My old but faithful rossie II has a few dings in the shaft by the head. Probally from kids playing with it a while ago. Is the putter illegal to use now there are some dents i the shaft???? the lie and loft has not changed and you cant see it from address.

thanks

you should be able to play with it damaged as long as you didnt damage it in anger during a stipulated round. Even then as long as it was still conforming you could use it in your next round.

No worries. Play away.

A conforming club rendered nonconforming through normal use is still considered to be a conforming club. In any case, I doubt a few dings in the shaft would be sufficient to make it a nonconforming club.

I think you have to be careful. The rules, in my opinion, don't do a very good job of telling us what a damaged club is. What constitutes damage that is bad enough to render the club non-conforming? I have heard a club may be non-conforming if there is a dent in the head. I don't think I agree, but you never know what any given official is going to determine as this is a judgement call...

The rules do say however, that a dented shaft is severe enough to render a club non-conforming. I guess we need to define dings as opposed to dents???

Sound like I'm not confident in my answer?

Note to rule 4-3a

Note: A club is unfit for play if it is substantially damaged, e.g., the shaft is dented, significantly bent or broken into pieces; the clubhead becomes loose, detached or significantly deformed; or the grip becomes loose. A club is not unfit for play solely because the club's lie or loft has been altered, or the clubhead is scratched.

i think the rule you quoted kev....has it built in....the word "significant" seems significant in this discussion. a ding, other than on MY car, is not significant.

I think it is also significant that the word significant was only used for significantly bent, it is also significant that significant was not used for dented, as in significantly dented. How do you feel about the significance of where the word significant was used?





Kevin

hmmmmmm thats highly significant, but wouldnt a significant DING at some point become a significant DENT? i suppose finding the significance of the crossover point would make this post significantly more appropriate.

i wish i could discuss this further, but i have to go spend time with my significant other........not my wife, my back up putter.

Have a GREAT day, I hope your wife doesn't find out!

Kevin