Chipper Legality

[wmathias]

Hi, Are these chippers legal for tournament play? I've tried to make head or tail of it on the RandA rules site, but it's beyond me!

 

32 inches long and one has a superstroke fatso 3 grip on. 35 degees of loft for one and 37 for the other. They both have alignment aids on the top edge.

 

 

[Hawkeye77]

You don’t identify the brand/model. 
 

Pretty sure the putter grip is illegal. Otherwise need to comply with the Equipment Rules. 

Edited February 5 by Hawkeye77

[davep043]

The look legal to me, a single striking face, and the grips appear to be round in cross section.  You should check the white grip to be sure, the grip (other than for a putter) may not have flat sides, and some of those superstroke grips to.

[Shallowface]

2 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

You don’t identify the brand/model. 
 

Pretty sure the putter grip is illegal. Otherwise need to comply with the Equipment Rules. 

Other than the putter grip, I think the ones pictured are fine.  I don't think a simple line on the flange is a problem.  There used to be one called a T-Line that had an alignment appendage on it similar to the putters of that brand, and I think that was considered non-conforming.  The "two-way" chippers which are still available are non-conforming because two striking faces are only permitted in putters.  

 

Looks like one of them has an oversized swing grip on it, so that's a good idea for someone wanting a large grip but can't legally use a SuperStroke or the like.  One could use the largest of the JumboMax products if desired.

 

Chippers always seem to come with a "stigma" to some, but there are a huge number of golfers who would be well served to swap out the 60 degree in the bag in favor of one.

 

Many years ago when visiting Las Vegas I was paired with an older couple.  The lady had a chipper made by the Stan Thompson company famous for their Ginty woods.  This chipper had no characteristics of a Ginty, but was essentially a lofted putter, probably around 26 degrees.  This lady never hit a green in regulation all day, but she shot the easiest 76 you'd ever see by hitting every fairway, bumping an approach up the fairway just short of the green, one with 'ol Stan up near the hole and tap in for par.  Lather/Rinse/Repeat for 14 of the 18 holes.

 

Now of course there are courses where that wouldn't work, but it sure worked on that one.           

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, davep043 said:

The look legal to me, a single striking face, and the grips appear to be round in cross section.  You should check the white grip to be sure, the grip (other than for a putter) may not have flat sides, and some of those superstroke grips to.

Yep, was thinking "putter grip" without the possibility it might be round.  OP - replace that one anyway!

[wmathias]

Many thanks for the clarification guys. Is there a circular putter that would be legal?

[st1800e]

7 minutes ago, wmathias said:

Many thanks for the clarification guys. Is there a circular putter that would be legal?

Are you asking about a “circular grip”? Here’s a non-putter grip that would be legal. 
 

https://www.golfworks.com/g1-design-non-taper-wrap-grips/p/g10001/

[Shallowface]

16 hours ago, wmathias said:

Many thanks for the clarification guys. Is there a circular putter that would be legal?

I don't think there are any.  I don't know of a putter grip that doesn't have at least some edges on it, no matter how soft, and none of those are going to be conforming on a chipper.

 

Swing grips used to be quite common on putters, particularly on those sold in the half sets of the 60s and 70s.  Even the very first Zebra putters had a round grip on them.

[JungleJimbo]

37 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

I don't think there are any.  I don't know of a putter grip that doesn't have at least some edges on it, no matter how soft, and none of those are going to be conforming on a chipper.

 

Swing grips used to be quite common on putters, particularly on those sold in the half sets of the 60s and 70s.  Even the very first Zebra putters had a round grip on them.

Edel has a round putter grip: https://edelgolf.com/products/edel-round-putter-grip 

 

 

Edited February 6 by JungleJimbo

[iacas]

35 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

I don't think there are any.  I don't know of a putter grip that doesn't have at least some edges on it, no matter how soft, and none of those are going to be conforming on a chipper.

 

https://edelgolf.com/collections/grips-weights/products/edel-round-putter-grip

[antip]

10 hours ago, Shallowface said:

I don't think there are any.  I don't know of a putter grip that doesn't have at least some edges on it, no matter how soft, and none of those are going to be conforming on a chipper.

 

Swing grips used to be quite common on putters, particularly on those sold in the half sets of the 60s and 70s.  Even the very first Zebra putters had a round grip on them.

I have the first Zebra model that came to Australia (70s), still in my garage. It has the original leather wrapped grip - so tapered to the shaft, not round. 

[Shallowface]

On 2/6/2024 at 7:56 AM, iacas said:

 

https://edelgolf.com/collections/grips-weights/products/edel-round-putter-grip

That should be fine on a chipper, but I wouldn't pay $20 for it.   

 

   

Edited February 7 by Shallowface

[Shallowface]

15 hours ago, antip said:

I have the first Zebra model that came to Australia (70s), still in my garage. It has the original leather wrapped grip - so tapered to the shaft, not round. 

The roundness is described in the rules as "circular in cross section."  The grip is still considered round even if the shaft is tapered.  No different than it would be on a club that isn't a putter.

 

Unless I'm not understanding what you mean.  

[rogolf]

15 hours ago, antip said:

I have the first Zebra model that came to Australia (70s), still in my garage. It has the original leather wrapped grip - so tapered to the shaft, not round. 

I have one of those also - has a white Zebra disc in the top end of the grip (at least it probably was white originally, yellowed now).  Mine has a flat front, so it's not circular in x-section, wouldn't be permitted on an iron/chipper.

Edited February 7 by rogolf

[Schulzmc]

Without taking the thread too far afield... can someone shed light on the reasoning behind allowing a different profile for putting grips? It would seem that we should either make putters conform to the same rules as every other club or allow the same variance in all clubs. 

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, Schulzmc said:

Without taking the thread too far afield... can someone shed light on the reasoning behind allowing a different profile for putting grips? It would seem that we should either make putters conform to the same rules as every other club or allow the same variance in all clubs. 

 

Because a putter is a different class of club. We have different CoR rules for clubs with 15° of loft or less (IIRC), too.

 

And because, traditionally, maybe putters had flat grips, so when they finally wrote the rules on this, they didn't want to ban/outlaw a bunch of existing clubs.

[antip]

10 hours ago, Shallowface said:

The roundness is described in the rules as "circular in cross section."  The grip is still considered round even if the shaft is tapered.  No different than it would be on a club that isn't a putter.

 

Unless I'm not understanding what you mean.  

Yes, circular in cross section, but there was a picture earlier of a grip that was round (same diameter) for most of its full length, not just circular in cross section. I was just noting my Zebra was not like that. 

 

7 hours ago, iacas said:

 

And because, traditionally, maybe putters had flat grips, so when they finally wrote the rules on this, they didn't want to ban/outlaw a bunch of existing clubs.

My understanding (right, wrong or otherwise) is flat grips came much later. The very first flat grips in Australia I am aware of (around 1970 or not long after) were not actually flat grips at all. They were unwrapped leather grips and then a hacksaw blade placed on the shaft and the leather re-wrapped. Folk went "oh that's a nice feel"  liking the thumbs down the shaft and they took off from there.

[Schulzmc]

On 2/7/2024 at 10:43 AM, iacas said:

Because a putter is a different class of club. We have different CoR rules for clubs with 15° of loft or less (IIRC), too.

So drivers have a different set of rules? Interesting!

 

[rogolf]

On 2/7/2024 at 4:33 PM, antip said:

Yes, circular in cross section, but there was a picture earlier of a grip that was round (same diameter) for most of its full length, not just circular in cross section. I was just noting my Zebra was not like that. 

 

My understanding (right, wrong or otherwise) is flat grips came much later. The very first flat grips in Australia I am aware of (around 1970 or not long after) were not actually flat grips at all. They were unwrapped leather grips and then a hacksaw blade placed on the shaft and the leather re-wrapped. Folk went "oh that's a nice feel"  liking the thumbs down the shaft and they took off from there.

Must have been slow getting to Australia then.  I have an Acushnet Bullseye, circa 1964, that has the original leather grip with is flat on the top (front) side.

[antip]

9 hours ago, rogolf said:

Must have been slow getting to Australia then.  I have an Acushnet Bullseye, circa 1964, that has the original leather grip with is flat on the top (front) side.

Perhaps the locals near me were coming up with a poor kid version. 
I had an Acushnet Bullseye centre shaft from the 70s too. And a Wilson 8813 blade complete with hacksaw blade under the leather.

[rogolf]

2 hours ago, antip said:

Perhaps the locals near me were coming up with a poor kid version. 
I had an Acushnet Bullseye centre shaft from the 70s too. And a Wilson 8813 blade complete with hacksaw blade under the leather.

The Bullseye putters were popular when the greens were slow - I actually learned to play on sand greens - very, very slow!  I think Corey Pavin was the last player I saw using one, or something very similar.