Incredible Collection

“It’s a completely new visitor experience,” says Rand Jerris, director of the USGA museum and archives. “People who were familiar with the museum in the past won’t recognize most of what they see.”

An extension of the well-known USGA Museum, the new construction adds the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, including a library and research facility.

Jerris says the additions have doubled the size of the museum, meaning there’s now more than 5,000 feet of exhibition space. More room means more opportunity to help house and showcase the world’s finest collection of golf memorabilia, and that’s exactly what’s happening. The museum will focus on the history of golf in America, with an emphasis on USGA Championships and their champions. In addition to displaying the memorabilia with which past visitors might be familiar (such as Alan Shepard’s famous “moon club” and the original clubs used by Francis Ouimet in his incredible 1913 U.S. Open victory), there will be more than 2,000 additional pieces displayed — many of them for the first time.

“We went through our collection’s storage areas and found a lot of wonderful artifacts,” says Jerris. “Because we’ve changed our focus and found a different way to tell our story, we were able to take these exciting pieces out of storage and put them on display.”

The Palmer Room

Among the new pieces are bits of memorabilia from The King himself. Palmer gave more than 100 artifacts from his personal collection for inclusion in the new Arnold Palmer Room at the USGA Museum. But the room isn’t just about memorabilia.

“More significantly, we’re looking at his impact on the game,” says Jerris. “His personal side, his role as a figure of popular culture, an architect, his charitable endeavors… We want to offer a complete personal picture rather than just listing his victories.”

Upon entering the Palmer Room, visitors will be immediately impressed by a three-dimensional digitized version of the James David Chase portrait of Arnold Palmer. Chase used words to create a portrait of Arnie, and the USGA had the portrait digitized and made it interactive. With this version, visitors can rotate the portrait 360 degrees and zoom in on any portion of the work to read the microscopic words and quotes. “It’s the first thing you encounter in the museum,” says Jerris.

Amenities

With the addition of the Palmer Room, Arnie joins Bob Jones and Ben Hogan, who previously had the only playerdedicated rooms in the museum. Palmer’s room is in the old building, immediately to the right as you walk in. Both Palmer and Jones’ rooms benefit from new technology in the form of “video jukeboxes.” Interactive units hold video clips of great moments in the players’ careers, which visitors can select as they please. The video units are just one example of the museum’s offerings, which also include interactive touchscreen displays throughout and an interactive comprehensive database of USGA Championships and champions from 1895 to the present.

As innovative, but much less digital, is the museum’s putting green.

“It’s an opportunity to play golf as it used to be 100 years ago,” explains Jerris. The old-style green will feature replica vintage equipment and gutta balls.

“You can putt and play with equipment Bobby Jones or Old Tom Morris may have used. It’s an authentic participatory experience.” That might be said of the entire museum, which will offer visitors unprecedented access to the history of the greatest game ever played. With the USGA’s reputation for excellence and Mr. Palmer’s involvement in the project, there’s no doubt the new USGA Museum will be a must-see facility for golf fans everywhere.

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