USGA announces club ruling error

The United States Golf Association has recently discovered a 1992 ruling that it made on a golf club was in error. The King Cobra series of stainless steel metal woods, which was first submitted to the USGA in 1992, was approved by the USGA's Technical Department that same year.

"In a recent review of rulings, we discovered that we missed one of three required face marking measurements on this club," said Frank Thomas, USGA technical director. "But for that error, we would have informed the manufacturer that the club did not conform at the time it was submitted. We have now informed Cobra Golf of the problem.

"Cobra has assured us that the manufacturing process has been changed to ensure that all future versions of this club will be conforming," Thomas said. "We regret this turn of events, because we request manufacturers to submit their clubs to us before they begin marketing them so this sort of thing doesn't happen."

Reed Mackenzie, chairman of the USGA's Implements and Ball Committee, announced that a 10-year grace period has been granted by the Executive Committee to all King Cobra stainless steel metal woods. "As far as I know, this is the first time we've faced this particular situation, and we certainly don't intend to unduly penalize the manufacturer, much less all the golfers who owns such clubs."

"We've made over 2,700 rulings on clubs within the last 10 years alone," said John Matheny, USGA senior director of operations. "We all wish we hadn't made even this one mistake. The Executive Committee felt that the thing to do was to resolve this issue as soon as possible." Also see: fitness for golf.

Author Notes:

Sharon Madison contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.1st-in-golf.com. A source of information on golf equipment, golf manufacturers, supplies, tips and more.