Stimpmeter

The Stimpmeter is a device used to measure the speed of a golf course putting green by applying a known velocity to a golf ball and measuring the distance traveled in feet.

==History== It was designed in 1935 by golfer Edward S. Stimpson, Sr. (1904–1985). The Massachusetts state amateur champion and former Harvard golf team captain, Stimpson was a spectator at the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, where the winning score was 299 (+11). After witnessing a putt by a top professional (Gene Sarazen, a two-time champion) roll off a green, Stimpson was convinced the greens were unreasonably fast, but wondered how he could prove it. He developed a device, made of wood, 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.