USGA mission – Syndication Server

USGA spends millions to tackle sustainability issues, especially concerning water

As water demands grow in the West, the USGA supports studies that help keep golf afloat.

The U.S. Golf Association doesn’t just run championships and make rules. The governing body of golf in the U.S. and Mexico also has invested nearly $47 million dollars in the past four decades to promote turfgrass and environmental research.

It’s money well spent, as the USGA says its recently renamed Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management and its related research saves the golf industry an estimated $1.92 billion annually. Much of that comes in the areas of water savings and more efficient use of fertilizer and pesticide.

In an era of droughts and increasingly demanding water restrictions, particularly in the U.S. West, such savings and improved agronomic practices not only help golf course superintendents provide better playing surfaces, in many ways the program has helped make the sport possible at all in the desert environments of the West.

As major lakes go dry and the Colorado River provides decreased flow to seven states, golf is often targeted as a waste of water. The USGA’s stewardship in sustainability has become even more important to an industry that provides a $192 billion annual economic impact involving some 2 million jobs in the U.S., as measured by the American Golf Industry Coalition.

“Golf Course superintendents have always been under scrutiny for water use,” Brian Whitlark, the USGA’s senior consulting agronomist for the West Region, told Golfweek. “… Everyone is in the same boat, and everyone is concerned about water use. I think we’re all – golf course superintendents, the research community, USGA agronomists – we’re all working together to find methods, strategies and technologies to reduce water use with the goal of still producing a good playing surface and keep business thriving. We’re all working toward that, and we’re definitely making strides.”

Moisture meters allow golf course superintendents to apply water only when and where needed. (Courtesy of the USGA)

Many of those strides are the result of the Mike Davis Program, which was launched in 1982 and until 2021 was known as the Turfgrass Environmental Research Program before being renamed in honor of the former USGA executive director/CEO.

In 2022, the program opted to provide funding for more than 80 university research projects, many of which focus on reducing water usage either though improved irrigation or the development of more drought-resistant grasses. The USGA said it invested $1.9 million in those programs in 2022, with more than a dozen universities receiving grants for both short-term and long-term projects.

“We’re trying to think 10 to 15 years into the future, what are the problems now, how we think that is going to change, and how we need to alter our research investment to make sure we have answers for those problems,” said Dr. Cole Thompson, the USGA’s director of turfgrass and environmental research.

Research topics tackle water sustainability in many ways, ranging from the development of better grasses that requires less water all the way to technology such as soil-moisture monitors that help golf course superintendents determine when to water and how much without wasting recourses.

Whitlark said most courses in the West have made dramatic changes in recent years to tackle water use responsibly, and the USGA-funded research has trickled down through the industry to help.

“I’m excited about drip irrigation,” Whitlark said. “I’m excited about turf conversion to bermudagrass. I’m excited about all these universities working together to breed a new grass that will stay green and grow year round. Those are the areas that will really change the industry over the next 10 to 15 years.”

Whitlark said there are many misconceptions among the non-golfing public about how course superintendents approach water use. Too many people, he said, are under the impression that golf course managers are trying to grow as much lush green grass as possible, and that they will use as much water as is available.

“Something that needs to be said, especially to non-golfers, is that the last thing golf course superintendents want to do is to produce lush green conditions,” Whitlark said. “I’ll tell you why: That means it’s an overwatered golf course. It’s not a great playing surface to play on lush green conditions.

“What superintendents want is to produce a firm golf course and healthy grass. And that can be a green golf course, I’m not talking about brown, it’s just not lush green. Golf course superintendents are producing a playing surface. Non-golfers look at their own lawn or gardens with lush green, but it’s so different on a golf course. It means just enough water to keep the grass healthy, and that’s it.”

Turfgrass research sponsored by the USGA has helped develop new varieties of grasses that are more drought and disease resistant. (Courtesy of the USGA)

Advancements in recent years have been able to cut water usage by as much as 30 percent at many courses, Whitlark said. Much of that has come through targeted water usage, as research topics have made their way into real-world applications. Other savings come through reduced turf acreage as courses replace traditional rough with native areas that require much less water. Many research topics involve the use of effluent water where available, even the use of new strains of grass such as paspalum that are saltwater tolerant.

Technology plays a great role. Instead of sprinkling blindly over dozens of acres of turf, modern course superintendents can individually control each of thousands of sprinkler heads on a course. Some courses have investigated targeted drip irrigation, providing just enough water to exactly the correct location. Advanced irrigation computer systems help superintendents further target areas identified by in-ground sensors – often in cooperation with onsite weather stations – as needing moisture replenishment while not overwatering nearby areas.

“Just by raising awareness about these types of strategies and getting people to help implement them, I think we can save a lot of water in the West especially,” Thompson said.

As climate changes and demands on water increase particularly in Western states, will it all be enough to save the sport? Thompson points out that golf’s water usage is, no pun intended, just a drop in the bucket of total public consumption. But as demands increase, he anticipates research helping to keep golf afloat as a whole.

Mike Whan, who became CEO of the USGA in 2021, has pledged to continue the organization’s investments in research to find ways to address water concerns and other environmental challenges.

“A core focus of the USGA is to ensure golf is not only thriving today, but it is growing in the next 20, 30 and 50 years,” Whan said in a media release announcing this year’s grant recipients. “To ensure future success, we need to continually invest in efforts that can address challenges that our game will face long-term – like water scarcity, the cost of labor/resources and the availability of land.

“We are making significant investments in research projects that will create an even more resource-friendly game. These advances are critically important steps to ensure that golf remains nimble and innovative in its approach to long-term sustainability.”

See how the USGA’s rules and ideals kept things fair for golfers with various challenges at the debut U.S. Adaptive Open

The USGA is working to ensure everyone has a chance to play and reasonably compete against one another.

On the 18th hole of his final round at the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, Matthew Fitzpatrick’s tee shot went left and landed in a fairway bunker, a few feet from the fescue-covered lip.

Walking to the ball, he talked with his caddie, then looked at the lie. After reaching into his bag and grabbing a club, Fitzpatrick dug his feet into the sand and addressed the ball. His shot got airborne quickly and landed on the green. After walking to the green, he bent down, placed a marker behind the ball, picked it up and then two-putted for a par that won him his first major championship.

The Rules of Golf clearly state several things Fitzpatrick had to do (and could not do) as he played that hole. He had to walk the hole, he could not ground his club or touch the sand in the bunker and he had to mark the ball himself. Fitzpatrick could not anchor his putter as he made a stroke, and his caddie could not stand behind him as he putted.

However, at this week’s U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6, many golfers were unable to do the things Fitzpatrick did playing that hole.

Some can’t walk, so they got around the course using specially designed vehicles, while others who have lost a leg used traditional golf carts. Some golfers were unable to see the ball because they are visually impaired or blind, and other golfers played with intellectual impairments.

But these players at Pinehurst, North Carolina — from 29 states and 11 countries — played just like their able-bodied counterparts. Thanks to the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities, developed by the U.S. Golf Association and The R&A with input from adaptive organizations developed in 1996, they were able to compete for a national championship for the first time — inspiring others like them to try the game.

.@JayCoPatriots grad Evan Mathias has been named to the field for the @USGA's first-ever #USAdaptiveOpen in July.

We introduced you to Evan a few years ago, but here's a refresher of his inspiring story @PetarHood told: pic.twitter.com/bYq2vMdsja

— Justin Prince (@JPrinceFOX55) May 18, 2022

As the organization tasked with developing and updating the Rules of Golf, the USGA wanted the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities to create an environment where golfers with physical or intellectual challenges can play fairly with players with no disabilities, with the same disability or different types of disabilities.

“Looking back to that time, this wasn’t [the USGA] looking at the Rule of Golf and trying to figure out how to create a new game,” said Craig Winter, the USGA’s senior director for Rules of Golf and amateur status. “This was trying to reach out to those communities and understand what adaptations are needed to be able to allow them to play the game of golf. And play the game of golf under a set of rules.”

That means considering many things able-bodied golfers take for granted, developing appropriate accommodations and then being open-minded and aware in the future to modify those accommodations as needed.

Sophia Howard looks at her options on the 10th hole fairway during the first round at the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina. (Photo: Jeff Haynes/USGA)

For example, Fitzpatrick’s eyes and experience allowed him to make judgments about how to play his bunker shot at Brookline on Sunday, but faced with the same shot, a blind golfer could not know how the ball rested in the sand, whether it was on an upslope, downslope or a flat lie and how close the lip of the bunker was to the ball.

“If you’re in a bunker, well, that’s a really challenging thing when you can’t see or you have very limited site,” Winter said. “And so there is an exception in [Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities] for players who are visually impaired, where you’re allowed to touch the sand before you you make a stroke out of a bunker. It’s more of like a practical set of exceptions.”

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In that way, the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities acted as a set of common sense concepts that can help create consistency. They also allowed players to get special assistance from others while they play.

Blind golfers used a coach (or guide), who was allowed to help them with alignment and who they were able to get advice from before playing a shot. They were also able to use a caddie, and a player’s caddie can do many things that non-disabled players often do for themselves, like mark a ball on the green, something that would have been challenging for golfers with only one leg or who played exclusively from a cart. A coach and caddie can be the same person, but someone designated as only a coach was not allowed to touch a player’s clubs, and golfers were only allowed to have one coach.

Intellectually impaired golfers were able to get help from an aide who followed a player and assisted with etiquette and getting around the course.

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While the Rules of Golf that non-disabled golfers play by is filled with specific instances and rulings, the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities were intentionally written more loosely to allow officials to interpret situations on a case-by-case basis if necessary. Each golfer who played under the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities could have different needs and challenges, so the rules need to accommodate them.

“Ultimately, we’ve decided to go to the simpler side, and there are many individuals that will say, ‘Well, that means they’re actually less fair,'” Winter said. “When you get really complicated, you’re trying to have a whole bunch of nuances. You know, this is for this and this for that, and it becomes just so difficult. Not just for players, but for rules officials too, to make sure that [each ruling is] right. So we went to the simpler side.

“We wanted the rules to be easy to understand and apply. That was the message that we have been sharing for some time that really carries the day. It does lead to what some might see being unfair. However, the rules are applied equally across the entire field. So there is a fairness element to making sure that if everybody’s playing by the same set of rules, everybody is, in fact, being treated equally.”

And that’s all the contestants at this week’s U.S. Adaptive Open were looking for, to be treated equally.

If there was a shortcoming concerning the Modified Rules for Players With Disabilities, it’s that they are not written into the Rules of Golf. Technically, they are only in effect when adopted through local rule by the person or group in charge of a competition. However, the governing bodies are looking for ways to ensure the game can be more inclusive, especially for players with disabilities. So, don’t be surprised if this is addressed in the next revision of the Rules of Golf in January 2023.

The Rules of Golf apply to every golfer, and they are an integral part of the game. As more players come to the sport, the USGA is working to ensure everyone has a chance to play and reasonably compete against one another.

Editor’s note: This is the third article of a four-part series explaining the mission of the United States Golf Association. The USGA, which governs the game of golf in Mexico and the United States, serves several functions. What exactly is the USGA? Why is the organization important? This series delves into these questions and others. This article looks at governance and how the organization that creates the rules of golf shapes them to make the game more inclusive and welcoming to players of not just every ability level but also those with unique challenges.

The USGA Golf Museum and Library is archiving and preserving golf for future generations

The USGA is collecting artifacts that not only celebrate the winners, but also tell the whole story of golf.

(Editor’s note: This is the second article of a four-part series explaining the mission of the United States Golf Association. The USGA, which governs the game of golf in Mexico and the United States, serves several functions. What exactly is the USGA? Why is the organization important? This series delves into these questions and others. This article looks at how the organization not only crowns champions but also works to preserve the game’s history and ensure that future generations remember important people and events from different cultures and backgrounds that make golf unique.)

Jon Rahm’s right fist clenched, and his uppercut in the air would have made Mohammed Ali proud. The crowd behind the 18th green erupted, and Rahm bounded toward the cup, smiling and shouting. He had just holed a long birdie putt at Torrey Pines South and, on that Sunday evening, was on the cusp of winning his first major championship, the 2021 U.S. Open.

Hitting balls in preparation for an unlikely playoff, he learned he had officially won. Rahm hugged his caddie, Adam Hayes, then picked up his son, Kepa, who had been in the arms of Rahm’s wife, Kelley.

“Little man, you have no idea what this means right now,” said Rahm as he hugged the two-month-old boy. He had just become Spain’s first U.S. Open champion. “You will soon enough.”

Rahm’s words and those images were broadcast worldwide and seen by millions of golf fans, instantly becoming a part of the game’s history.

Fifty-six days later, Jensen Castle, a sophomore at the University of Kentucky, also became a part of the game’s history. Seeded No. 63 among the 64 golfers to advance to match play, Castle won the 121st U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York, by defeating Yu-Chiang Hou, 2 and 1.

Rahm and Castle’s names are now permanently etched on a wall in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Golf Museum and Library in Far Hills, New Jersey. All the winners of USGA championships have their names on the walls of that room, which is also the permanent home of the real trophies for each of the USGA’s 14 national championships. Inside their protective cases, they glimmer and shine safely, free for anyone to view.

The USGA Museum's Hall of Champions — The USGA Museum’s Hall of Champions (USGA)

Along with establishing the rules of the game and testing equipment to ensure it is legal for play, one of the USGA’s biggest jobs is preserving the legacy of golf. That means doing everything it can to ensure future generations remember stars like Rahm and U.S. Women’s Open winner Michelle Wie West, along with winners of other championships, like Castle, and people who played an essential role in the game who did not win major championships.

To that end, the USGA Golf Museum and Library acts as a repository for things like clubs, balls, scorecards and artwork and a place where researchers can access more than 100,000 documents, periodicals, letters and papers in 25 different languages. The collection is constantly growing, and only a tiny part can be displayed to the public at once, but that doesn’t mean the work will stop.

USGA has elevated the fan experience since the 88th U.S. Open

There are some of the innovations that will boost the fan experience at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Much has changed since The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, last held a U.S. Open in 1988. Players have grown stronger, championship courses have been stretched and the competitive fields have become even deeper.

Things have changed for fans, too. When Curtis Strange recovered with a stellar bunker shot on the 72nd hole to force a playoff against Nick Faldo, which Strange won the next day in his first of back-to-back U.S. Open titles, there was no worldwide internet connectivity, no streaming apps, not even cell phones on the course.

The U.S. Golf Association has in recent years partnered with Cisco to improve all that. In this video, USGA managing director of digital media and ticketing Amanda Weiner shares some of the innovations that will boost the fan experience both at this year’s U.S. Open at The Country Club and for viewers watching on tv or streaming devices.

Why is a handicap so important? See how the USGA has made it easier than ever to get one

Those with handicaps play more rounds, spend more on golf, and consider themselves to be passionate about the game.

(Editor’s note: This is the first of a four-part series explaining the mission of the United States Golf Association, all in advance of the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Open, the U.S. Adaptive Open and the U.S. Amateur. The USGA, which governs the game of golf in Mexico and the United States, serves a number of functions. What exactly is the USGA? Why is the organization important? This series delves into these questions and others. This initial article looks at handicapping, which the USGA provides, and how it helps to unify players.)

Ever since the World Handicap System was established on Jan. 1, 2020, the USGA has been on a mission to make obtaining a handicap easy and accessible.

“Four months ago, it wasn’t that easy,” said Steve Edmonson, the USGA’s managing director of handicapping and course rating.

That may have something to do with the fact that the number of golfers with handicaps – 2.86 million in 2021 – has been static for the better part of the last two decades. But the USGA has instituted several popular features to the Golf Handicap Information Network (GHIN), a service offered by the USGA to allied golf associations worldwide. By addressing the wants of its users, the GHIN app continues to push boundaries and the USGA is bullish that the percent of card-carrying handicap golfers will increase 50 percent — to 75 percent of golfers — said Gareth Londt, the USGA’s managing director of product, data and technology.

New system makes it easier

Beginning in February, any golfer in the U.S. can sign up for a Handicap Index by visiting USGA.org/getahandicap. Previously, you had to find your state and regional golf association. In Ohio alone, there are five state and regional associations to consider. The USGA will now direct users to the appropriate AGA.

Moreover, new golfers are issued a handicap faster, needing only to post scores for 54 holes in either nine- or 18-hole increments. Previously, the USGA didn’t issue a handicap; it was issued instead by a golf club. It was a fragmented structure. Now the USGA has a national pulpit to promote handicaps that beforehand it lacked.

“There’s no excuse,” Londt said. “Everyone has an internet browser, everyone has a mobile phone, and everyone is connected through the world wide web. Three clicks and you can have a handicap. There’s no longer the need to get off your sofa and get in a car and drive to a green-grass facility. You can do it while you are watching the U.S. Open.”

In a 12-week period and without heavy promotion, 30,000 golfers already have registered for a handicap.

Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer look over a scorecard during a practice round in 1974. Photo by Associated Press

The USGA’s GHIN product has some competitors but of the 58 Allied Golf Associations, only two don’t use GHIN products. The USGA licenses the handicap indexes to the AGAs for a nominal fee (free to juniors) and those AGAs are allowed to mark up costs based on their perceived market value in their own community.

The USGA also set a high watermark of no more than $80 across the US (in some states it costs less). The money generated from handicapping is intended to fuel local programs that engage golfers.

The history of handicaps

The USGA’s adoption of the handicap system dates to Oct. 11, 1911, the year of the first Indianapolis 500, back when Cy Young wasn’t an award but a pitcher who had just notched his 511th and final victory. The handicap system has become one of golf’s great distinctions, whereby participants of different skill – whether male or female, young or old, and even from separate tees – can compete fairly and equitably. In no other sport is it feasible for players of all skill level to play on equal footing.

In golf, a handicap is a measure of a player’s potential. For some, it is proof of progress, for others of incompetence and the deterioration of skill. It is a golfer’s photo I.D., allowing admittance to local, regional and national competition.

The system has continued to evolve ever since and received its latest reboot in 2020. Golfers no longer have to wait two weeks for their updated index. Now it is updated on a daily basis or faster than one can lose a sleeve of balls. Last year, it added hole-by-hole scoring via mobile devices while you play, which reveals how many drives hit the fairway, how many putts per round and other stats that can be tracked.

More recently, a distance-measuring device and green-reading materials that were banned at the elite level through a new Model Local Rule, but comply with the game of golf and can be beneficial to the recreational game are gaining in usage. (A free piece and an extended version for golfers who want to upgrade are available.)

Young fans watch the action on the 7th hole during the round of 16 at the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. (Jason Miczek/USGA)

In early June, the USGA will be adding an Apple watch function that will allow golfers to see front-middle-back yardages to the green and allow golfers to input their hole-by-hole scores and record stats. It will be especially appreciated at clubs that don’t allow phones on the course. What do golfers want most? Surveys conducted with their customers indicate it’s data. While there are numerous products that do this, the USGA is anxious to provide these features in one app.

The USGA has poured $100 million in handicapping over the last 5 years – inclusive of WHS and GHIN –with the lion’s share directed to the GHIN/innovation/technology side. The handicap index is a key cog in the USGA’s effort to unify the game.

Handicaps equal engagement

A survey conducted by Jon Last of Sports & Leisure Research Group, which provides custom research and market analysis, found that those with handicaps significantly out-index those without across key demographics, engagement with golf and related behaviors. For instance, those with handicaps play more rounds, spend more on golf, follow the game more closely and consider themselves to be “passionate” about golf.

As a result, the USGA is motivated to grow the number of golfers with handicaps. But there are still too many golfers who don’t have a handicap because they believe they don’t compete in tournaments, they aren’t good enough or don’t play enough.

Part of the plan is to demystify why a handicap is needed in the first place, and that begins with changing the nomenclature that a handicap is only needed by elite golfers to play in competitions.

“There’s a perception that you have to be a good player or competing in competitions,” said Edmondson. “That’s just not true.”

The USGA knows that the average handicap for a male is 14.1 and 27.7 for a female. Ninety percent of golfers with handicaps are male. It is pouring resources into attracting a new audience, particularly with women – the move to 54.0 as the max handicap embraces high-handicap females – juniors and public golfers.

2021 U.S. Girls' Junior — Bailey Davis react to her tee shot on the 16th hole during the quarterfinals at the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Friday, July 16, 2021. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)

Edmondson said he sees an opportunity to look at off-course play and promote the importance of handicaps beyond competitive means. In the not-too-distant future, the USGA will debut a “Play Games” feature, which will integrate match play, Stableford scoring and other USGA-approved formats.

“It’s all interconnected to get more people to use the app and grow the community,” Edmondson said. “You need a handicap to be part of the community.”

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