Worthy steward for the game's history

Gary Moranon what's on offer at the newly-reopened USGA museum and the new Arnold Palmer Centre for Golf History

JUNE IS always a busy month for the United States Golf Association, with two of their most important championships taking place. This year, resources at the association's headquarters in Far Hills, New Jersey, were stretched more than normal as apart from last week's US Open at Torrey Pines and the women's equivalent at Interlachen, the USGA reopened their museum after a closure of over three years for refurbishment and the construction of the Arnold Palmer Centre for Golf History.

It was way back in November, 1935 that a member of the USGA executive committee, George W Blossom Jr, proposed the creation of a museum to celebrate the history of golf. Blossom's vision was simply "to collect implements, balls, etchings, photographs, literature and similar articles pertaining to the game and to exhibit them".

When it opened the following year, it was the first dedicated sports museum in the US, predating the more famous National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York by three years. Some 70 years, 42,000 artefacts, 20,000 volumes, half a million photographic images and thousands of hours of film and video later, the golf facility needed upgrading and expansion and the USGA committee approved spending of over $16 (€10.4) million to include the construction of the 16,000 square foot Palmer Centre.

USGA press releases can be heavily laden with sentimentality and in justifying naming the new building after Arnie, they claimed he had "almost single-handedly strapped golf onto his back and marched with his "Army" into the television era . . . every time a youngster swings a club he or she should say a silent thank you to Palmer."

In fairness to Palmer he has been a huge supporter of the association and its activities over the years. Quite apart from being the first player to win the US Amateur, Open and Senior Open (Jack Nicklaus is the only other to do so), he has served on the USGA's Museum Committee since 1974 and a year later became the first and so far only chairman of the USGA's member program.

Palmer was at his tear-jerking best when told the new building would carry his name. "It's like winning another Open. I'm very flattered. I don't think you can put into words how important it is to me as an individual. When I was a kid it was my family and God and the USGA."

So what can you see and do if you go there? The number of artefacts on display has doubled to over 2,000. They include clubs used by Francis Ouimet in his famous 1913 US Open, the Calamity Jane putter which Bobby Jones used to capture the 1930 Grand Slam and Ben Hogan's one-iron from the 1950 US Open at Merion. Indeed, the USGA routinely asks its champions to donate a club that was instrumental in their victory and there are donations from modern day icons including Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam.

There are historical documents, books, scrapbooks, photographs, film footage, clothing, clubs, balls, cigarette cards, medals, trophies and more, while the permanent galleries in the new Palmer Centre revolve around six iconic moments "pivotal to understanding the development of golf in America".

These include the rivalry between Palmer and Nicklaus in the 1960 and 1962 US Opens, plus Woods' 15-shot victory in the 2000 US Open and "the emergence of a global game". There are multimedia exhibits and a championship database with narratives, records and scores from every championship since 1895.

The new mission statement is that the museum "is an educational institution dedicated to fostering an appreciation for the game of golf, its participants and the association. It serves as a caretaker and steward for the game's history supporting the association's role in ensuring the game's future." A new research centre has been included "to encourage a more interdisciplinary approach for scholars and individuals researching the game's heritage".

If being surrounded by all that worthiness has you itching to get out and play then from September you'll be able to pop out to a 16,000 square foot green inspired by the Himalayas putting course adjacent to the Old Course at St Andrews. There will be a choice of replica antique putters to try, ranging from the revolutionary centre-shafted Schenectady used by Walter Travis when he became the first American to win the British Amateur in 1904 to the SeeMore putter used by the late Payne Stewart to win the US Open four months before his death in 1999.

Far Hills is the guts of an hour outside New York city but on the positive side, admission is a steal at €4.50 for adults, €2.25 for 13-17-year-olds and free for under-12s. For more details, visit www.usgamusem.com

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