Conforming Golf Clubs
So what’s the big deal with conforming golf clubs anyway? Can’t we just play what we want to play?
Well, Yes, we pretty much can. In a friendly.
In a game which falls under the handicap and equipment guidelines of the R&A or the USGA (or affiliated bodies) though we can’t. We have to use conforming golf clubs.
Drivers are the clubs that get the most stick so to speak and the main limitations imposed by the game’s governing bodies have to do with the big dog.
First of all size, or more correctly, volume. The current limitation for driver volume is 460 cc, measured by liquid displacement. What that means is this: Dunk a driver head into a bucket of water and if it displaces more than 460 cc – it’s non conforming.
460 cc is a LOT of club. Compare that to the size of old persimmon drivers and it makes you wonder how on earth we ever hit the old stuff. Modern drivers aren’t just bigger though. They hit the ball further and are are more forgiving.
Size really does matter…
The second limit is the Coefficient of Restitution or COR. COR is a measure of the amount of energy transfer or rebound there is in a driver head. The current limit is 0.83
What that means is the driver head should transfer no more then 0.83 of the original energy back into the ball when struck. Hit a golf ball at 100 mph and it should rebound off the driver face at a maximum 83 mph for that driver head to be legal.
Even the major manufacturers like Callaway, Ping and TaylorMade have drives which are on the non-conforming lists. A particular driver might be conforming in say 14 degrees and non-conforming in 8 degrees, when the COR starts to go over the 0.83 limit.
Saying a club is conforming though isn’t up to the manufacturers. It’s up to the governing bodies of the game. Clubs are submitted and based on the results, listed as either conforming or non-conforming.
The desire to play conforming clubs is one of the reasons some golfers look down on clone golf clubs. Yes, there are a lot of clone manufacturers who sell non-conforming clubs. There are exceptions though.
All the clone golf clubs we carry on our site are conforming, both for volume and COR in the case of drivers. All our drivers are submitted to the USGA for inclusion in the conforming driver lists, making them even better value for money. Long hitting, accurate, low cost and conforming. We just didn’t have room for the kitchen sink.