Testing Begins for ‘Hot’ Clubs

There’s a new sheriff in town. It’s black metal, about 3 feet tall and looks like a miniature guillotine. It goes by the mundane name of “pendulum test” and stands on a folding table in a trailer in the parking lot at the Plantation Course, but Tiger Woods had no trouble finding it Wednesday.

Woods played the pro-am of the Mercedes Championships, then his caddie took the driver to be tested by the first piece of equipment the PGA Tour has used to determine whether players are using legal clubs.

It’s a voluntary procedure, and no results are made public, although Woods’ driver surely passed with flying colors.

Woods said he had no problem that the program was voluntary instead of mandatory.

“It’s a step, a step in the right direction,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do with the red light, green light. At least we have something now that we can go to.”

The PGA Tour rules officials learning how to conduct the tests say they are sure no players use so-called hot drivers that launch golf balls that exceed the standard limits.

“It’s just not happening,” the tour’s Jon Brendle said. “Do you think any manufacturer would knowingly put a hot club out here and get caught? That’s not good publicity.”

Vijay Singh said testing is the responsibility of the club manufacturers, not the players.

“We use their equipment,” he said. “If there’s something wrong with the equipment, I think it’s the manufacturers’ fault. They should make sure the clubs they give us are legal.”

The pendulum test machine, developed by Matt Pringle of the USGA, replaces the old COR test in which a golf ball was fired at a stationary club. In the new test, a metal “ball” bounces off a stationary club, squarely on the sweet spot.

Testing will be available at every event on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour.

Pringle said players are not told the precise results of the testing, only whether the club passed, because the tour believes players would bring in several drivers and pick the one closest to the allowed limit if they were told the numbers.