“Having the Test Center in Pinehurst will focus the attention of the entire golf industry on North Carolina"

Lauren Ohnesorge’s of the Triangle Business Journal takes a look at the USGA’s testing center move to Pinehurst and it’s certainly exciting to see the potential development of talent, turfgrass and museum exposure to more eyeballs.

But the notion of a manufacturing center remains very odd in Ohnesorge’s characterization.

As N.C. Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland outlined in an August letter supporting the project, made available through a public records request, officials envisioned a golf cluster in North Carolina.

“Having the Test Center in Pinehurst will focus the attention of the entire golf industry on North Carolina and will very likely attract many golf equipment manufacturers and suppliers to not only Moore County but also the region so they can be in close proximity to the Test Center,” Copeland wrote.

You know UPS, DHL and FedEx are all good shipping options for clubs to be tested.

That said, if the golf manufacturers picked up and moved offices to the area I’m at a loss how that benefits the sport in the way of less expensive clubs or more manufacturing jobs in the United States. But it does not take a wild imagination to see such a move—as unlikely as it is to everyone by the state commerce secretary—helping the USGA enact effective equipment regulation.