Mar18 Nikedriverissues
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If you’ve bought Nike’s new square Sumo driver, it could be illegal when new R&A rules come into force on January 1, 2008.
The firm has just revealed that a tiny number of drivers they’ve tested don’t meet the stringent new COR guidelines.
Their tests have found that these clubs only hit the ball one or two yards further than conforming drivers, but the speed at which the ball comes off the face won’t meet the new rules.
Nike is in the process of setting up a testing procedure so that owners of square Sumos can get their clubs checked out.
There will also be a marking – a circle on the sole alongside the Nike swish – to show you that new Sumos have been tested and will meet the rules.
The statement released this morning says: Nike Golf has discovered that an anauthorised manufacturing variance occurred such that the Characteristic Time (CT) measurement of a number of drivers fell out of Nike Golf’s approved engineering specifications.
While the result of this variance is an additional distance benefit of only 1 to 2 yards, it lies outside of the parameters as established by the R&A for elite competition only. There is no impact on the safety or durability of the product.
As a result, a number of SUMO — drivers manufactured may not conform to USGA/R&A regulations. As a precaution, another conforming SUMO2 driver has already been submitted to the USGA to be approved for placement on the conforming list. Nike Golf anticipates that it will complete the approval process with the USGA by March 19.
For more information, visit: www.nikegolf.com/europe