Many companies in the sporting and leisure industry are benefiting from the latest metrology equipment. A case in point can be seen at The R&A, situated close to the home of golf near St Andrews, which has taken delivery of a contour and surface roughness instrument from Mitutoyo to help it evaluate submissions of new equipment for conformance to the official rules of golf.

When it comes to golf clubs, the rules and specifications are divided into five separate categories: club (general), shaft, grip, club head and club face. Having used a previous-generation Mitutoyo Formtracer instrument for measuring the impact area markings on club faces for some years, the organisation recently took delivery of the newly launched Mitutoyo Formtracer Avant.
At The R&A, the Formtracer Avant is being used to precisely measure the profiles, widths, depths, edge radii and separation distances of the grooves located on the impact areas of club faces against the relevant specifications detailed in the rules. Surface finish is also inspected using the Formtracer Avant, which avoids the need to invest in two separate devices as it is able to convert from a surface roughness measuring instrument into a contour measuring device – and vice versa – within seconds.
Andrew Johnson, assistant director – research and testing at The R&A, says: “Each week we receive 30-40 submissions of new equipment for evaluation. Our Mitutoyo Formtracer has proven reliable, and provided the necessary levels of accuracy and ease-of-use. Replacing it with the new Avant model has ensured that we are able to keep pace with the high volumes of contour and surface roughness testing.”
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk