1991 brought an opportunity to combine Lindsay’s technological expertise and interest in golf, when he found a backer to develop a revolutionary new swing analyser. This system measures virtually everything about the golf swing at impact and also predicts the ball’s flight trajectory. Dr Alastair Cochran, the world-renowned authority and writer on golf science, was appointed to guide the development team through the mathematical complexities of impact dynamics and ball aerodynamics.

Lindsay’s first golf invention was the ‘Golfmaster Professional’. This highly sophisticated swing analyser measures all the impact parameters necessary to predict a ball’s flight.

Cochran was intrigued by a curious effect discovered while testing the swing analyser and encouraged further research. This led to an article analysing the remarkable differences between a practice swing (without a ball) and the real shot, which was published in Golf the Scientific Way. Now out of print, this book is still well worth trying to acquire if you are interested in learning how science contributes to the game.

Another contributor to Golf the Scientific Way was Dr John Jepson, a former head of R&D at Titleist and now CEO of On-Mark USA. His article on Science v Marketing, discusses the interdependence and conflict between these disciplines. He dares to question the use of ‘poetic license’, where improbable or downright misleading ‘scientific fact’ is used to promote new products. Jepson wrote: “…. the impression is given that a company’s R&D contribution is not so much to make genuine improvements or innovations, as to provide just enough scientific support to advertising claims to keep the company out of the law courts.” This sentiment is often painfully true and probably never more so than with putter manufacturers.

Golf the Scientific Way (Aston Publishing Group, 1995) is a unique collection of essays on a wide range of science and technology topics for the general golfing readership.

Dr Norman Lindsay, the founder of Lindsay Golf, received an award from Nesta to enable him to make his vision of a truly high technology putter company a reality. Nesta is an organisation that awards creative individuals in the UK to realise their scientific and/or artistic ambitions, with the aim of giving benefit through innovation and education.

Thus, Lindsay Golf champions scientific objectivity and tries to clarify important aspects of putter design. Real facts are explained and simple measurement techniques are shown to help illustrate these facts. Future research will look at the whole putting scenario to increase understanding and help golfers to improve and enjoy their game.