If you currently have a Nike Sumo SQ driver in your bag, or you are interested in purchasing one, you might be curious if it is legal to use. There are a lot of golfers who think the Nike Sumo SQ is illegal to use. To figure this out, I decided to check the USGA’s and Randa’s ruling on this club.
Is The Nike Sumo SQ Driver Illegal? According to the USGA and Randa.org, all versions of the Nike Sumo SQ Driver are totally legal for all casual, amateur, high-level amateur, and professional tournaments. In other words, all versions of the Nike Sumo SQ Driver conform to the equipment regulations.
In total, there are 29 versions of the Nike SQ Sumo Driver, all of which are legal to use. This includes the 5900, 5900 HL, 5000 HL V1, 460 JDI, 460 JDI V2, 460 (LH), 5900 (LH), 5000 (LH) V1, 5000 (LH) V2, 460 Lucky 13, 5900 Lucky, 460 Lucky 13 (LH), 5900 Lucky (LH), 5000 (offset), 460 Sweet 16, 460 (tour), Sumo Tour V2, Tour JDI V2, 460 V1, 460 V2, 460 V3, 5000 V1, 5000 V2, 460 V2, 460 V3, 460 V4, 5000 V1 (LH), 460 V4 (LH), 5000 V1 (LH), 460 V4 (LH), and 460 V4 Lucky 13.
Randa.org Conforming Club Database: Nike Sumo SQ Driver
A go-to resource to see if any club is illegal in golf is the Randa Conforming golf club database. This database allows anyone to view which clubs conform to Randa’s golf equipment standards. So, by searching up the Nike Sumo SQ, anyone can see which versions of the club are legal.
Below is a screenshot from their website. Because there are 29 legal versions of the club I could not fit all of them into the screenshot, so it is just a small sample of a larger set of legal Sumo SQ drivers.
In the photo, I have the ‘containing’ filter set for ‘sumo’ and the ‘category’ filter set for ‘conforming drivers’. This means that any conforming drivers in the database that contain the word “Sumo” in their name will appear.
When searched, all 29 versions of Nike’s Sumo club appear. This solidifies that these clubheads do in fact conform to equipment standards. If you feel so inclined to go through the entire list, feel free to search this club yourself.
You can also click and read more details about each individual clubhead. Reading “more details” will allow you to see all the legal lofts as well as the unique identification marks such as sole details, MOI information, groove information, hosel information, etc.
USGA Conforming Club List: Nike Sumo SQ Driver
Another go to resource is the USGA’s conforming club list PDF. This list is an actively updated document that has every single conforming club listed. Additionally, it has more information on loft and identification markings, similar to Randa.
This list has over 7,630 conforming clubs in it and counting. Below is a screenshot from the PDF. Unsurprisingly, I was not able to fit all of the clubs in one screenshot, so this is just a small sample of that larger list.
As stated above, I was not able to fit all versions of the club in one screenshot, as it takes up over 4 pages in the PDF. Nevertheless this doubles down on the fact that the Nike Sumo club conforms to all governing bodies’ rules on conforming equipment.
Final Thoughts: Legality Of Nike Sumo SQ Driver
After going through the governing bodies’ database, it is clear that all versions of the Nike Sumo SQ are legal to use in any type of round or tournament. Not only is this good news if you already have this club, but it is also good news if you were planning to purchase this club.
If there is an instance where someone questions your Nike Sumo SQ, just point them towards the USGA or Randa resource so they can see that there is nothing illegal about these clubs.