What is an illegal golf club?

While there are no clubs that the USGA considered “banned” or “illegal” in that exact verbiage, there are clubs that do not strictly conform to their general rules of acceptability. That means that some clubs simply are not suitable for professional or competitive play and that they are, in essence, illegal.

What makes a club illegal?

The Money club comes with a loft of 10.5 degrees and a 520cc club head size. The current USGA limit on club head size is 460cc, so this is the main reason the club is illegal. Larger club head sizes typically lead to an extra distance for the players.

What degree club is illegal?

The rules affect clubs with lofts of 25 degrees or more and, therefore, affect wedges of all types. The rules ban clubs with “sharp-edged U-grooves,” according to the PGA Tour, in favor of “the V-groove designs used predominantly in the past.” The groove rules took effect on the PGA and LPGA tours on Jan. 1, 2010.

What makes a golf wedge illegal?

Extreme Wedge by Smithworks: Breaks 2010 Groove Rules

The design is sleek and lightweight, deemed illegal for play because it's said to give golfers more spin control.

Is a chipper a legal golf club?

Are Chippers Legal in Golf? Golf chippers are legal because they are iron clubs instead of putters, according to the Equipment FAQ at USGA. However, since they are considered clubs, they must follow the same rules as other woods and irons equipment in the game.

Cheating at golf with ILLEGAL clubs

What golf clubs are legal?

According to the USGA, a golfer is allowed to have 14 clubs in his bag. This may include three woods (driver, 3-wood and 5-wood), eight irons, (3-9 iron and pitching wedge), and putter. These are the standard 12 clubs in many golf bags.

Can you use a 72 degree wedge?

According to the USGA, a 72 degree wedge is totally legal to use in golf. More specifically, any golfer is allowed to use a 72 degree wedge in all casual, high-level amateur, or professional rounds/tournaments. Believe it or not, the USGA does not have any loft restrictions for wedges.

Which Vokey wedges are illegal?

According to the USGA and R&A, the Titleist Vokey Spin Milled Wedges are legal to use in any casual, high-level amateur, and professional golf games and tournaments. In other words, Vokey Spin Milled Wedges conform to the equipment rules of golf, thus making them totally legal to use.

What grooves are illegal in golf?

Under United States Golf Association (USGA) rules implemented on January 1, square or U-grooves have been outlawed but a 20-year-old Ping wedge was deemed legal because of a lawsuit won by its manufacturer over the USGA in 1990.

Are any golf clubs illegal?

1) The Anchor Putter

Currently the most recent casualty of the R&A and USGA's wrath, the anchor or 'belly' putter technique was outlawed as of January 1^st, 2016.

Are titanium golf clubs legal?

Both the Cor effect and titanium face are disallowed by the USGA. This all-black club utilizes an offset hosel with a closed face allowing golfers to have a square face at impact which helps straighten out drives. Golfers can purchase the driver from 41 inches to 48 inches.

Are oversized clubs legal?

Are Oversized Irons Legal? According to the USGA, rule 4b(ii), an oversized iron is considered illegal (non-conforming) if the distance from the heel to the toe is less than the distance from the face to the back. In other words, the oversized iron must be longer than it is wide.

What Taylormade driver is illegal?

Taylor Made, another manufacturer with multiple non-conforming clubs, produces the R510 driver, which can create lofts of 7.5, 8.5, 9.5 and 10.5 degrees. Inspection of the club head will provide identification. The illegal Taylor Made R510 drivers have no etched score marks in the center of its club face.

What Callaway driver is illegal?

Callaway calls the club the ERC II and it's a driver like none other. Made of titanium forged in Australia, the technologically advanced club was introduced to the U.S. last October and immediately stirred up controversy.

Is a square strike wedge legal?

Does the Square Strike Wedge conform to USGA and R&A rules? Yep, it's 100% conforming, which means you can use it in any round, tournaments included.

What is Spin Milled wedge?

The Titleist Spin Milled wedge is a premium scoring club from the master wedge craftsman Bob Vokey. The SM wedges area available in a wide range of loft. bounce and sole grind combinations.

Are SM4 wedges conforming?

The SM4 wedges feature(d) 17 regulations conforming grooves (pretty new design when it came out back in 2011, but one that still holds rather well).

Is there a loft limit in golf?

By definition, the loft of a putter must not be greater than 10 degrees. Putters are permitted to have negative loft. However, a negative loft exceeding a magnitude of 15 degrees would not be considered “traditional and customary in form and make” (see Section 1a(i) below).

What degree is a chipper club?

Commonly referred to as just a “chipper,” this golf club combines a putter with a wedge. Featuring a 30° - 37° loft, your chipper is the ideal club for those shots that are too long for a putter and too short for a wedge—in the rough or short grass, just a few feet from the green.

What is the highest loft allowed in golf?

An ultra lob wedge is used to hit a shot with higher and shorter trajectory than a standard lob wedge. This club is labeled "UL" and has a loft of about 64° and has the highest loft of any golf club. It is used for specialized, extremely high-angle shots such as from the "lip" of a bunker.

Is a 68 degree wedge legal?

According to the USGA and R&A, a 68 degree wedge is totally legal to use for any casual, amateur, high-level amateur, and professional golf games. In other words, a 68 degree wedge conforms to all of the equipment regulations, thus making it a legal club.

Is a 65 degree wedge legal?

Is the C3i Wedge Legal? According to the USGA's Golf Club Informational Database, all C3i wedges are legal for any amateur or professional tournament play. More specifically, the 55°, 59°, 65° C3i wedge models all conform to USGA equipment rules.

Are 2 irons legal?

The fact is this is not cheating. The Ping Eye 2 clubs (irons and wedges) were grandfathered for life as part of a settlement in 1993 of a suit Ping filed against the USGA. In short, any Ping Eye 2 manufactured prior to March 31, 1990, is within the rules as long as the USGA governs the game.

Do any pros use a chipper?

Single-faced chippers are legal to use on the PGA Tour, but you'll never see a professional golfer use one. Because chippers are designed for mid-to-high handicappers, and give the player less control over the spin on their golf ball, they are not typically suited to highly-skilled players such as professional golfers.