[Ben Stephens]

Makes you wonder what is the R&A's approach to the golf ball in the next few years?

Calling Melvyn!!!!

[Mark Pearce]

You have to wonder how many people in the world could, honestly, call themselves a "golf ball engineer" and, of those, how many don't work in labs owned by the big, US based, manufacturers.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Nice spot Ben, thanks for posting it.

In 1901 the R&A advertised for their first professional Secretary. 

Amongst those rejected was one HS Colt. 

[Ally Mcintosh]

I've listened to a couple of very interesting lectures by the boss man, Dr. Steve Otto... And had a great tour of the testing facilities at St.Andrews.

The fellow is extremely knowledgable and engaging but a bit like Mark said, there are so few people that can counter his research that I sometimes felt he was putting his own spin on things....

Too much spin, eh?

[Michael Whitaker]

I've listened to a couple of very interesting lectures by the boss man, Dr. Steve Otto... And had a great tour of the testing facilities at St.Andrews.

The fellow is extremely knowledgable and engaging but a bit like Mark said, there are so few people that can counter his research that I sometimes felt he was putting his own spin on things....

Too much spin, eh?

Too little spin I think, Ally, with the way the ball flys these days for the Tigers.

This is a very intriguing find, Ben. Wish they had thought of this earlier instead of whittling on The Old Course.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Mark:

To secure the position of "Golf Ball Engineer", I'd imagine that having worked in golf ball research would not be a pre-requisite, but it would be an advantage. There may be many engineers/scientists working on public/private research that have knowledge in material science and aerodynamics. Someone with a background in mathematical physics and went on to do research in materials science could be a good candidate. Relocating from the US to the home of golf could be a very attractive proposition for someone working with one of the big golf ball manufacturers.

Ally:

Surely the golf ball manufacturers would be able to assess his research? Is golf ball research published in review journals (I very much doubt it)?

Tony:

Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise for golf architecture.

[Mark Chaplin]

I was watching a programme earlier and the chap said his occupation was a "vision enhancement engineer", turns out he's a window cleaner!

[Ben Stephens]

Chappers,

Some of the new job titles out these days are ridiculous - are they too embarrassed to call themselves window cleaners or even binmen! or is it to make it look more attractive

Cheers
Ben

[Jonathan Mallard]

Another thought would be that some engineer who does these sorts of tests for say major automobile manufacturers, or even say a Nascar/Formula One team engineer who has a serious interest in golf.

They would have the background testing the aerodynamic parameters of things, and some knowledge of materials. They'd just be applying these concepts to a few different materials and some markedly different shapes and sizes.

This would be an opportunity for someone to come into the job who has the perspective of the golfer, instead of the ball manufacturers.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Geoff Shackleford has picked up on your post Ben.


One of the comments is from Frank Hannigan

“It doesn't matter a damn WHERE the testing takes place. It only matters that it occur in the same place with the same test devices.
The only reason the testing is done by and at the USGA is that the USGA could afford to hire a full time tehnical director inthe 1970s
when the R&A couldn't scrape up two dimes to test equipment. Later, when the R&A finances improved they voluntarily sent us
(the USGA) $75,000 a year, a nice symbol.. The worst possibe outcome would be for the R&A to test independently. Better the USGA should move all its testing stuff to St.Andrews to help the R^A;s ego, A truly major USGA person told me that a big equipment maker (not Acushnet) offered the R^A one million dollars to get into equipment testing so as to drive a wedge between the USGA and R&A.
A USGA president flew to St. Andrews to cut it off. "


Hannigan is a retired insider with a bunch of contacts. I've always enjoyed his occasional letters there but it does seem like he's re running the arguments of old. In this case I'm not entirely sure what the implications of his statement are?  Divide and conquer?

[Dan Herrmann]

About 4 years ago, the R&A and USGA came out to my golf club in Pennsylvania to do reduced distance ball testing with "real world golfers".   They did driving range tests and ran a Stableford tournament for us.    

Lots of Track-Man use.

The fact that the R&A flew out somebody from Scotland made me think they were serious about the subject.  IIRC, the USGA sent out 5 guys.

For what it's worth, we used a ball made by Bridgestone.  Same construction as their "e" series, but had a dimple pattern that increased spin.  The ball flight was pretty close to the old Titleist Pro Trajectory balata wound ball.

Big hitters lost the most distance (a 270 yard tee shot went about 250).  Some shorter hitters actually GAINED 5 yards length.

[Steve Lang]

  all they need is a mechanical engineer or a retired electrical engineer like tutleman at http://www.tutelman.com/golf/design/swing1.php with a slight bent to the analytical side.. but GB Engineer?  They are going to find it hard to find Professional Engineering Society certifying or chartering such..

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