Finally the R&A and USGA have jointly announced the new groove rules that have been proposed, with some minor tweaks. For most golfers, current clubs that do not have conforming grooves will remain legal for use until at least 2024. New clubs manufactured from 2010 will have conforming grooves anyway.
The new Rules on club face markings, to come into effect on 1 January 2010, will include the following two additional specifications for clubs other than driving clubs and putters: the total cross-sectional area of a groove divided by the groove pitch (width plus separation) is limited to 0.003 square inches per inch (0.0762 mm²/mm); and groove edge sharpness is limited to an effective minimum radius of 0.010 inches (0.254 mm). This limit only applies to clubs with lofts of 25 degrees and above.
The new Rules will be phased in gradually. With effect from 1 January 2010, it is intended that only the major men’s and women’s professional tours will adopt a Condition of Competition requiring the use of clubs that conform to the new Rules. The use of this Condition will be very restricted in the initial phase.
With effect from 1 January 2014, the Condition of Competition will be made available to more competition organisers and include all competitions involving ‘expert players’ (that is lower level professional events and elite amateur events). It would only be at this time, that the Condition would start to have an impact beyond the major professional tours.
All clubs (with the exception of drivers and putters) manufactured after 1 January 2010 will be subject to the new specifications on club face markings. Clubs manufactured before 2010, which conform to the current Rules but not the new Rules, can continue to be used throughout the game, except where a Committee has introduced a Condition of Competition to the contrary (see above).
The final decision as to whether golfers playing in non-elite competitions will ever have to stop using these older clubs will be taken in the future, but certain minimum time scales are guaranteed: firstly, the situation will not be reviewed before 2020; and secondly, any change of Rule would have a minimum four year lead-in period. Of course, some existing clubs will conform to the new regulations and may continue to be used indefinitely. The above provisions confirm that other ‘old clubs’ (that is pre-2010 models that do not conform to the new Rules) may continue to be used by the vast majority of golfers until at least 2024, if not longer.
For the avoidance of doubt, in recognition of the fact that many existing clubs will not conform to the new specifications, Committees of other competitions (that is all those not covered by the Condition of Competition on grooves) are authorised and will be encouraged to waive these new specifications for applicable clubs manufactured prior to 1 January 2010.
