About the Author

For over 30 years, Lucius J. Riccio, (a.k.a. "the Pope of Pace"), the founder of the Three/45 Golf Association, has been active in the administration and improvement of the game of golf. He has studied golf related issues using his statistical and analytical skills learned while earning three engineering degrees including a Ph.D. from Lehigh University. His early golf work included two research proposals and data analysis projects in the 1970's which, in part, lead to the development of the USGA Slope System. As an original member of the USGA's Handicap Research Team and as a member of its Handicap Procedure Committee, he has served that organization for over 30 years and is the recipient of the USGA's prestigious Isaac Grainger Award. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan (NY) Golf Association and the MGA Foundation Board of Directors. He serves as a tournament rules official, having passed the USGA Rules Test after learning the Rules while riding New York's subways to and from work. He currently is a Professional Advisor for Golf Digest and a regular statistical contributor to that magazine. Over the last three decades, he has had many articles published in Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Senior Golfer and The Met Golfer magazines. He also has written chapters in golf books, most notably a chapter in Johnny Miller's book Breaking 90. In his golfing life, his handicap index ranged in the high single digits until age has taken its toll. He credits his own statistical analyses as being instrumental in achieving the single-digit level. One of his greatest achievements in golf was winning the 1989 NYC Department of Sanitation Golf Tournament at Split Rock Golf Course against arguably the "strongest" field in golf. In 2013, Mr. Riccio was awarded the Inaugural ShotLink(R) Intellegence Prize by the PGA Tour for his paper "The Best Ball Striker on Tour", for which Columbia University received a $25,000 CDW Technology Grant. Mr. Riccio is on the faculty of Columbia University and teaches Business Analytics in its Business School, Engineering College and School of International and Public Affairs. He is the head of Columbia University's Consortium for Advanced Sports Analytics. In addition he is the Executive Vice President of Gedeon GRC, a New York based full service engineering firm, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York.