As well as advising manufacturers that they should submit clubs to the USGA for a ruling as to their conformity, the preamble to Appendix II also states that where a club, or part of a club, is required by the Rules to have some specific property, it means that the club or part must have been designed and manufactured with the intention of having that property. It also states that the finished product must have that property within manufacturing tolerances appropriate to the material used.

This point can be illustrated using Appendix II, 2a, which states, in part, that “The shaft must be straight ...” For the purposes of the Rules, this means that manufacturers are expected to design their shafts with the intention that they will be straight. However, taking into consideration the materials commonly used to make shafts, and the manufacturing techniques involved, it is not always possible for them to be perfectly straight. The preamble to Appendix II accepts that as long as the shaft is straight by design and “within manufacturing tolerances” appropriate to the material(s) used, then it would conform (for further example, see Section 2b).

Appendix II divides the club into five separate categories and describes the specifications that must apply to each. The five categories are as follows:

1. The Club (in general)
2. The Shaft
3. The Grip
4. The Clubhead
5. The Club Face

The following section will examine the preceding five categories in detail. Each sub-section will begin by stating the relevant rule (shaded in blue) and then explain what is meant by the rule, as well as how to apply it. When the explanations incorporate a specific ‘guideline’ which has been adopted by the Equipment Standards Committee, it will be highlighted with blue text.