If you’ve seen the latest edition of Golf Digest, you will see that they dedicated much of the issue to golf technology, and how it is not only helping PGA Professionals but regular Sunday golfers as well. The PGA Professionals were candid in how they have used statistical metrics to improve their games. In fact, Zach Johnson credited part of his British Open win to metrics that helped him improve his putting right before the Open Championship.
The most interesting part to me though was an article that focused on the company Arccos. The company launched Arccos Caddie earlier this year through a partnership with Microsoft using their Azure Cloud, that was meant to be used in tandem with your smartphone. They measure the carry distance of all of your clubs, and then use a sophisticated backend network of similar circumstances to recommend club choices. Yes you read that correctly, they factor in other golfers who have played the same shot/course and have similar carry distances. Here’s the kicker, they also factor in the weather. This is huge because carry distances are affected by temperature, humidity and of course, wind. How much would you pay to have a digital caddie? Arccos starts at $249 and goes up depending on the level of service you want.
I am a big proponent of using technology to improve your golf game. It is just like anything else, right? You want the newest technology to make your life, work and social life easier. But where does it end? Well, the PGA Tour took a big step in allowing caddies to use GPS in a Web.com Tour event this season. The reviews were mixed from caddies, some said it helped tremendously with finding distances, but others say it just added one more cook to the kitchen. This means that caddies and players have perfected their carry distances to the point that even a computer could add confusion (and trouble) to the caddy and player decisions. For the everyday golfer, GPS units have been a godsend with respect to helping golfers understand how far they really hit the ball. There is no better metric to understand how to improve your game than carry distances. It is why so many golf courses have invested in GPS units in their carts. Giving players exact distances saves time, and in turn allows courses to churn out more rounds played, which directly affects revenue. In that respect, there is a nice give and take between players and course management that you rarely see in other aspects of course management.
There is one thing to remember when attempting to use technology to make your game better, and that is it can never take the place of genuine practice. Players should use technology as another tool in your golf-belt, rather than as a crutch. It can serve as a fantastic enhancement to your practice regiment, and that is something we will be diving into in more detail in the coming weeks.
Here at Scratch Sundays our main goal is to create products that enable you to play better golf and maximize your enjoyment on the course. We pride ourselves on using cutting edge technology, while never sacrificing craftsmanship. Our Pocket Golf towel blends functionality and good ol’ fashioned ingenuity. It fits in your back pocket and allows you to clean your club or ball, and keep score without having to go back to your cart every time. You can check it out here:
How do you use technology to improve your golf game?
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