"I Feel the Need ... the Need for Speed!"

"I feel the need ... the need for speed!" Although it's a line from the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, many golfers have the same feeling when it comes to putting green speed. 

While not the only aspect, green speed is an important component of a putting green’s overall quality. Consequently, in the winter golf season at Olde Florida, green speed is checked daily on two greens (the two greens are rotated each day). 

Green speed is the distance, measured in feet and inches that a ball travels after being released from the inclined plane of a measuring device. Although Eddie Stimpson developed the original Stimpmeter in the 1930s, an improved design of the device was released and endorsed by the United States Golf Association in 1977. 

More recently, in 2004, another device used to measure green speed was released, the PELZmeter. The PELZmeter was designed to reduce the variability associated with the Stimpmeter. The PELZmeter implements a bubble level system to ensure the ball is released from a consistent height on a tapered ramp, which releases the ball horizontally onto the green to minimize ball bounce. The PELZmeter’s three side-by-side grooves help to minimize ball-tracking effects.

While both devices work well, the PELZmeter is the preferred green speed measuring device at Olde Florida, primarily due to the consistent results obtained when used by multiple employees.

At a minimum, in the winter golf season the greens at Olde Florida are single cut seven days a week, often they are double cut and sometimes they are also rolled. This is all based on the previous days green speed.

Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Andrew Polzin using the PELZmeter on #1 green at Olde Florida