Hello Paul,
In short you will likely be wearing out your grooves long before the Rules will force you to change. There are really two parts to the New Groove Rule.
The first part is whether a club conforms to the New Groove Rule. The Rule applies only to groove volume and edge sharpness for clubs with lofts greater than or equal to 25 degrees (a typical 5 iron loft). Even if your current clubs do not conform the change will likely not require you to purchase new clubs any sooner than 2024.
All new model clubs manufactured after January 1, 2010 will not conform to the new groove Rule if they do not follow the new regulations. You would not need to worry about being misled if you stick to major manufactures as they have agreed to the new regulations. If you purchase a new model club manufactured in 2010 or later from a major manufacturer you can be assured it will be in compliance. This is similar the “spring like effect” instituted in drivers awhile back. Though it is still possible to purchase an illegal drive with a “hot face,” these are not being manufactured by reputable companies.
All currently conforming clubs designed before Jan 1, 2010 and manufactured and shipped to retailers before January 1, 2011 will be grandfathered and thus legal for use by 99% of all golfers until at least 2024. With this condition, you will likely be able to purchase grandfathered clubs into 2012.
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The second part concerns the other 1% - namely many professionals and a very small group of elite level amateur golfers. A new Condition of Competition (COC) may be added to a competition’s “Rules” to restrict which type of grooves may be used by participants in the event. It is expected that this new COC will only be adopted at the very highest level of competition similar to the “One Ball Condition” already used at most high level competitions.
You are in the “other 1%” and will need new clubs if one of the following applies . . . you are a touring professional or you are an elite amateur who plays in very high level national or international competitions.
As of January 1, 2010, the COC will be adopted to require all grooves to conform to the new groove Rule for nearly all major professional tours and the US Open, US Women’s Open and US Senior Open including sectional qualifiers (US Open local qualifiers will not be affected until 2011).
No later than January 1, 2014, the COC will be adopted to prohibit non-conforming grooves in all USGA Amateur Championships and qualifiers (i.e. Men’s and Women’s US Amateur, Public Links, Mid-Amateur Championship, etc.) including USGA national and international amateur team events.
Select tournament may also choose to implement the COC, though I would not expect this to be widespread for some time. Although the COC will be available in 2010, the USGA is currently recommending that state golf associations do not consider adding the COC for elite competitions until 2014. At this time the OGA has not made any decisions regarding groove regulations at OGA Championship nor are we recommending that members clubs adopt the COC in the near future.
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On our Online Rules Resources page, I have linked multiple USGA news releases regarding the New Grooves Rules.
Do your current clubs already conform to the new guidelines or do the clubs you plan on purchasing conform? Currently, calling the manufacturer would be the best way to determine this though I would recommend you wait a couple of months as the USGA is compiling a list of conforming clubs (now available, click here to check clubs) that is expected to be available at the end of October 2009.
Now that you understand how the New Groove Rule will be implemented, if you wish to “rip the cover off the ball” with your square grooves well into the next decade, you had better stock up on clubs in the next couple of years.
Thank you for your interest in the Rules of Golf - regards,
