A New Way to Analyse Your Golf Game Globally – Game Golf

When three companies, including two of the biggest golfing organisations in the world, team up to produce a new golf product, then you can be sure the golfing world will sit up and take notice.

And that is precisely what has happened after the PGA of America, the Golf Channel and Active Mind Technology pooled skills and resources to produce one of the most innovative golfing products in many years.

It’s called the Game Golf Digital Tracking System and it could revolutionise the way you play and view your golf.

On appearance, the device is somewhat underwhelming. It is essentially two small trackers. One of which you place on your pocket or belt and the other small sensor which you screw into the top of your golf club. You then play your shot.

You have several of the smaller club sensors for each of the golf clubs in your bag, so you do not have to keep swapping the sensor over between shots and they are near weightless, so they don’t impact on the feel of the club, or your swing.

The device then uses many different kinds of technologies, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, near-field communications and of course, GPS to track your shot. The device then collates this data to tell you how far you have hit the ball and which club you used.

The real brilliance in the Game Golf system though is that this data is then collated by the device on your belt and when connected to another device, it is transported immediately to a cloud network, where your stats are recorded and updated on a database.

The beauty of this is, all your stats are kept alongside those for every other golfer who is using the device.

Once you have downloaded your round statistics from the tracker, you can then use your smartphone, tablet or PC to analyse your golfing data and compare it with other golfers from across the world.

The app can use a number of ways to connect to your chosen device, Bluetooth, via a USB cable to a PC and over a wireless connection to a number of devices, such as iPads and iPhones and similar.

You can also use the data to track a vast range of golfing statistics, such as how far you actually hit each club, how many greens and fairways you hit in regulation as well as how well you performed on the greens with your putter.

It is the potential for how this data can be used, in conjunction with other golfers data and across Social Networking sites, that has many golfers excited.

With Game Golf, you’ll be able to share your best shots with your friend via Twitter and Facebook, you can set up a “Longest Drive” competition on any golf hole you play and challenge other players and friends who have the system to beat it and upload the data to prove it.

You can even use data from rounds played at different times on the same course to compete against other players, making the game even more flexible between friends, or other golfers from around the globe.  There is now no need to play the game in the same group at the same time, to compare statistics and get a final result.

The CEO of Game Golf, John McGuire, revealed that a fully charged Game Golf device can track two full rounds of golf on one battery charge and that it will be formally launched at the 61^st PGA Merchandise Show, which took place in Orlando, Florida between the 22^nd and 24^th January 2014.

The device has already received a somewhat rigorous testing in the field with Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell both using the devices in tournament play, while Jim Furyk has also tested the device extensively before it was launched earlier this week.

“The technology Game Golf has developed will not only make the game more enjoyable, but can be a tremendous asset to your PGA of America members as it relates to training and instruction,” revealed Pete Bevacqua, the CEO of the PGA of America.

“Game Golf provides a unique opportunity to harness that data in a fun and manageable way for the benefit of players of all skill levels,” he concluded.

“The president of the Golf Channel, Mike McCarley also endorsed the product, stating “[The] Golf Channel is committed to growing the game with progressive partners like Game Golf and the PGA of America who share our belief that making the game more engaging and more enjoyable will encourage more people to play more often.”

“Game Golf provides an innovative approach that not only brings players closer to the game, but also encourages social engagement.”

The cost for this next-generation golf analysis tool? The RRP is thought to be $250.

Pictures Courtesy of the Game Golf Website