As of today, April 30, a specific version of Callaway’s Big Bertha 460 driver will be placed on the USGA list of non-conforming clubs. Just like the recalled Nike Sumo², the problem is the spring-like effect, which went over the characteristic time limit correlating to the USGA’s coefficient of restitution limit of 0.830.
The guilty party is the right-handed version of the Big Bertha 460 13° HT model. It’s distinguished by a raised dash in the letter “B” in the word “Big” on the sole of the driver.
Callaway has asked its retailers for information on anyone purchasing this specific model as a prelude to replacing them. It is not thought a substantial number had already been purchased. There’s no word yet on the Callaway web site as to the replacement procedure. Callaway said the issue involved a manufacturing problem with only one its suppliers and resulted in a small percentage of the shipments already made.
E. Michael Johnson and Mike Stachura – a.k.a. “Bomb and Gouge” – broke the story in GolfWorld on Friday.
If it’s the 13 degree club that you’re talking about, don’t you think it’s a little misleading to have a picture of the 10 degree club next to the article?
I understand your point, but sometimes we have to go with what we have in order to be somewhat timely. We only had the one stock image.
In the words of Hillary Clinton, “what difference does it make?”! Unless you’re playing on tour, competing in a tournament, playing for money w/friends, or are planning on submitting your score to apply to your handicap, you should be able to use whatever club you want. I suppose someone will say that “it’s not fair” to people who don’t use the “illegal” club, but I can site many instances of things that “aren’t fair”, like life for example. How about a poor (or “financially challenged” for the PC police out there) guy or lady, who can’t afford good clubs, and is stuck playing with crappy generic clubs or blades from the 70’s, and persimmon woods, or any old clubs that don’t take advantage of any new technology? If you take that guy playing with mismatched hand me down or garage sale junk, and give him a brand new set of $1500 Taylormade or Callaway irons, a $500 Callaway Mavrik Driver and a $400 3 wood, a couple of hybrids instead of long irons, a $300 putter of his choice, and a box of Titleist Pro V-1’s, I’m pretty sure his game is going to improve so dramatically that he’s going to think the clubs are magic.
I understand the need to set parameters for the equipment used in tournament play during PGA or USGA sanctioned events, but to call a golf club “illegal” is completely over the top, and unnecessary. I’m sure the idea is to make someone using that club feel bad, like they’re a cheater for using it, but unless it’s used in the aforementioned cases, how is it cheating, and why should anyone feel bad for using one? Golf is a rare type of sport, one where there is no offense or defense, at least not in the traditional sense; it’s a game of you against the course. The vast majority of us play golf to have fun, and to spend time outdoors with our friends, enjoying some friendly conversation (and the occasional bet) on a beautifully landscaped golf course. We play to have fun, and for most (if not all) of us, golf is already hard enough. Club designers are constantly trying to build clubs that shave strokes off of our game, and have been for decades. Every year there are new advancements, and the equipment available today looks nothing like what was available just 30 years ago. Our drivers are almost as adjustable as our driver seats in our luxury SUVs, and the size of the club heads is more than double what they used to be! To make a fuss, and call a club “illegal” comes off as snobbish, and that’s not really that surprising considering the fact that this is golf, but this is just silly. If you want to ban a club from competitive play, that’s fine, but something a little more benign such as “non-regulation” or something along those lines would be a lot nicer than calling it an illegal club for cheaters lol!
Just to be clear, this isn’t aimed at the writers for The Sand Trap at all, this is for the world of golf altogether. C’mon man, we can do better, mkay?