"The USGA will begin charging submitters of clubs and other equipment for official conformance evaluations."

Thanks to reader Kevin for spotting this discussion group posting of a USGA announcement to manufacturers.

To: Equipment Manufacturers

This is to inform you that, beginning with all submissions received on or after April 1, 2009, the USGA will begin charging submitters of clubs and other equipment for official conformance evaluations. This is being done to partially defray the cost of services provided by the USGA’s Research and Test Center and to more equitably distribute the cost of that support among the all equipment manufacturers.
Charges will be as follows:

Woods $ 150 each
Hybrids $ 150 each
Iron sets $ 500 per set
Individual Iron Heads $ 150 each
Putters $ 50 each
Other (tees, gloves, shoes, etc.) $ 50 each

There will continue to be no charge for the USGA’s opinions regarding potential conformance of prototypes, mock-ups, or concepts of golf equipment technology communicated to the USGA. There will also be no charge for re-submissions of clubs or other items that were submitted prior to April 1, 2009.

Payment information will soon be available on the USGA website under “Getting Equipment Tested”.

The USGA has charged for golf ball evaluations since 1979. During this time the USGA has not generally charged for evaluations of golf clubs. However, in the past decade, advances in golf club technology have resulted in the USGA dedicating a substantially increased amount of time, expense and sophisticated research to evaluate clubs for conformance with The Rules of Golf. In addition, during the same time period, the number of equipment submissions to the USGA has also increased significantly.

Therefore, the USGA has determined that it is now appropriate and equitable to apply a charge for all golf equipment conformance decisions. The USGA will continue to fund a substantial majority of Research and Test Center costs. If you have any questions, please contact Dick Rugge, P.O. Box 708, Far Hills, NJ 07931, Fax 908-234-0138, e-mail: drugge@usga.org