Wednesday, March 14, 2012

What is a Stimpmeter?

The Stimpmeter made its official debut into golf in 1936, but began its official use by the USGA in 1978.  It has been an invaluable tool to superintendents, but what do golfers really know about the Stimpmeter?

History

It was designed by golfer Edward Stimpson, Sr. in 1935.[1] The Massachusetts state amateur champion, Stimpson was a spectator at that year's U.S. Open at Oakmont. After watching a putt by a top professional (Gene Sarazen) roll off a green, Stimpson was convinced the greens were unreasonably fast, but wondered how he could prove it. He developed a device, now known as the Stimpmeter, which is an angled track that releases a ball at a known velocity so that the distance it rolls on a green's surface can be measured. Although the original device was made of wood, in 1976 it was redesigned from aluminum by Frank Thomas of the United States Golf Association(USGA). It was first used by the USGA during the 1976 U.S. Open at Atlanta and made available to golf course superintendents in 1978. The official USGA stimpmeter (painted green) is not sold to the public.[1]

Description

The device is an extruded aluminum bar, 36 inches (91 cm) long and 1.75 inches (4.4 cm) wide, with a 145° V-shaped groove extending along its entire length, supporting the ball at two points, 1⁄2 in (1.3 cm) apart. It is tapered at one end by removing metal from its underside to reduce the bounce of the ball as it rolls onto the green. It has a notch at a right angle to the length of the bar 30 inches (76 cm) from the lower tapered end where the ball is placed. The notch may be a hole completely through the bar or just a depression in it. The ball is pulled out of the notch by gravity when the device is slowly raised to an angle of about 20°, rolling onto the green at a repeatable velocity of 6.00 ft/s (1.83 m/s).[2] The distance travelled by the ball in feet is the 'speed' of the putting green. Six distances, three in each of two opposite directions, should be averaged on a flat section of the putting green. The three balls in each direction must be within 8 inches (20 cm) of each other for USGA validation of the test.[3][4]

Sloped greens

One problem on modern greens is finding a near level surface as required in the USGA handbook. Many greens cannot be correctly measured as you cannot find an area where the measured distance or green speed in opposing directions is less than a foot, particularly when they are very fast requiring a very long level surface. A. Douglas Brede was able to devise a formula to solve that problem. His formula:
\frac{2\times S\uparrow \times\ S\downarrow}{S\uparrow +\ S\downarrow}
(where S↑ is speed up the slope and S↓ is speed down the slope) eliminates the effect of the slope and provides a true green speed even on severely sloped greens.[5]


Recommendations

The USGA stimpmetered putting greens across the country to produce the following recommendations:[1]
  • Slow greens: 4.5 feet
  • Medium greens: 6.5 feet
  • Fast greens: 8.5 feet
For the U.S. Open, they recommend:[1]
  • Slow greens: 6.5 feet
  • Medium greens: 8.5 feet
  • Fast greens: 10.5 feet
The greens at Oakmont Country Club (where the device was conceived) are some of the fastest in the world, with readings of 13–15 feet.



References

  1. ^ a b c d Frank Thomas (October, 2001). "Equipment Extra: Eddie Stimpson's slant on putting". Golf Digest.
  2. ^ Brian W. Holmes, "Dialogue concerning the Stimpmeter", The Physics Teacher 24/7 (1986) 401–404.
  3. ^ USGA Stimpmeter Instruction Booklet
  4. ^ Stimpmeter — Measure putting green speed
  5. ^ A. Douglas Brede, Measuring green speed on sloped putting greensPDF (675KB)
  6. ^ "Oakmont: Rock & roll (& roll & roll & roll) nightmare". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-06-10.

External links


"Click" on the link below to watch the video Mythbusters-The Stimpmeter, What Do Golfers Know?.

http://www.gcsaa.tv/view.php?id=405

If you are interested in a "hands-on experience" with the Stimpmeter, please give me a call and we can set up a time to Stimp a few greens at ERGC.

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