and performance while still playing by the rules.”
Even proudly renegade upstart Parsons Xtreme Golf defended golf’s rules. Said PXG and GoDaddy.com founder Bob Parson, “PXG believes that the USGA upholds the integrity of the game. As such, PXG’s clubs comply with all USGA regulations and we have no intention of introducing nonconforming equipment.”
Enable: low-level drawing and interaction. Fetching contributors. Function returns the best TrueType (TTF) font file in the local. Verbose.report('Cannot handle unicode filenames'). Ttf font files. Feb 13, 2018 - Font ini adanya yang low saja, kalau yang unicode saya Download Font Ttf Unicode Terbaru Mengenai. Rock n roll v7x mod by kiva unicode.
Of course, it also might make bad business sense to pursue nonconforming equipment. It’s an uncertain marketplace, and it would require double the work and the cost to make nonconforming clubs in addition to the conforming product that you’re already designing. In a relatively tight golf market, that’s a risk whose benefits aren’t clear.
So far.
For now, the ruling bodies are waiting and watching. Those who’ve been around know the mood surrounding nonconforming equipment shifts but as yet has never fully flipped in the direction of a proven level of demand for illegal clubs. The most noteworthy attempt in recent memory came at the turn of the 21st century when Callaway introduced its ERC drivers, which exceeded the rules governing spring-like effect. By many accounts, the brand only recovered from that decision in the last few years.
The facts seem to suggest that equipment rules still mean something. A 2014 study by Reed Exhibitions, the organization that owns and runs the PGA Show, seemed unequivocal in golfers’ enthusiasm for illegal products. According to the survey, 80 percent of those surveyed said they would not be likely to play a nonconforming ball or driver.
This is true after the fits and starts of the groove rule six years ago, and even this year at the dawn of a ban on a kind of putting that was OK for at least half a century. While sand wedges with aggressive grooves were OK for a time, when they were rolled back in 2008, the rule change caught a few players at local tournaments in the aftermath. This year, the ban on anchoring is essentially voiding a class of putters, and it remains to be seen how those afflicted will navigate senior club championships and member-guests in the spring and summer.
Presumably, the rules will still be followed. Mike Davis, USGA executive director, really doesn’t believe a door has been opened.
“We firmly believe that technology and the rules of golf can, and should, co-exist,” he said in a statement provided to Golf Digest. “Equipment manufacturers across the world have made, and continue to make, innovative and game-improvement equipment within the rules. The key premise by which the equipment standards have been crafted is that success in golf should depend primarily on the skill of the player, rather than on a reliance on technology. Knowing golfers tell us that the challenge of the game is what keeps them coming back, these standards, and a single set of Rules for all players, are among golf’s greatest strengths.
“It is important that we continue to talk with manufacturers and golfers on what we are doing in this area, and why.”
Indeed, both of the game’s chief equipment regulators, the USGA’s John Spitzer and the R&A’s Steve Otto, are planning to meet and discuss the issue of innovation and nonconforming equipment with the fractious JGGA at this week’s Japan Golf Fair.
Of course, the question of whether the survival of the game really needs some kind of promise of super-charged (albeit illegal) clubs and balls may be based on a false premise. While the game wouldn’t be hurt by any injections of fun, most don’t see any pressing need to make the rules a casualty.
Golf companies large and small have found plenty of ways to inject fun and enthusiasm to the sport. Typical of this is the youthful vibe projected by brands like Callaway, which has reinvented itself through signing endorsement contracts with social-media and YouTube stars such as Paige Spiranac and the trick-shot tandem of the Bryan Brothers. Another brand showing how golf can be fun is Cobra, whose presence at last month’s PGA Show is frequently accented by the beat of club music and the bright colors made famous by tour staffers Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson. Cobra’s booth at the show is a rock concert with golf clubs, and every one of those is a conforming golf club.
Jose Miraflor, Cobra’s director of product marketing, has been around the golf business for more than two decades, but still bounces around his booth with the enthusiasm of new discoveries, like he’s got a secret and he can’t wait to tell you.
“You can maybe argue about this rule or that,” Miraflor said. “But if you think about it, we like that the game is hard. So in a way, the rules make the game fun.”
On the opposite end of the range, Dono Kim smiles as he desperately tries to keep his tent upright in the wind. His space at the Show is tiny, and if Cobra’s is a block party, Kim’s is a lemonade stand with one pitcher and some scattered Dixie cups. He’s made his case for the fun of nonconforming equipment, for the fun of a driver that he thinks flies straighter and farther thanks to its hole-in-the-head technology. He is confident that his idea will resonate, that the game needs his idea. But ..
“I’m working on making a new version,” he says. “I want to make one that’s OK for the pros to use. You know, in competition. You have to keep the rules.”