In declaring its proposals, the USGA cited Appendix II, par. 1a of the Rules of Golf, which states that "The club shall not be substantially different from the traditional and customary form and make." The organization apparently determined that long and/or oversized clubs are not traditional.
The USGA also added that, if the proposals were adopted, the clubhead size control would take effect immediately. The club length rule, meanwhile, would be effective in 2004, when it would be added to the Rules of Golf. Manufacturers were given up to February 19, 2002, to submit comment on the proposals.
Numerous golf club manufacturers, such as TaylorMade-Adidas, Titleist, Cobra, Ping and Zevo, quickly reacted with anger and frustration at the USGA announcement. They claimed that they were not notified of the proposal until the morning of December 19, and that there are clubs in the market already at or bigger than 385 cc, with many more in development. According to The Golf Channel report, Zevo and Acushnet (the maker of Cobra and Titleist clubs) threatened to sue the USGA.
With extremely hostile responses from manufacturers, the USGA on January 10th amended its proposals, setting the clubhead size limit at 460 cc and giving additional 10 cc to account for differences in manufacturing processes and measurement variations. The Jan. 10 amendment, however, does not affect the club length proposal.
Such conflict between the USGA and manufacturers is nothing new to golf fans. In 2000, the USGA caused controversy by banning the use of Callaway's ERC II driver for its 'spring-like effect' on golf balls. The Royal & Ancient golf Club of St. Andrews (the golf's governing organization for the rest of the world, including Canada) allowed the ERC II model in its own tournaments, thus creating two different standards for drivers from golf's two chief bodies and adding confusion among golfers.
The USGA's initial proposals on clubhead size restriction came quite untimely, as the golf club industry had been preparing for the PGA Merchandise Show scheduled Jan. 24-27. At the Show, it was expected that a number of oversized drivers, including Zevo's 410 cc Compressor driver, would be introduced.
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