What is a Stimpmeter? | Golf Digest

Golf Digest joins writer David Owen as he explores the mystical golf device known as the Stimpmeter. What is it? How did it come to be? David will explore these questions and more in this tongue-in-cheek documentary. Transcript [Narrator] My name is David Owen. I m a writer but I spend most of my time thinking about golf, either playing it or watching it on TV. TV commentators are always talking about how fast the greens are on the courses that the tour players play. [Commentator] We heard this morning the green is running at almost on the stimpmeter. [Man] That s ridiculous! [Narrator] Then recently I got to wondering exactly how fast are the greens on the course where I play most of my golf. If you watch any golf on TV, you hear commentators and tour players talking about stimpmeters. So what is a stimpmeter? In Edward Stimpson invented an easy way to measure green speed, the stimpmeter. I d never actually seen one though until I borrowed this one from my superintendent. It s a three-foot long extruded aluminum bar with a little trough that runs down the center. There s a notch up here, you place a golf ball in it, set this end on the putting surface, then you slowly lift this end until gravity makes the ball fall out of the notch, and then you measure how far it rolls across the green. [Narrator] You do that three times, and you measure the average distance that the ball rolls, then you turn around and do it three times in the other direction. Then you measure the average distance that the ball rolls that way. And then you combine the two numbers and divide them by two, and that s the putting speed of the green. (chime) But like most golfers I don t do most of my practicing on a golf course. So I m going to take this stimpmeter and measure some of the surfaces where I really do most of my putting. [Narrator] This is my house. It was built in about , and one of the great things about it is that it contains no level surfaces. The floor of my living room not only slopes from end to end but also sags on the diagonal. This rug belonged to my grandparents. I played on it a lot when I was a little kid so I know where all the breaks are. The first thing you see when you come in my house is this hallway. It s a good place to putt because it s got lots of break. This is the dining room. We got rid of the dining room table because we never eat in here. We replaced it with a pool table, and now we never play pool in here. We used to have two dachshunds and to them the legs of the pool table looked like fire hydrants. [Narrator] The kitchen is a good place to practice putting because it s close to the fridge. The porch is a little more realistic because it s almost outside, like a real golf course. And that got me to thinking. Hmm. [Narrator] There are a lot of other potential putting surfaces in the world. Why not test those? The first place I tried was right outside my door in my front yard. I ve taken thousands of divots out here, but sad to say, it s not a very good surface for putting. There s a big school next door and it has an artificial turf field. From a distance it looks so smooth that you d think it would be great to putt on but it s not actually all that much better than my yard. The school has tennis courts too. They putt great, but they re crowded. (screaming) So I found a place that wasn t crowded at all. This big empty parking lot. It s easy to measure because the spaces are exactly nine feet wide. But it s just not a very good putting surface. Luckily though, there s a bowling alley right next to this parking lot. My golf buddies and I used to go bowling during the winter when our course was closed. But we never actually tried playing golf there. The lanes are too fast. But the carpet is great. And that got me thinking that maybe I should go carpet shopping. (lively music) A carpet store is an amazing place. All these potential putting surfaces just hanging from the wall. I tried out dozens of different kinds. Even a carpet that s really good for putting has to be maintained properly. Then in a line of rolled up samples against the wall, I found the perfect putting surface. I don t love the pattern but the speed is great. [Narrator] Thanks to Edward Stimpson and my stimpmeter, I found the perfect carpet. This would look good in my yard, too. And I wouldn t have to mow it. Still haven’t subscribed to Golf Digest on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/golfdigestyoutubesub ABOUT GOLF DIGEST Home of the annual Hot List, instructional videos, news and trends, Golf Digest is the definitive destination for all-things golf. What is a Stimpmeter? | Golf Digest