Stimpmeter

The Stimpmeter is a device that is used by the USGA to read the speed of the green. The higher the number in feet, the faster the green.

The Stimpmeter was created by Edward Stimpson who, after watching the 1935 US Open at Oakmont felt that the speed of the greens were deemed unfair. "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]"

This has since became the norm and is now being used in all the professional tours worldwide.

^{Click on the USGA video link below to find out how the stimpmeter is used.}

http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/stimpmeter.html

"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, half an inch 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). The distance traveled 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 of each other for USGA validation of the test.^[2][3]

[edit]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:

(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.^[4]

[edit]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.^[5]"

^{Source: Wikipedia and USGA}