Real or no real

[Three]

Your milage my vary in the UK, but if I remember correctly, here in Germany balls only have to be on the conforming balls list if the comp announcement explicitly says so. This is generally the case for pro tournaments and amateur tournaments of a certain level, but not for club comps. This is explicitely encouraged by the official rules. Nobody gives a rat's ass about model and manufacturer, as long as the ball is round, has dimples and has the right size and weight. That allows you to play x-out balls and balls from smaller manufacturers who just do not bother to get their balls on the conforming balls list. And I am sure that ruff-driver's balls, genuine or not, do fullfill the specs, even if they are fake.

Just checked, it says the same on the randa website.

I can't really get my head around what you've written there.

The rules, Appendix III, clearly state that the ball must conform to specific requirements as laid down by R&A / USGA testing.


Titleist balls are checked and have passed, hence we may use them.

Cheap fakes that have Titleist written on them have probably not been tested to be conforming, hence they are probably illegal for any competition play.

 

[Capella]

What the rules say (Rule 5) is that balls do not have to have been officially tested to be conforming to Appnedix III. It is good enough if they meet the specs given there. So if you want to make absolutely sure, pop your ball on your kitchen scale to assure that it is not heavier than 1.62 ounces and measure the diameter if that makes you feel better. But that is all that the official rules of golf ask for in general. For some competitions the commitee may require that they are officially tested and listed as conforming.

Or, to put it more simply, a ball can be conforming to all required specs given in Appendix III without being tested and listed on the official list of conforming balls. And in that case you can play it in all competitions except the ones where the committee requires listed conforming balls.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Will I be able to play in comps if I have a non-conforming swing as it doesn't conform to any normal definition of what should happen?

 

[Three]

What the rules say (Rule 5) is that balls do not have to have been officially tested to be conforming to Appnedix III. It is good enough if they meet the specs given there. So if you want to make absolutely sure, pop your ball on your kitchen scale to assure that it is not heavier than 1.62 ounces and measure the diameter if that makes you feel better. But that is all that the official rules of golf ask for in general. For some competitions the commitee may require that they are officially tested and listed as conforming.

Or, to put it more simply, a ball can be conforming to all required specs given in Appendix III without being tested and listed on the official list of conforming balls. And in that case you can play it in all competitions except the ones where the committee requires listed conforming balls.

How do you know about the Initial Velocity and Overall Distance Standard?

Sorry, but a fake ball is an unknown quantity, how can you say every fake ball conforms to the rules?

 

[chrisd]

I played for a long while with a guy who turned up one day with a new set of Taylor Made irons. Later in the season the circular disc in the back of the irons started to fall out of many of them, and it was quite obvious that they were fakes - so, did he cheat in all those comps/ was he cheating when he couldn't afford to replace them and continued with them for some while?

 

[Three]

I played for a long while with a guy who turned up one day with a new set of Taylor Made irons. Later in the season the circular disc in the back of the irons started to fall out of many of them, and it was quite obvious that they were fakes - so, did he cheat in all those comps/ was he cheating when he couldn't afford to replace them and continued with them for some while?

No, not initially cheating.
If, and he probably wasn't, he was playing in high level tournaments where the groove rules where in force, it's possible that his fakes could have been in breach.

 

[chrisd]

No, not initially cheating.
If, and he probably wasn't, he was playing in high level tournaments where the groove rules where in force, it's possible that his fakes could have been in breach.

To be fair, because they were fakes he would have struggled in a very low level tournament!

 

[Three]

To be fair, because they were fakes he would have struggled in a very low level tournament!

 

[Leereed]

I think if someone knowingly buys non-conforming gear is a different ball game, as to someone who buys a second driver or gets given some balls.Would any non-conforming gear make a difference to your average club golfer?
A crap swing will result in a crap shot regardless of the gear conforming or non-conforming.

 

[palindromicbob]

How do you know about the Initial Velocity and Overall Distance Standard?

Sorry, but a fake ball is an unknown quantity, how can you say every fake ball conforms to the rules?

Unless it's really obvious then this really is only an issue when the list of conforming balls condition of competition is in place.

"Where the List is not operational it is assumed that any particular individual ball conforms to the Rules unless there is strong evidence that it does not."

This is regardless of wether if it's been sent for testing or not. If there is a doubt it's not up to the party using the ball to prove it is conforming but the ones saying it isn't to prove it isn't.

Refurbs, x-outs etc all fall foul is this condition is in place but are generally fine if it isn't.

 

[palindromicbob]

On another note and the only example I can think of from the top of my head. The list of conforming balls changes from time to time and some drop of the list.

In November 2013 the Dunlop DP1 appeared on the list of conforming balls.
http://www.mydogghouse.com/Golfball list 2009/November 2013.pdf

It's not on the list now but it didn't suddenly change and magically start breeching the rules. For all intents and purposes it meets the requirements of the rules under Appendix III it just isn't on the list anymore. So no problem as long as conditions of competition with relation to ball aren't in place and really would you say I'm cheating if I used one of those???

 

[palindromicbob]

Found a test for you Ruff-driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D-mo8qBeGA