The $175 Groove Tester
$175,000 down to $175. That’s a pretty good cost reduction for testing grooves.
Of course, this groove testing is all for naught. The players will get softer balls and learn new techniques, and bomb and gouge golf will continue unabated on the PGA Tour.
Golfweek | USGA takes on-site groove testing for a spin.
Interestingly, the USGA developed its field test in-house. As the story goes, over a year ago the USGA purchased a state-of-the-art, 3-D optical-measurement device to analyze grooves. The price tag: $175,000.
“It was absurd to think of taking the machine on Tour,” Rugge said.
What to do? Well, after much experimenting the USGA settled on a solution featuring the V500 Epson flatbed scanner. Retail price: $175.
“We got the first one from Staples,” Rugge said.
On-site, here’s how it works. The USGA takes a mold of the grooves using two putty-like materials. Then a section of the mold (which takes 10 minutes to be cured) is sliced off with a device Rugge calls “the bagel cutter.” The mold is placed on the scanner and analyzed by a software program developed in conjunction with the R&A.