TOP: JOHN MUMMERT/USGA PHOTO ARCHIVES (2); SPITZER: MATT RAINEY/USGA PHOTO ARCHIVES
LEFT: A Stimpmeter is used to help determine the speed of a green. RIGHT: Out in the field, the USGA
is using technologies to track the speed, as well as the angle and spin, of the ball from the time the
driver hits it until it lands.
Open at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands
Course in Duluth, Ga., not, technically, to
measure speed, but rather to ensure green
speed consistency, much as the Tru-Firm
does with compactness.
However, so many of today’s putting
surfaces undulate so dramatically that it’s
tough to find 10 or 12 rollable feet. So the
USGA designed a Stimp that requires half
the area. This one has a second groove, on
its underside. It’s broader, and when the rod
is held at half the angle, the ball rolls half
the distance. So a distance of six feet gives
a reading of 12. One can only hope that
we don’t need this during next weekend’s
member-guest.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Which brings us to the center’s latest, and
perhaps most important, mission: to help fix
the pace of play. Physics meets philosophy
(and economics).
All the major golf organizations have
identified slow play, along with cost and golf
course difficulty, as the major obstacle to
the game’s growth. The USGA already has
a policy of “firm and fast,” based on those
sort of course conditions being infinitely
more enjoyable—and therefore more
promotable—than, well, soft and slow.
But what on earth has this to do with the
w w w. v s g a . o r g
Master_VSGA_Sept13_MASTER2.indd 33
T and Research Center?
est
Part of it has to do with reducing the
overall distance standard in that, the longer
the ball flies, the longer and larger golf
courses must become, and that’s pure money.
But it also is about data, and the center has
reams of information from years of testing
clubs and balls.
“We’re looking at reducing distance and
how that might affect the game,” Spitzer says.
“The purpose is to do ‘what-if?’ studies. We’re
trying to develop a model. There’s no intent
to rope the ball back, but we are asking such
things as: ‘Would that reduce maintenance
costs?’ And how might equipment affect pace
of play?
“We’re engineers first, so we’re trying
to approach the issue from a scientific
standpoint, applying scientific principles.
We’re looking at the long-term economy of
the game.”
Which sounds like the USGA’s Research
and T Center is departing from its mission
est
to preserve skill and challenge for the benefit
of all.
Or perhaps it is not.
Born in Scotland, Robin McMillan has
written on golf from New York City for
three decades. This is his first contribution to
Virginia Golfer.
John Spitzer gives visitors a behind-the-scenes
look at the Test Center.
If you go
The USGA’s Research and Test
Center, one of the most sophisticated
and technically advanced golf
equipment test facilities in the country,
is located at its headquarters at 77
Liberty Corner Road, Far Hills, N.J.
07931, Phone: (908) 234-2300. Tours
of the Test Center are available to
USGA Museum visitors.
Museum Hours: Open Tuesday
through Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
The museum is closed on Mondays
and major holidays.
Admission:
Adults: $7
USGA members: $5
Seniors aged 62 and older: $5
Senior USGA members: $3.50
Children aged 13-17: $3.50
Children aged 12 and younger: Free
admission
Veterans: $3.50
Group rate (10 or more): $5 each
September/October 2013 | Virginia Golfer
33
8/30/13 8:38 AM