At the latest count, no fewer than 55 drivers, of which 28 are marketed in America, have been declared illegal by the USGA because of the so-called spring-like effect. But on this side of the Atlantic, where the Royal and Ancient writ applies, all are perfectly acceptable.
It is one of those anomalous situations which have arisen from time to time since the USGA's original decision to abide by the R and A rules when it came into being in 1894. This particular "split" occurred in September of last year when the R and A announced they didn't consider it necessary to conduct a conformance test for spring-like effect.
Acknowledging that their decision differed from the one taken by the USGA in November 1998, they noted that "the resultant lack of uniformity in this particular aspect of equipment regulation is undesirable". But nothing has changed since then, apart from law suits in Canada and the US.
A common misconception is that the problem relates to the Callaway company and their ERC and ERCII drivers. As it happens, Callaway produce only three clubs which are banned by the USGA, and only one of these, the ERCII forged titanium model, is marketed in the US.
On the other hand, Golfwell have eight clubs on the list, Mizuno and Maruman have six each, Yonex have five and Taylor Made have three, none of which, incidentally, in on sale in America. Regarding these clubs, the R and A view is that any increase in driving distance which can be attributed solely to the spring-like effect is not detrimental to the game.
They also claim that, apart from equipment, factors such as improved physique, fitness, coaching and course condition also enable the modern golfer to hit the ball further. But Rules secretary David Rickman has kept the door open by acknowledging that in future, "new, stricter regulations for clubs and ball may be required".
So there you have it. And in the context of previous differences, the current one is, as yet, of relatively short duration. For instance, though the USGA sanctioned steel-shafted clubs in 1924, it was five years before the R and A followed suit.
But the most notable split concerned the golf-ball, where the two bodies went their separate ways for 58 years. In 1932, the USGA settled on a ball with a diameter of 1.68 inches and weighing 1.62 ounces, but the R and A wanted a smaller ball (1.62 inches), which would perform better in windy conditions. So, on failing to reach a consensus after nearly 10 years of discussion, they went their separate ways.
The first, significant step towards ball uniformity came in 1974 when the larger, American ball was used in the British Open at Royal Lytham. But it wasn't until January 1990 that the larger, 1.68 ball was formally adopted by the R and A and the small ball finally disappeared.
"I do about 30 speaking engagements a year, and it has never ceased to amaze me how anyone, never mind moi, could get away with such a scam." - David Feherty.
