Since the USGA began collecting historical materials in 1936, the collections have grown to encompass more than 42,000 artifacts, a library of more than 20,000 volumes, more than half a million photographic images, and several thousand hours of film and video footage. The USGA Museum is now home to the premier collection of golf memorabilia in the world.

Over the course of the past ten years, the USGA Museum has allocated tremendous resources to the care and long-term preservation of these treasures. The creation of new staff positions, the completion of a comprehensive preservation project for the photographic collections, the adoption of professional standards for artifact care and conservation, and, above all, the opening of the state-of-the-art Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History, reflect our deeply held commitment to preserving the game’s history.

Conservation of an artifact begins the very moment an item is accepted into the collection, and is guided by carefully delineated objectives:

Conservation and preservation of the collections take many forms. In some cases, this may be as fundamental as providing the proper environment for displaying and storing artifacts—ensuring that temperature and humidity levels remain constant within professionally acceptable standards; monitoring lighting to ensure that light levels are not excessive and that exposure to damaging ultraviolet light is minimized; or providing storage materials for artifacts that are acid-free and fit properly.

At times, however, intervention of a more dramatic nature is required to best preserve an artifact. Many objects comprised of natural materials, for example, will deteriorate with time, even if they are stored under optimal conditions. Organic materials, in particular, produce acids that can discolor objects, cause paper to become brittle or lead metal objects in adjacent areas to oxidize.

There are also artifacts that arrive at the Museum with considerable damage. A few years ago, for example, we took into the collection a marvelous portrait of the USGA's first president, Theodore Havemeyer, which had been stored in a barn for many years. It arrived with tears in the canvas, as well as rings where cans of paint and oil had been set on its surface. We've also received pieces of silver—some magnificent trophies—that arrived with fingerprints permanently etched in their surface, because the natural oils produced by our skin negatively interacted with the silver plate.

In such instances, the staff of the USGA Museum turns to trusted professionals. Through the years, we have developed good relationships with independent art conservators, as well as several regional art conservation laboratories, which we will ask to provide treatment to repair and restore damaged objects. In some cases, the results of these efforts are dramatic visually. But far more important is the comfort that comes from knowing that we have prevented further damage and deterioration.