Golf Club Testing: Does it Help Your Golf Game?
The USGA is constantly testing golf clubs to make sure the equipment manufactures are complying with the rules. The primary reason the USGA tests golf equipment is to make sure that skill is still the most important factor in golf and not high technology equipment. The Research and Test Center of the USGA has over twenty thousand square feet of space and an outdoor area for testing golf equipment.
The Center contains golf club testing equipment as well as golf ball testing equipment and a staff of experts who have the background to understand the technology that manufactures are bringing to the game of golf and they have the ability to understand the ramifications of certain types of high technology equipment can have for the game for golf.
Employees
The Center is the workplace of highly skilled technicians as well as administrative people who are involved with the submissions by the manufactures and the various rulings. The USGA center also employs engineers who are involved in a variety of research programs for the game of golf including golf club testing. The employees of the USGA Research and Test Center have a common goal of creating and enforcing the standards that have been set for golf equipment in the rules of golf.
The USGA is considered to be the governing authority for the rules of golf and this authority also covers golf club testing. The technical workers at the center follow the concepts provided in the Joint Statement of Principles that was set in 2002 with the assistance of the R&A located in St. Andrews in Scotland. These principles are the guides that are used while testing golf clubs and other equipment and enforcing rules regarding the types of equipment they approve for the game.
Equipment Advances
Golf equipment has seen numerous advances over the years which has improved the ability of golfers and perhaps has added more pleasure for those who play the game of golf; however the USGA is concerned about equipment making the game too easy and taking away from skill as being the main factor for excellent play.
The USGA Research and Test Center is sent almost three thousand golf equipment submissions on an annual basis. They receive about nine hundred different types of golf balls each year as well as over two thousand golf equipment items including golf clubs, shafts, tees, club heads as well as other devices. The golf equipment typically comes from manufactures; however they also receive requests for testing by individuals who have made equipment.
Regarding the testing of golf clubs, all the various components of a club are analyzed and tested in order to determine the performance of the golf club. The different components of the club also have to meet their specifications. The USGA is pleased to perform golf club testing to make sure that technology does not dominate the game of golf.
