This Is The Unique Tunnel The R&A Uses To Help Measure Green Speeds At The Open

At the end of each day and every morning before play begins at The Open Championship, the ground staff carry out any number of checks and tests to ensure whatever unfolds over the coming hours is as fair and correct as possible.

From the switching of hole locations to trimming grass in bunker faces, no stone is left unturned to ensure this final men's Major championship is the epitome of natural perfection.

A key part of the ground staff's pre-round routine is to measure the speed of the greens at Royal Troon, with the west-Scotland links under the microscope this week.

That process is carried out by rolling a ball down a stimpmeter - a tool designed by a gentleman called Edward S. Stimpson in the 1930s. While it was originally made of wood, the modern equivalent is aluminium-based and features a v-shape track which helps the ball roll in a straight line after passing over the little notch near the top of the 36-inch device.

Ground staff will find a flat area on the green and then roll three balls down the chute, measure the distance of all three, then find the average of that number. They will then repeat the process from the average point of where the three balls ended up and in the exact opposite direction.

The second average number will be added to the first and then divided by two, giving officials the stimpmeter reading.

However, this process becomes slightly trickier on links golf courses as - by their very nature - they are open to the elements and flatter surfaces can be tough to find.

While rolling the ball from a lower point on the stimpmeter in order to reduce the length of the ball's distance travelled is a relatively easy fix in that sense, strong winds pose a problem which could be a little tougher to solve.

Not for the R&A, however, as it has a bespoke wind tunnel which helps to create as neutral environment as possible for measuring on a links course.

Shared by Golf Digest's director of digital content, Jamie Kennedy on X, Royal Troon's version is a clear plastic tunnel that could be between 10-20 feet long and only a matter of inches high.

It has the R&A's logo on the sides and at the end, and has little ridges every six inches or so along the side. One person holds the stimpeter so that the golf ball rolls through the small opening at one end and - hopefully - out of the identical version at the other without being affected by the weather.

Through the first three days, green speeds at the 152nd Open Championship have ranged from 10.7-10.9, almost a foot slower than the average speed for a PGA Tour event (12). At the last Open at Royal Troon in 2016, the greens were operating even slower still at less than 10.

The reason Open greens are so different to their PGA Tour peers is partly out of necessity, due to the weather that often challenges players at the oldest Major Championship, allowing play to continue in the trademark high-winds that are synonymous with links golf.

Nevertheless, players have been tested in a different way to what they're used to and the Champion Golfer of the Year will likely be the one who copes with Royal Troon's slower greens the best.