Our Fact-Checking Policy
Every claim, every number, every rule citation on this site gets checked against a primary source before it goes live. Prices are re-checked quarterly. Stats are re-checked whenever the referenced season ends. This is how we do it — and who does it.
Golf has a specifics problem. The difference between a 12° driver and a 10.5°, between “ball speed” and “smash factor”, between the R&A’s ruling and the USGA’s — those details matter, and most golf publishing gets at least some of them wrong. Fact-checking is how we protect against it.
The Hierarchy of Sources
When we verify a claim, we reach for the best-available source in this order. A claim is only published when it’s sourced from tier 1 or tier 2 — tier 3 gets labelled as such.
Tier 1 — Primary
- The R&A and USGA Rules of Golf (current edition).
- Manufacturer technical spec sheets (direct from the manufacturer, not retailer listings).
- PGA Tour official statistics (pgatour.com/stats).
- DP World Tour, LPGA, LIV official stats pages.
- Peer-reviewed journals (biomechanics, sports medicine).
- Our own controlled testing data (see Testing Methodology).
- Direct, on-the-record interviews with named experts.
Tier 2 — Authoritative secondary
- Reputable golf media (Golf.com, Golf Digest, Golf Channel) — used to cross-reference, rarely as the sole source.
- Established industry publications (Pellucid Corp, Golf Datatech).
- Governmental and educational bodies (Sport England, NCAA).
Tier 3 — Noted and labelled
- Manufacturer marketing claims not backed by a technical spec.
- Individual tour player quotes sourced from post-round interviews.
- Social media posts by verified accounts.
If we publish something sourced from tier 3, we say so explicitly in the text — “according to [brand]’s marketing materials” or “in a post-round interview.”
What Gets Checked
Every article passes a claim-level review. The fact-checker reads the piece with three coloured pens:
- Green — claim is sourced, link is valid, source is current. Pass.
- Orange — claim is plausible but the source cited is weak or outdated. Author is asked for a stronger source.
- Red — claim cannot be verified. Either rewrite, source, or cut.
Specifically, every piece is checked for:
- Prices. Checked against at least two major retailers within 30 days of publication. Re-checked quarterly for as long as the article is cited in buyer’s guides.
- Technical specs. Club lofts, lengths, shaft weights, ball compression ratings — checked against the manufacturer’s engineering spec sheet, not the retail listing.
- Tour statistics. Checked against the governing body’s official stats site at time of publication.
- Rules citations. Checked against the current R&A/USGA rulebook with the rule number cited in the article.
- Quotes. Checked against original source audio, press releases, or the interview transcript. Paraphrased quotes are flagged as such.
- Names, titles, affiliations. Cross-referenced against LinkedIn, institutional websites, or the person’s known public profile.
- Historical claims. Golf history is full of apocrypha. Claims like “first player to …” or “oldest course in …” are checked against at least two independent sources.
Who Fact-Checks
Fact-checking is a named role on our masthead, not a background task. Two staff fact-checkers handle:
- First pass: the author. Every writer is expected to source as they write and produce a claim register with the final draft — a list of every factual claim and its source. No register, no review.
- Second pass: the fact-checker. Our fact-checkers independently verify every entry in the register. They may ask the author to add stronger sources, kill weak claims, or rewrite ambiguous passages.
- Third pass (technical only): the expert reviewer. When a piece touches instruction, biomechanics, fitting, or rules, a member of the Expert Review Board does a final read-through. Their initials appear in the page metadata.
Re-Checking Published Content
Facts rot. Our re-check cadence:
- Pricing: quarterly for any article in an active buyer’s guide; annually for everything else.
- Tour stats: at the end of every PGA Tour, LPGA, and DP World Tour season.
- Rules: every January, against the R&A/USGA update cycle.
- Manufacturer specs: on new product releases and whenever a reader flags a discrepancy.
If We Get It Wrong
Even with this system, we make mistakes. When we do, we correct them publicly and log the correction — see our Corrections Policy. If you spot an unsourced or weakly-sourced claim, tell us and we’ll run it back through fact-check within 72 hours.
15 Apr 2026