Melvin, Valerie

Frank Thomas spent much of his life as one of golf's guardians. He invented the graphite shaft in 1969 as Chief Design Engineer for Shakespeare Sporting Goods, and for 26 years was Technical Director of the USGA, where he assembled and directed one of golf's most-advanced research teams, introduced the GHIN handicap system, and redesigned and introduced the Stimpmeter to the world of golf. He also has served as chief technical advisor to Golf Digest and The Golf Channel. Since he co-founded Frankly Golf in 2000 he has spent his time researching putting.