Conformance & Competition

Old-world materials. Modern original clubs.

Campfire Clubs aren’t antiques, and they aren’t replicas of antique golf clubs. They were never intended to be. Every design starts with the idea of making something original — a different head shape, a different joint, a way of working wood with the tools I had beside a campfire.

Hickory, native hardwoods and exotic woods connect the clubs to golf’s past. The designs themselves belong to the present.

Classic Campfire and One Piece putters are made to be played. Meeting the modern equipment specifications is a design requirement for these standard clubs, not an afterthought. When you want a Campfire putter for the course, we’ll design and build it to meet the applicable rules.

Hickory competition

Society of Hickory Golfers

No. Campfire Clubs are not antique pre-1935 clubs or faithful reproductions of such clubs. They aren’t made or presented as approved equipment for Society of Hickory Golfers sanctioned competitions.

Read the SoHG equipment guidelines

Modern golf

USGA Equipment Rules

Our standard Classic Campfire and One Piece putters are built to meet the applicable USGA/R&A equipment specifications. Playability and conformity are part of the design from the start. If you want a Campfire Club for regular rounds or tournament play, we can build it to the required measurements and construction rules. The final conformity of any individual club still depends on that club meeting all applicable requirements.

Read USGA clubhead rules

Original doesn’t have to mean antique.

Tournament Committee Information Full Equipment Rules

When the Club Is the Art

Only a small number of Campfire projects deliberately step outside the usual competition specifications. That’s a conscious exception, not the standard: sometimes a customer asks for something unusual, or we’re simply making something cool for the fun of it. Designs like the Whiskey Barrel, Shark, Stratocaster and Cadillac show that creative side. A themed head may raise the rule against shapes designed to resemble other objects; the Whiskey Barrel also raises a front-to-back versus heel-to-toe dimensional concern. These are design considerations, not formal rulings on those individual pieces.

If a requested design isn’t intended to conform, we’ll discuss that with the customer before building it. If the club is meant to be played, we’ll work within the rules.

Sometimes the point is simply to make something no one has made before.

Unconventional dark reddish wood putter head with sculpted openings and a metal element set into its top
Brightly polished reddish wood sculptural putter head with a circular opening and two curved points on black background
Unusual wooden putter head with a metal-shaped central feature and sculpted wooden extensions, photographed on a green background
Handcrafted reddish wooden Cadillac putter with decorative Cadillac crest resting on green grass

Tournament Committee Reference

Classic Campfire and One Piece putters are designed and built for conforming play. This quick reference helps players and officials review the applicable dimensions on an individual club. The following are selected specifications from the joint USGA/R&A Equipment Rules, Part 2 — they are not a certificate of conformance.

7 in. maximumOverall clubhead heel-to-toe length
2.5 in. maximumClubhead height, sole to top, including permitted features
Heel-to-toe > face-to-backThe head must be wider across than it is deep front to back
Face width ≥ ⅔ of depthHeel-to-toe length of the face must be at least two-thirds of the head’s face-to-back depth
Face width ≥ ½ of head widthFace’s heel-to-toe length must be at least half of the overall head’s heel-to-toe length
18 in. minimum lengthOverall club length; putters have no general 48-inch maximum

Additional checks

  • The putter’s loft must not exceed 10°, and its shaft alignment must meet the applicable angle requirements, including the usual minimum 10° divergence from vertical in the heel-to-toe plane in normal address.
  • Head, face, shaft, grip, attachments and construction must satisfy the remaining Equipment Rules. The head must be generally plain in shape and must not be designed to resemble another object.
  • Measurements are taken in the club’s normal address position as specified by the governing bodies. Unusual shapes may need an official interpretation.
Important distinction: a checklist is not an approval.

Our standard putters are built to satisfy the equipment requirements for play; a deliberately nonconforming custom art piece would be identified as such before it is built. That is a statement about our design and building approach, not an official USGA approval of every individual putter. The USGA does not include putters in its public Equipment Database, but a specific putter can be submitted for an official determination. Measurements alone do not establish that every rule has been met.

The player should ask the tournament committee about the particular club before competition if there is any doubt. The USGA/R&A can provide a formal ruling; a committee may seek their guidance.

Official references for tournament officials

USGA Equipment Rules — Part 2, Section 4 (Clubhead)

The R&A — full Part 2 (Club, Shaft, Grip, Clubhead, Face)

USGA — Rule 4.1, using conforming clubs

USGA — submit equipment for a formal ruling

SoHG — equipment guidelines (August 2026)

This page provides background and selected rules for discussion, not an official determination that a particular Campfire Club conforms. Tournament requirements and equipment rulings should be verified before play.

Questions About Your Club?

Want a Campfire putter you’ll be able to play? Tell Jeff from the start. We’ll build around the applicable equipment specifications and discuss any special design requests that would change that goal. For tournament questions about an existing club, send photographs and event details so we can review its design and whether an official ruling is needed.

Ask Jeff About Competition