STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY ON THE DRIVING RANGE

Greenlife Golf Club Marbella has recently incorporated Toptracer technology to its driving range and has created the largest state-of-the-art centre in Andalucía. This system unites traditional golf with virtual golf to offer more fun and entertainment to golfers, both those who are new to the sport or who would like to start playing, as well as others already with a high level of skill.

The club has made a major investment to refurbish its driving range facilities and improve the chipping and putting green area. It has installed a total of 28 tee positions on the driving range, equipped with Toptracer technology which carries out a complete follow-up of the stroke and traces the ball thanks to several cameras strategically located on the driving range. It is a technique that allows players to know the distance, trajectory and height they achieve with each club in their bag.

Shots are aimed at artificial coloured targets (target greens) scattered around the shot zone at different distances.

In addition to being a key and cutting-edge tool for learning the game and improving skills, Toptracer technology is also synonymous with fun because players can enjoy it alone, compete with friends and family, or play online, with golfers from anywhere in the world. It comprises a free app which enables players to easily identify themselves every time they want to use Toptracer, and keep results on their mobile phone, store statistics or participate in different rankings.

“We were looking to achieve something different that would make golf even more fun and a place of leisure for both professional players and amateurs and video game lovers,” says Victoria Domínguez, director of Greenlife Club Marbella.

“When we came up with this idea, we were a little hesitant because it’s risky to give a new twist to golf, a new approach to a sport that is quite traditional and in some ways confined and restricted. This is a totally different concept and we didn’t know how it would be received by players. But the response has been spectacular. We’ve had people say to us, how did you come up with this? What a wonderful idea to couple technology with a visual system with artificial targets that position the shot zone precisely, and you can de ser arriesgado darle una vuelta de tuerca al golf, un nuevo enfoque a un deporte bastante tradicional y encorsetado en cierto modo”.

“Este es un concepto totalmente diferente y no sabíamos que acogida podría tener entre los aficionados, pero la respuesta ha sido espectacular. Nos hemos encontrado gente que nos ha dicho ¿cómo se os ha ocurrido esto? ¡qué maravillosa idea la de acoplar la tecnología a un sistema visual con dianas artificiales que sitúan la zona de tiro exactamente y puedes ver la trayectoria de la bola, a donde va y a que distancia... y que a la vez es divertido y puedes competir con otros jugadores tanto en la cancha de prácticas como online.”

“Se abre”, apunta la directora del club, “un mundo de posibilidades para la práctica del golf que hasta ahora no existían, y a retos que hacen mucho más ameno ir a tirar bolas a un driving range. Ya no se trata solo de golpear una y otra vez hacia adelante sin más. Ahora se pueden obtener muchos datos estadísticos de dispersión de bolas, saber si se usa el palo correcto para un determinado golpe, si llego a la distancia que pretendo, como puedo mejorar, etc. Toda esta información que antes la tenía el profesor cuando hacía un análisis de nuestro juego, ahora la tiene cualquier jugador en la pantalla y la puede almacenar en su móvil”.

–Habéis conseguido un driving range de vanguardia y novedoso…

–Sí. El futuro del golf yo creo que va por ahí. Al igual que otros deportes que se han modernizado y adaptado a las nuevas tecnologías, al golf también le hacía falta. Esto puede ser un divertimento para alguien que simplemente quiera pasárselo bien, como alternativa a una bolera, por ejemplo, sin tener que tener un nivel de juego determinado, como es útil también para el que quiera mejorar su juego, porque tiene todos los registros see the trajectory of the ball, where it’s going and how far away it is... and it’s fun and you can compete with other players both on the driving range and online.

“It opens up a world of possibilities for playing golf that didn’t exist until now, and challenges that make it much more enjoyable to go to a driving range to hit balls. It is no longer just a matter of hitting the ball forward again and again. Now you can obtain a lot of statistical data on ball dispersion, if you are using the right club for a certain shot, whether you are getting the distance you want to hit, how you can improve, etc. All this information that used to be available to a teacher when analysing our game is now available to any player on the screen and it can be stored on their mobile phone.” de su actividad, su progresión, dónde tiene que corregir...

You have created an avant-garde and innovative driving range?

Yes, I think the future of golf lies in that direction. Like other sports that have become modernised and adapted to new technologies, golf also needed it. This can be fun for someone who simply wants to have a good time, as an alternative to a bowling alley, for example, without having to have a certain level of play, and it is also useful for those who want to improve their game, because they have all the records of their activity, their progression, what they need to correct...

When you have the application, which is free, on your mobile phone and register your profile with a QR code, the screen of your driving range identifies all your data and reloads them, and all the results you have been obtaining you can have on your phone. And, if you have participated in a closest to the pin competition, for example, you can see your position on that hole played on a virtual course. You can see the position of your own driving range, in Spain or worldwide.

Al tener la aplicación, que es gratis, en tu móvil y registrar tu perfil con un código QR ya la pantalla de tu puesto de tiro identifica todos tus datos, los vuelve a cargar, y todos los resultados que hayas ido obteniendo los puedes tener en tu teléfono; y si has participado en una competición de bola más cerca por ejemplo, puedes ver tu posición en ese hoyo que se juega en un campo virtual. Puedes ver la posición de tu propio driving range, en España o a nivel mundial. Es curioso y muy ameno poder participar en este tipo de retos a nivel mundial desde tu campo de prácticas.

–¿Vuestro driving range puede ser una alternativa a una ronda de golf tradicional o es una cosa muy diferente?

–Sí que lo puede ser, porque puedes seguir jugando tu golf tradicional en un campo de tu elección pero a través de la tecnología. Puedes jugar campos virtuales que estén cargados en el sistema y hacerte el recorrido completo, nueve hoyos, u hoyos alternos, lo que quieras.

Contamos en este momento con quince campos del mundo cargados en nuestro sistema, los más famosos, pero cada semana incorporamos más. Estamos convencidos de que puede ser un nuevo y atractivo aliciente para todos los jugadores de golf y para los que quieran iniciarse. ■

It is fascinating and very enjoyable to be able to participate in this type of worldwide challenge from your driving range.

Could your driving range be an alternative to a traditional round of golf or is it a very different concept?

Yes it can be, because you can still play traditional golf on a course of your choice but through technology. You can play virtual courses that are loaded into the system and play the whole round, nine holes, or alternate holes, whatever you want.

At the moment we have 15 courses from all over the world loaded into our system – the most renowned ones – but we are adding more every week. We are convinced that it can be a new and attractive incentive for all golfers and for those who want to start playing. ■