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MONITORS! Why you should assess your game on the latest launch monitors (if you haven’t already)

TROLLEYS! Two new models from Motocaddy and PowaKaddy have GPS tech built into their handles

GADGETS! Our pick of this year’s best handheld lasers, micro GPS units and GPS watches

TRACKERS! Shot trackers are all the rage... we speak to a man who invented one, and pick five of our favourites

The GPS in

PowaKaddy and Motocaddy unveil new MOTOCADDY S5 CONNECT Prices: £549.99 (standard lithium); £599.99 (extended lithium).

Downhill Control (DHC) model £599.99 (standard) and £649.99 (extended) In a nutshell: The new S5 Connect can be synced to a Motocaddy GPS app, so the trolley’s digital display can be used in place of a conventional GPS, offering front, middle and back distances to the green (yards or metres), along with the hole’s par, clock and round timer.

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Other features: Soft-touch ergonomic handle; streamlined battery tray to accommodate a range of lithium batteries; QUIKFOLD mechanism; low-profile, quick-release wheels.

A Downhill Control (DHC) version maintains a constant speed while moving down a gradient.

Motocaddy says: “The S5 Connect is at the forefront of golf technology and we’re proud to be pioneering the next generation of electric trolleys. It acts as the ultimate caddy for any golfer out on the course – carrying your bag

Details ● A digital control button regulates nine speeds. ● Trolley displays notifications of missed calls, texts, emails or app alerts, such as Facebook. ● Phone is connected, even in a golf bag pocket or while charging on trolley’s USB port.

and giving you accurate yardages on each hole. We’ve partnered with the world’s leading golf GPS mapping company to provide the most advanced technology ever found in a combination of a golf trolley and mobile phone app.”

All-in -one Yardages, par speed, clock and timer are all displayed in the new S5 connect.

Not just a GPS PowaKaddy’s 3.5in screen display even incorporates a calorie counter... so you know when you’ve burned off that bacon sandwich!

your trolley

models that do more than just carry your bag POWAKADDY FW7 GPS Price: £749.99

In a nutshell: While the Motocaddy uses your phone’s GPS to get its yardages, PowaKaddy’s FW7 has a GPS unit actually built into the handle.

The digital display reveals fast, accurate distances to the front, middle and back of the green at over 30,000 courses worldwide, plus precise distances to hazards without the need to take out another device. Courses can be updated by connecting the FW7’s GPS to the PowaKaddy website via a port underneath the handle.

Other features: Plug ‘n’ Play battery system; low-profile PowaFrame chassis; A thin, powerful lithium battery; Quiet 230W motor; Three-year warranty.

PowaKaddy PowaKaddy says: “We’re really, really excited about our integrated GPS technology and what it means for the performance-focused golfer. Golfers can manage their game from their trolley handle without getting any other device out – a real landmark moment. As the GPS is built-in to the handle, we believe it offers a reliable

Details ● A built-in digital scorecard tracks your scores, while saving every round to build a performance history. ● The screen even reacts to your score by displaying emojis based on whether you beat your handicap or not!

source of distance measurement that is irrespective of mobile signal, battery or internet data. Plus, this trolley has all the features of our award-winning Freeway.

Reactive The FW7 aims to improve your performance.

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Tech teachings What it’s told us about golfers

Golf in 2017 is bursting at the seams with tech.

Everything, from shoes to drivers, balls and putters can now be analysed on a machine to help improve a golfer’s performance. With so much data out there – data we simply didn’t have access to a few years ago – we thought it o show some of the most impressive was time to stats that tech has recently revealed...

295cc

The size Ping’s G30 driver would need to be shrunk down to be as quick through the air as their aerodynamic new G400.

0.0005 seconds

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The amount of time a 10-foot putt stays in contact with the face (about half a millisecond). Because a putter has loft a 10-footer is “lifted” into the air for about its first four inches; it then skids for about 12 inches before starting its roll.

A recent Swedish study found mortality rates dropped 40% for those who play golf on a regular basis, which equates to an extra five years of life expectancy.

Number of frames per second Ping’s Enzo motion capture cameras grab on everything from drag to shaft torque. Hollywood films are usually captured at between 100-200fps.

Many of the latest wedges (especially higher lofts) have an extra groove, which comes directly from a launch monitor. More grooves mean more spin on shorter shots, but we’d never have known if we couldn’t measure spin.

The percentage of UK golfers who use electric trolleys. The DMD market’s split 75%-25% in favour of GPS over rangefinders. With 80% of the British population owning a smartphone it’s no surprise Motocaddy has used the GPS built into your phone to power its new S5 Connect.

2.270

The number of strokes DJ gains on the field every round he plays. Strokes gained is a relatively new way of comparing players within a field. The PGA Tour’s top five is made up

by Fowler (2.12), Rahm (1.98), Spieth (1.87) and Tyrrell Hatton (1.864).

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mph

Rory McIlroy’s ball speed off his TaylorMade M2 driver. His spin is 2,119rpm, and he carries drives 316 yards, which run out to 339.

That’s 50mph quicker and 111 yards further than the average UK golfer. Eeek!

181

69%

720

What an average 90mph swinger could add to their drives by changing attack angle from 5° down to 5° up.

40%

24 yards

1,986,635

1442 calories

13,000 steps

The number of steps golfers take when playing an average round (walking); over six miles. For those using a buggy it drops to 6,000 steps.

The amount of calories walking and carrying your golf clubs will burn in a round; more than you’d burn in a 30-minute gym session. Typically, you’d find 180 calories in a pint of beer and 341 in a bacon sandwich, so long as you don’t over-indulge you’ll be in calorie credit!

The numer of hours of vigorous exercise world No.1 Dustin Johnson does every week. He works out twice a day, with three days a week spent on power training, and a further three spent on “neurological training” which targets specific muscles. His coach reckons the exercise has upped club speed by 2mph and smash factor by 5%.

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BEST GOLF TECH

Whencostisn’taconsideration...

You end up making clubs like PXG’s £675 100% CNC milled wedges Ever since Scotty Cameron started crafting super premium milled putters in 1992, golf aficionados have put 100% CNC milling on a pedestal for being the ultimate way to make putters.

The machining method means tolerances are tighter, so you get a more precise end product.

It’s possible to use more exotic steels to increase feel and feedback and you can position mass extremely accurately.

Until now, though, 100% CNC milling – which literally means the whole head is machined from a single block of steel (hosel and all) has been limited to putters, primarily because of the cost and complexity of making wedges or irons (which have few flat surfaces) on a CNC machine. But the guys at PXG don’t worry about cost – so they’re first to use the technique to make wedges.

It’s no doubt taken a huge amount of time and a heck of a lot of head-scratching at PXG HQ to figure out how to make a complex head shape on a

milling machine. Think about it – the rounded head, every curve/radi, hosel and sole shaping is created from a computer CAD file. And because the head’s only got one flat surface (the face) it’s a hugely impressive feat.

As with everything PXG, the 100% CNC Milled wedge collection are luxury, premium products, so they come with a suitably impressive £675 price tag. Which means very few golfers will ever get to experience them. But we reckon that because PXG has now mastered the tech it’s only a matter of time before they come up with a full set of 100% CNC-milled irons, too.

OurfivefavouritemicroGPSunits

Small enough to fit into your pocket

SkyCaddie SR1 £129.95

Golf Buddy CT2 £129.95

Bushnell Neo Ghost £99

Golf Buddy Voice 2 £114.95

Garmin Approach G10 £129.99

www.skygolf.com

www.gpsgolfbuddy.eu

www.bushnellgolf.com

www.gpsgolfbuddy.eu

www.garmin.com

The SR1 is laden with tech, but SkyCaddie say it’s the lightest and most compact micro on the market. You get green distances, lay-up targets, shot distance measurement, digital scoring and hole stats.

It can be clipped to almost anything. You get all the usual distances plus lay-up and hazard yardages, an odometer and a clock. The CT2 comes with a lanyard so it can be secured to the towel ring on a golf bag, too.

GPSs don’t come much more straightforward than this. Distances are shown to the back, centre and front of each green and up to four hazards per hole. Bushnell says you can play three rounds before recharging it.

Walk anywhere on the hole and push the Voice’s button to find out how far you have to the front, centre or back of a green. It can even be clipped on to a cap or worn with a wristband (sold separately) as a watch.

Distances are limited to front, back and middle, along with hazards, but there is a view to show the shape of the green and you can manually position the pin. An odometer tracks how far you’ve walked.

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‘Every golfer will be using shot tracking technology in four years’

The founder of Arccos, Sal Syed, is on a mission to improve your scores via tech here are lots of shot trackers out there, designed to tell you how far you hit the ball, how many fairways and greens you hit, putts you take, bunkers you find. The idea is that you can build up an accurate picture of your game, so you can identify strengths and weaknesses. If you discover you’re missing lots of greens from 100 yards, work on your wedge game. If you miss most fairways right, it’s time to try a slice-busting driver... Many of these systems are a bit niche (see our favourites, right). But Arccos has broken into the mainstream this year thanks to a deal with Cobra, which sees its sensors fitted in the grips grip of the new King F7 drivers. We spoke to its inventor, in Sal Syed, to find out where shot-tracking tech t is going...

T

When did you come up with the idea ide of using shot tracking for golf clubs? club I love golf and I love data, so s I could never understand why no-one had introduced in a product that brought data analytics analytic to regular golfers. My initial idea ide was to track performance data by putting put sensors in golf balls, but that tha didn’t go anywhere.

.

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Why was that?

Changing the characteristics of a golf ball is very hard, and breaking Titleist’s stranglehold of the golf ball market is even harder. After ruling out that idea, I thought ‘How about sensors in golf clubs?’ and Arccos was born.

How long did the development process take?

It took us a year-and-a-half to get to market.

This is very quick, but we managed to licence some patents from Callaway and I wanted to get live feedback from users as quickly as possible. Otherwise I felt all we would be doing was wasting our time and money developing in our own little tle bubble.

What was the hardest bit off the product to get right?

From being jostled tled in the back of your car to o clashing with other clubs in your bag, ag, your golf clubs go through thousands ands of different impacts acts each year.. Only about 150 of these impacts acts

BEST GOLF TECH the fact that 40% of the time people who have clear approach shots and hit the ball well come up short of the green due to a poor club choice.

So golfers don’t hit it as far as they think?

Correct. Our data proves golfers have a cognitive bias that leads them to overestimate their ability. Arccos pierces this cognitive bias in a good way by saying, ‘OK, you hit that one amazing 7-iron 165 yards, but you also hit 10 OK ones that went between 150 and 155 yards, so maybe you should plan for a 154-yard 7-iron.’ This may not sound that important, but the data shows that after playing more than 10 rounds with our system our average user makes better club selections and improves their score by 2.77 shots.

Phone a friend The Caddie feature now available from Arccos recommends a strategy based on your actual game.

are golf shots and each of these takes around a microsecond. To build a sensor or that ignores all the other impactss and just records these 150 microseconds off club on ball impact is not easy to solve and almost undoubtedly the reason why no other company is doing what we’re e doing.

So how exactly does Arccos help golfers? ers?

Using the sensors on your club and the GPS on your phone, our App records your our performance data and then uses it to o help you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your game. We were e using traditional golf statistics when we started out, but quickly found them to be misleading. For example, my putts per round statistic was very high.

This made me think my putting was the issue. I kept practising my putting, ting, but my scores didn’t improve. Then we began using advanced statistics based on strokes gained in five categories (driving, approach, chipping, sand game and putting). It turned out that my putting was actually pretty good and my issue lay in leaving my approach shots too far away from the hole.

The moment I started working on my approach play my game improved.

What is the future for this kind of tech?

In terms of partnerships, we have just teamed up with Cobra to launch the Cobra Connect, golf’s first driver with integrated shot tracking. And in terms of our own products, we recently launched Arccos Caddie. It currently gives people advice on their club selection from the tee, but I’d like to develop this into a realtime caddie for every shot.

Is that legal?

At present it is and hopefully the governing bodies keep it that way, as it’s a great example of technology providing a solution that brings back a traditional element of the game that has been lost.

What do you mean?

A century ago, just about every round was played with a caddie who offered their player mentorship and advice on club selection based on their playing ability. Nowadays, the expansion of golf and economics involved in paying someone to carry your clubs mean that very few rounds are played with a caddie. Our technology could change this by giving golfers a caddie in the palm of their hand.

‘Our average user makes better club selections’

What other surprising statistics has Arccos uncovered?

The one that shocked me the most was

Interesting. So will everyone be using tracking technology in 20 years?

I believe every golfer will be using it in three or four years.

Seriously?

Yes. Our goal is to have every club embedded with an Arccos sensor by 2020, and I will be shocked if in four years everyone who is buying new clubs isn’t tracking everything.

Shottrackers

Five of the best on sale now Tour pros have access to hundreds of stats to monitor their performance, and in the last couple of years the tech has filtered into the amateur game. You’ve got to be pretty committed to buy it, but new ways of tracking your game stats are appearing all the time.

Arccos 360 £249 www.arccosgolf.com Arccos partners with Microsoft to offer a Caddie feature. It takes into account shots you’ve hit before and gives you a strategy for the shot, hole or course you’re playing.

Shot Scope £145 www.shotscope.com If you’ve avoided trackers because shots need to be tagged or because the putting stats are rubbish, Shot Scope solves both issues. You simply tag the pin at the end of each hole and everything else is automatic.

SkyCaddie Linx GT £299.95 www.skygolf.com This includes a Linx watch so you have yardages on your wrist, too. Tags in the grips of your clubs record each shot by touching the grip on the watch which allows for detailed post-round analysis.

Mobitee and Piq £199 www.mobitee.com GPS yardages, shot tracking as well as tempo, speed and swing path, the Mobitee offers tons of info. A sensor attaches to the back of your glove, tags are inserted into your club grips and you get live graphics plotted on GPS hole images.

Game Golf Live £169 www.gamegolf.com Game Golf Live not only lets you do all the same shot tracking as the original and view your data live it lets you invite friends to join a live leaderboard, which can really liven up a Saturday morning knock about!

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What the R&A says about DMDs... mit the use Rule 14-3 does not per or unusual of any artificial device pose of pur the for ent ipm equ distance. gauging or measuring may allow However, a Local Rule easuring the use of a distance-m of golf, to nd rou a ing dur ice dev measure distance and distance alone.

SixofthebestLaserrangefinders To suit every budget Bushnell Tour V4 Shift £339

Bushnell Pro X2 £449

Callaway Hybrid £329

www.bushnellgolf.eu

www.bushnellgolf.eu

www.brandfusionltd.co.uk

Tech moves at a slower pace when it comes to rangefinders, but Bushnell insists the Tour Shift is a giant leap forward as it produces slope adjusted distances at the flick of a switch. With the slope function turned off its legal for competition use.

Waterproofing isn’t the first thing most golfers think about when buying a rangefinder... until you pull yours from its case after a downpour and its viewfinder is misted up. The X2 is waterproof, and capable of toggling between slope and standard distances.

Having a GPS for longer shots and a rangefinder for accurate approaches sounds like a perfect set-up, but it’s expensive.

Callaway’s Hybrid gets over the issue by combining a GPS inside a rangefinder, giving you the best of both worlds. Genius.

BEST BEST GOLF GOLF TECH TECH

When will distance measuring devices go pro?

Where would we be without rangefinders, GPS watches and smartphones? Probably still hacking around in the woods, lamenting poor club choice as our score nears double figures. Before 2014, it was a common sight during amateur competitions for golfers to pace out distances from sprinkler heads and yardage markers.

Now, with just the click of a button, we can find out the exact distance to the front, back and middle of the green.

And the best bit? It’s legal during USGA and R&A amateur championships.

A National Golf Foundation survey revealed that two thirds of us now use some kind of distance measuring device (DMD) on the course. They are even more popular on the PGA Tour, with 97% of pros and caddies admitting that they used a Bushnell laser during the Players Championship in May. At least that was the case during the practice days. The rules currently prohibit their use during competitive play on the PGA Tour and European Tour, which means the likes of Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller have to rely on course guides and their own intuition from Thursday through to Sunday. But come 2019, that could all change. Under a proposed rules revamp, the R&A and USGA will allow players to use DMDs to measure distance. Though a committee will still be able to invoke a Local Rule to prohibit their use, the PGA Tour has already

been readying itself by trialling DMDs during tournaments on the Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour and PGA Tour LatinoAmérica since April.

Andy Pazder, chief tournaments and competitions officer of the PGA Tour, said: “For years, there has been significant discussion and debate about whether distance measuring devices would have a positive or negative impact on competition at the highest levels of pro golf. The only way we can accurately assess their impact is to conduct an actual test during official competition on our tours. Our evaluation will consider the impact on pace of play, optics and any other effects they may have on the competition.”

One man who’s already made up his mind is Bryson DeChambeau, who says “it’s the best thing they could possibly do”. But not everyone is convinced. USGA boss Mike Davis has admitted that “caddies aren’t crazy about it,” while former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has even confessed that “we don’t like the way it looks.” Nevertheless, recent developments suggest the PGA Tour’s stance has softened, and Andrew Grose, MD of Bushnell, believes there is plenty of evidence that DMDs can help golf to become more of a spectator sport.

“It’s clear that knowing your exact distance within seconds of arriving at your ball is very important to speed of play,” says Grose.

“When you’re having to guess, find a

GolfBuddy LR7 £249.99

What the EuroPro Tour players say...

“They are a quick way of getting your yardage and a positive for the tour and professional golf.

It saves time and gives you an exact yardage of where you want to go. I would 100 per cent welcome their introduction on the European and Challenge Tours.”

James Ruth

“Using a range finder helps your game; it gives you more clarity on yardages. They are a positive on the tour. It speeds up play because it is a quick look and you have the yardage.”

Michael Bullen

Nikon Coolshot 80 VR £379.99

yardage marker or work out where you are from a course guide, you must be saving 15 seconds per shot, which can easily be 20 minutes a round.

A booklet or a strokesaver is what we’ve been used to seeing and I think there is a reluctance to break that tradition. But more and more officials appreciate the speed benefits and often criticise five or six-hour tournament rounds, so it’s got to be the way forward.”

Rangefinders have been standard issue for all golfers on the EuroPro Tour since they were permitted way back in 2005, so much so that every winner now receives a Bushnell device. Daniel Godding, chief executive of the EuroPro, has seen first-hand how pace of play has been affected, and he backs up Grose’s claims that they can help to rid the game of slow play.

“We make decisions that enhance and improve the game and excite the viewer, and we believe that the use of DMDs has assisted in a continued improvement in pace of play,” says Godding. “In the past, players would have to walk to the green and measure the distance with their stride. Now, they simply look through a lens. It’s a technical development which does not affect the skill of a player but does improve the pace of play.”

Grose points out that the feedback from EuroPro players has been “tremendous” and thinks it’s only a matter of time before the major tours take notice. For now, though, the world’s best will still have to keep their Bushnells locked away in their bags during tournament play.

Leica Pinmaster Pro £510

www.gpsgolfbuddy.eu

www.europe-nikon.com

www.leica.co.uk

If you primarily use a rangefinder inside 150 yards, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get distances. The LR7 is a simple affair. It’s water-resistant, legal for tournament play (as there’s no slope function) and its soft body is designed for a stable grip.

Nikon’s latest rangefinder features “vibration reduction” to reduce shake when you’re trying to pinpoint the flag. The 80 doesn’t give slope adjusted distances (the 80i does for £419.99), which means it’s legal for tournament play. It’s also a very compact unit.

Leica are legends when it comes to lens tech, making everything from cameras to microscopes over the last 100 years.

The Pinmaster Pro isn’t cheap but its carbon-fibrereinforced body is super light and the images are crystal clear.

n Michael Bullen picture supplied by PGA EuroPro Tour

It could be sooner than you think, as it’s already happening on the EuroPro Tour

Train your brain for golf Jason Day is a fan of this headband that interprets your brainwaves Focus Band £550

and shows them on an app so you instantly see its activity.

The system aims to get you out of using the critical left side of the brain and focus on the creative right side. It works during a pre-shot routine, while addressing a shot as well as during your swing. Some golfers have even played whole rounds (it’s not competition legal) wearing the band to see how the brain goes into overdrive when faced with difficult holes or shots.

The idea is that over time the band and app train you to relax, quieten the brain and allow you to focus just on the shot you’re playing. Day has built what he’s learned into a solid pre-shot routine to clear his mind, quieten his eyes and focus on his target, rather than getting bogged down with swing thoughts and what’s ahead.

Focus Band is a serious bit of kit, and likely only to get into the hands of elite players, but it’s interesting to see how much of a role the world’s best are willing to let technology play a role in their games. Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington and Michelle Wie are all using these bands, too.

www.focusband.com “Take it one shot at a time” is a massively overused term in tour player circles. It’s trotted out before the last round of every Major by players who’ve never won one. But for anyone who’s actually tried doing it for real, it’s incredibly difficult. Keeping your mind in the now and not letting it wander to your next shot, or the tough par 3 over water that’s coming up on the back nine, or who’ll you’ll thank in the winner’s speech just doesn’t come naturally to lots of us. Believe it or not four years ago world No.3 Jason Day was in the same boat; he was seriously considering quitting the game because he just couldn’t stay in the now. That was before Focus Band convinced him to give their brain sensing head band a go. For anyone who’s tried “brain training” before, how to measure success or know what you’re doing is right has always been an issue.

But the Focus Band measures the brain’s electrical frequencies (like an ECG measures your heart)

Thespecsthatshowyouthelineofyourputts It might sound a bit sci-fi, but it’s true. German firm Viewlicity has come up with a pair of glasses that will project the line of a putt on to a green for you. No matter whether you’re practising indoors or out, 82 IS SUE 3 6 4 TODAYSGOLFER .CO.UK

the system uses augmented reality to “read” putts and show you with a light path the perfect route to the hole. The system’s in its infancy, but the company behind it have big plans to bring their

augmented reality tech to launch monitor full swing sessions as well, as they reckon it gives a more immersive experience than a simulator screen. Watch this space. www.puttview.com

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ways tech has improved your relationship with the professional game

From the way you watch TV to the ways you can learn from the best, technology has brought you closer to the game’s superstars

1Youcancaddiefor SergioGarcia…

There is no way the Masters Champion would ever agree to let a 40-year-old club player he’d never met carry his bag, right? Wrong. On July 9, 2016, Sergio Garcia superfan Mark Johnson began sending his idol a daily tweet containing the hashtag #letmecaddieforyou. The Englishman did not receive a reply on the 1st, 25th, 75th, 89th or even 205th day. But on the 206th day a social media miracle occurred.

“Okay, @markjohno6969 I think I found the perfect day for you to get a taste of carrying my bag & make your dream come true! Are you ready?” tweeted Garcia.

Obviously, the Englishman jumped at the opportunity and is preparing to caddie for Garcia during the pro-am at September’s British Masters. “We decided that if he held on for 200 days he would make the cut,” reveals Garcia. “I’m sure it will be a great experience for him, and also for us.”

Five more great coaches to follow on Twitter n Stan Utley (@stanutley) n Michael Breed (@MichaelBreed) n Ted Eleftheriou (@CreateGolfers) n Joseph Mayo (TrackmanMaestro) n Andrew Nicholson (Point1golfcoach)

4 Youfoundout howtroubledTiger Woodsreallyis…

After much deliberation, we’ve decided that the fact the dashcam footage of Tiger Woods’ recent arrest spread like wildfire around the internet was a good thing. This isn’t because we enjoyed revelling in the sight of the former World No.1 attempting to recite the alphabet and walk in a straight line. It’s because if it hadn’t gone viral his team might have swept the incident under the carpet and the 14-time Major champion might not have got the help he clearly needs.

2 …orownRory’s oldNikeCovertdriver Towards the end of 2015, Barry Edwards cheekily asked Rory McIlroy if there was any chance of getting one of his old Nike drivers.

The former World No.1 saw the comment on his Facebook page and, much to Edwards’ surprise and delight, replied: “Sure. I’ll send you a Nike Covert driver. Served me well! Message me your address and my team will ship it to you.”

3 Youcanget140 charactertipsfrom Tiger’sex-coach Before social media, it would cost you in excess of $1,000 to get a lesson from Hank Haney.

Now, if you Tweet a quick video or 140-word plea to @HankHaney, the Texasbased super-coach will respond with a one or two-line diagnosis of your issue. Better still, he’s not the only top coach serving up advice, videos and all sorts of opinions online.

‘Mark Johnson is preparing to caddie for his hero Garcia in the pro-am at the British Masters’

6 It’schanged g the wayyouwatchgolf Gone are the days of settling down for a couple of hours of grainy highlights once or twice a year. And here are the days of enjoying wall-to-wall high definition coverage of every European and PGA Tour event featuring ball-tracking technology, action replays and insightful post-round interviews.

Given how far golf broadcasting has come, it’s difficult to shortlist the best innovations, but here goes... n On-screen statistics Previously, you had to guess whether a pro was or wasn’t likely to make a putt. Now, you can study the percentage chance of a player finding the hole, while they study their line. n Featured groups Can’t wait until Sky Sports’ official coverage begins at 8pm? Then simply press the red button and follow every shot from the morning session’s two headline groups. n Shot tracker The feature that a) showed you that sometimes pros hit duck hooks too, and b) launched an app that you can now use to capture you and your friend’s somewhat erratic ball flights.

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5 Youarethereferee

OK, you probably aren’t. But, thanks to HD TVs, slow-motion cameras and live TV you can rewind, some armchair viewers are. The good news for the world’s top pros is that the constant call-ins have prompted the R&A and USGA to introduce rule changes aimed at minimising the impact of television viewers. The bad news for them is the governing bodies have yet to go the whole hog and ban television fan rulings.

Five famous phoned-in golf rulings (so far)... n LPGA star Lexi Thompson was handed a four-stroke penalty during the final round of this year’s ANA Inspiration, after a viewer spotted she’d replaced her ball in the wrong spot on the 17th green during her third round. n Simon Dyson received a two-month ban and £30,000 fine after a TV viewer emailed the European Tour to inform

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them the Englishman should be DQ’d for tapping down a spike mark on the line of his putt during the 2013 BMW Masters. n At the 2011 Abu Dhabi HSBC Invitational, Padraig Harrington was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after a viewer noticed that the Irishman had accidentally moved his ball on the green.

n Tiger Woods received a two-stroke penalty after a viewer spotted him taking an illegal drop on the 13th hole in the second round of the 2013 Masters. n Camilo Villegas was DQ’d from the 2011 Tournament of Champions after a viewer reported him for moving a twig that might have influenced the movement of his ball.

You’veseen Beefplay p y chauffeurand Stensonasa mannequin

Once upon a time the European Tour’s publicity drive involved putting on a couple of pre-tournament press conferences. Today, it features live social commentaries, in-play highlights and some of the best viral videos being made by any sporting organisation in the world. These are our top-five...

3. The Awkward Reporter Get ready to bite your knuckles and fidget in your seat, as stars including Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler are on the receiving end of some brilliantly awkward questions. youtube.com/watch?v=rmY89bSk89Q

BEST GOLF TECH

Trackdown yourlostkeys

8 Findout what prosreallythink Whether it’s a wine-fuelled Westwood rant or pros coming out to criticise a daft ruling, social media lets them share opinions on their own terms. Take Tiger Woods’ plight. A few years ago, the only way we’d have found out another pro’s view was if an interviewer asked them about him. Now, thanks to social media, we get to see players react to the story as it happens. Several uploaded a number of heartwarming “get well soon” messages, but by far and away the most emotional was the video Martin Kaymer filmed on his sofa and posted on his Twitter feed. Haven’t watched it yet? Go to twitter.com/MKaymer59, scroll down to June 1 and enjoy.

9 Youcannow wgo g on holidaywiththem Okay, okay. So you didn’t actually get to fly in the private jet, jump off the boat, mess around on the Baker’s Bay’s golf course or chill by the pool. But thanks to the Snapchat app you got to live every second of Rickie Fowler, Smylie Kaufman, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas’ #SB2K17 in the Bahamas. And what’s more

Tile Mate £23 www.thetileapp.com

you got to do it without getting heat stroke or sand in your shoes.

Follow the Bahamas four: The #SB2K17 crew’s main social media handles

Rickie Fowler Twitter: @RickieFowler Instagram: instagram.com/rickiefowler Snapchat: rickiefowler15

homas Justin Thomas Twitter: wit witter: @JustinThomas34 Instagram: instagram.com/justinthomas34 Snapchat: jlthomas34

Smylie Kaufman Twitter: @SmylieKaufman10 Instagram: instragram.com/smyliekaufman10 Snapchat: smylie_kaufman

Jordan dan Spieth Twitter: wit witter: @JordanSpieth Instagram: instagram.com/jordanspieth Facebook: facebook.com/jordanspiethgolf

If you’ve ever lost a set of keys on a golf course you’ll know how utterly frustrating it is knowing your belongings are out there, but you can’t find them. So long as you have your phone and a Tile Mate attached to your keys Tile can help.

Attach this tiny GPS tracker to your keyring so if you lose your keys you can locate them using an app. The system works in reverse, too, so if you lose your phone Tile will call your phone so you can hear the ring (a great reason never to leave your phone on silent). And because Tile comes in a number of sizes at a reasonable cost, we reckon if you leave your clubs outside the clubhouse while going in for postround drinks it would make sense slipping one into your golf bag. If it’s ever stolen you’d be able to let the police know what’s happened and at the very least track where it’s gone.

One-sizefits-all glove 1. Mannequin challenge

2. When Billy met Rory

It’s a who’s who of European golf and every single one of our top stars is standing, sitting or posing rigidly still for the camera. youtube.com/watch?v=JwZFcyWsnps

A nine-year-old grills the four-time Major winner on all sorts of subjects, before joining the former World No.1 for a dip in the pool. youtube.com/watch?v=Ghevj3JM6YM

4. Best birthday ever

5. The fastest hole of golf

A young golfing superfan and three very amous Major winners winner are given a lift to famous Wentworth by the one and only Andrew “Beef” Johnston. youtube.com/watch?v=zG6uVpaLKc4

Can the Spanish, Danish or French teams break the world record for the fastest hole by a golf team of four? Tune in to find out. youtube.com/watch?v=cYaxsIqyPU4

Zoom £14.99 www.zoomgloves.de Stomping into a pro shop needing a new glove minutes before heading to the first tee on a Saturday morning is never the best way to start a round. It’s particularly frustrating though when you realise the pro’s out of your size! Well Zoom realised that, too, so they’ve made a glove that fits any hand size, large or small, by using super-stretchy lycra in areas that aren’t used for gripping (like the back of the hand, end of the fingers).

They’ve used a soft synthetic material on the areas that do touch the club.

Zoom says the design reduces wrinkles by 80%, which means it will last longer as well.

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A launchpad for your game If you haven’t been on a launch monitor yet, here’s why you really should Launch monitors are everywhere in golf nowadays. Tour ranges are packed with them; every brand uses numerous versions to test clubs; most high street shops and club pros use them to fit equipment and give lessons and demo days. Yet we know there’s an awful lot of golfers who have never been

near one. If that’s you, make this the year to have a go. Launch monitor tech has taken a massive stride forward this year, so much so that even putts can now be analysed. The new Foresight Sports GC Quad – which we now use for much of TG’s testing – measures club and ball data from a single unit not

much bigger than your copy of this magazine. The five parameters we’ve picked below are a good starting point if you’re a launch monitor virgin; this box of tricks offers hundreds more stats, including the path of the clubface and its face angle at impact.

BALL SPEED This issue is all about increasing it, and this is the only way to find out what yours is. Rory McIlroy generates 181mph with his TaylorMade M2 driver; club golfers with a 90mph driver swing speed should expect to be closer to 130mph.

LAUNCH ANGLE Higher with lower spin is generally good, but whether you attack down on the back of the ball or up on it makes a massive difference to the trajectory your shots start on.

Slower swing speed players generally need more launch angle to keep the ball in the air for longer and maximise carry; higher swing speeds can get away with less.

SPIN Backspin is a huge detractor to maximising carry distance; too little and shots nose-dive; too much can rob you of 30+ yards. The only way to know for sure and optimise spin is on a launch monitor, plus you get to see how much bad swings cost in terms of raw power.

HEIGHT Gone are the days of trying to keep shots as close as possible to the deck – believe us, higher is longer. It’s really satisfying to try a new set of irons on a launch monitor and see how you hit the 7-iron as far as your old six, yet shots fly higher, which means they will stop faster on the green.

CARRY DISTANCE It’s an all-important number and for most of us it’s a bit of a shock when we don’t hit shots quite as far as we think we do! If you’re on good terms with your pro or fitter get him to let you come back with your full set so you can work out how far you hit each iron, and work out what hybrids/woods and wedges would best fit your game.

BEST GOLF TECH To use the system, golfers download TrackMan’s app, which effectively transforms their phone into a top-spec launch monitor.

The app plots every shot you hit on a map of the range, so you’ll never have an excuse for aimlessly firing balls as you can see how close shots finish to your target.

Every shot you hit is tracked by the system, with data on launch angles, ball speeds, back spin and carry and total distances being instantaneously flashed on your phone.

This is not just a really useful tool for improving, it’s also a system to help make range time more fun.

Is this the range of the future?

We hope so, because it actually tells you the key numbers to help you improve We’re all a bit guilty of hitting the range with very good intentions, but then just bashing balls for 45 minutes with no real plan.

Apart from watching the ball’s flight most of us have no idea how far shots go, how accurate we are or how we’re striking the ball.

It’s no surprise then many us just don’t improve at the range.

So imagine how much more fun, interesting

and useful range sessions would be if you had your very own £10,000 Trackman monitoring every shot.

Sound like pie in the sky? Well the firm has just unveiled Trackman Range, which takes all their tech and rolls it into a package that offers every golfer using a driving range the full Trackman experience. Brilliant!

Golfers will have access to the same ball

flight and club data as the world’s best players, all while practising from a range bay or outdoors on grass. The real tech though is how the system tracks the ball flights of as many golfers as you can fit on a 130-yard wide range.

We just hope some forward-thinking UK ranges invest in the kit; it’s currently only being used on the continent.

Three other launch monitorsworthahit

FlightScope mevo £550

SkyTrak £1,900

TrackMan 4 From £12,000

www.flightscope.com

www.skygolf.com

www.trackmangolf.com

Aimed at golfers looking for a personal launch monitor. It’s tiny (smaller than an iPhone box), but thanks to a decent app it’s a powerful practice tool for less than the cost of your average set of irons.

A bit of a one-size-fits-all launch monitor. Not only is it a reasonably low cost solution for club fitters and teaching pros, as long as you have the right subscriptions and a practice net you can turn a garden or garage into a simulator.

Until now putter fittings have taken a back seat when it comes to launch monitors, but Tr TrackMan 4 is changing all that. This version gathers data on everything from ball speed, skid distance and roll percentage from your stroke.

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Inside a super high-tech putting Golfers from all over the world come here to fix their putting woes with popular orget putting on real greens. The artificial stuff is just as realistic, and even better when you can track every component of every putt using 2D and 3D technology. Just ask Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose or Tommy Fleetwood. They have all visited the Harold Swash Putting School of Excellence, warming up for The Open by booking a lesson with its director, Phil Kenyon.

It helps that the purpose-built facility is based at Formby Hall in Southport, less than five miles from Royal Birkdale. But what you may not know is that the 650sqft indoor studio is equipped with the largest collection of putting coaching software in the UK. Zen Green Stage? Check. SAM PuttLab? You bet.

They can even hook you up to something called Golf BioDynamics, which makes you look like an extra from Star Trek. All the gadgets and gizmos cost a small fortune combined, but every one serves a purpose.

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1 Zen Green Stage The world’s first computer controlled multicontoured putting surface. Measuring 16ft in length, the adjustable platform comes with six cups and interchangeable USGA spec speed carpets, which can run up to 15.5 on the stimp.

Built-in wifi connects to a phone or tablet so coaches can add uphill, downhill and side-toside slopes of up to 12% in variation, including double-breaking putts.

2 PuttView Working in conjunction with Green Stage, PuttView shows you how to hole any breaking putt by calculating and projecting an accurate light path. Coaches can also take advantage of a sketch function by drawing graphics and instructions onto the putting surface.

3 SAM PuttLab Accurate to within 0.01 of a degree, this contraption uses ultrasound to track 28 parameters of the stroke, including clubface

alignment, duration and rhythm. Instant graphical and numerical feedback is provided after every putt, which can then be compared against the average PGA Tour performance.

4 Quintic Ball Roll Used for fittings, instruction and R&D, this gizmo uses a 260 frames-per-second camera to measure the dynamics of the golf ball and putter head from set-up through to the first 16 inches of the putt. Think TrackMan, for putting.

5 Golf BioDynamics This 3D system uses an electromagnetic motion detector to track the orientation of the upper and lower body throughout the stroke.

The results can identify any issues relating to posture, flexibility, stability, strength or power.

6 Perfect Putter Forget chalk lines, Perfect Putter creates the perfect roll every time by highlighting the correct speed/line combination of any putt.

Simply align the device to your intended start

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Tour coach Phil Kenyon line, pre-set the distance of the putt, and then drop the ball from the Euler spiral (the bit which looks like a slide). It’s the perfect tool for green reading and visualisation, plus it also doubles as a stimpmeter.

7 Mi Putting Template The cheapest gadget but arguably the most effective. The template, which comes in four degrees of curvature (12, 15, 18 and 21), provides a visual representation of both the face and path by projecting the perfect arc.

8 BodiTrak Similar to SAM BalanceLab, this wireless pressure mat gauges centre of pressure, balance and weight distribution at set-up and during the stroke.

9 GASP Lab 5 Four high-speed cameras capture set-up position and movement dynamics. The footage can be matched and viewed at different points in the stroke to highlight cause and effect.

KANSKI, HEAD INSTRUCTOR Phil [Kenyon] coached eight of the 2016 European Ryder Cup team. Play yers like Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stens enson, Justin Rose and Ma Fitzp Matt zpatrick have all been here,, but Phil c coaches a lot of players out on Tour. He coaches from this studio about twice a month, and a lot of players send messages on WhatsApp with videos of their strokes.

There’s a three to four week waiting time for lessons.. We are very busy, and we are open seven days a week, from 7am to 8pm. Chris Wood and Tommy Fleetwood are regular visitors, but we also coach all of the England amateur squads. Phil has had students from Australia, who travel specifically to come here. I’ve had pros from India and every week we have someone in who’s travelled from somewhere in Europe.

We measure everything in the putting stroke; no stone is left unturned. If we think someone has got questionable acceleration in their stroke, we can set the Green Stage to an upslope and watch how they adjust and change their stroke.

We can do the same with people who struggle to control their speed with downhill putts.

All the best putters are able to keep their forearms, elbows and wrists quiet. Small movements there will have big implications at the bottom end, and the Sam PuttLab can pick that up as well as any changes in grip and arm pressure.

SHARPEN GROOVE SHARPENER

REPAIR PITCH REPAIRER

DRAW BALL LINE MARKER

ALIGN PUTT ALIGNMENT TOOL

A percentage of your practice needs to be dedicated to putting. And within that, time should be spent on improving the dynamics of your stroke, green reading and pace. If you can section your practice that way and have some measurable drills, you can then monitor and track any improvement. n For more information, visit www.haroldswashputting.co.uk

W W W.G RO OV E F I X. CO M 0208 240 0527 10 0 % B R I T I S H M A D E LIFETIME GUARANTEE

USE TG05 AT CHECKOUT TO RECEIVE A FREE FAUX SUEDE POUCH WORTH £2.00 WITH YOUR ORDER

Ourfavourite…2017GPSwatches More and more of us are strapping a device to our wrist to get course yardages Garmin Approach S60 £399

Golf Buddy WT6 £139.99

Golf Buddy WTX £199.99

www.garmin.com

www.eu.golfbuddyglobal.com

www.eu.golfbuddyglobal.com

The S60 is Garmin’s new golf GPS watch for 2017 and it’s packed to the rafters with tech. It does everything you’d expect of a GPS watch, but because it has a touchscreen you can zoom into and around holes for more detail. It also has an automatic shot tracker and if you pair it with an app it will even give you the weather forecast!

Plenty of golfers like keeping it simple when it comes to GPS with just wanting basic yardages to the front, centre and back. If that’s you the WT6 is right up your street. Dynamic green views mean yardages are calculated for the angle you’re attacking the green from, which is really useful if you’re not on the fairway.

Golf Buddy says the WTX fits all the usual features you’d expect in a handheld GPS into a watch. A touchscreen means navigating your way round a course is easy. It also has fitness features like step counting as well as being available in a number of different “skins” so you can turn the watch into a stylish timepiece away from the course.

Bushnell Excel £199

SkyCaddie SW2 £129.95

TomTom Golfer SE £169.99

www.bushnellgolf.co.uk

www.skycaddie.co.uk

www.tomtom.com

GPS tech is changing rapidly, it’s no surprise the Excel is completely new for 2017. Bluetooth means it can talk to your phone on the course our ourse so you get call alerts and notifications.

Bushnell’s new app also means you can book a tee time from your phone and get hole-by-hole flyovers.

SkyCaddie says the SW2 is the simplest way to get yardages on your wrist. Its GPS engine replaces your smartphone’s, which effectively gives more accurate yardages if you leave your phone in a golf bag.

It also offers shot distances and digital scoring making it a great all-rounder for not that much.

A sleek, stylish and powerful GPS watch which delivers everything you’d expect along with automatic shot tracking and a digital scorecard. omT Using TomT omTom’s om’s app gives you plenty of opportunity to analyse your game post-round and help highlight areas where you can improve.

Aleapforwardforgolfshoes Tech in golf isn’t just limited to fancy drivers, launch monitors and gadgets... adidas Crossknit Boost £139.95 www.adidas.co.uk If we’d been told a few years ago “knitted shoes” would be on the golf radar in 2017 we’d have laughed. They conjure images of old ladies making them in shawls, but trust us these are packed with tech.

Why go knitted? adidas say it creates the ultimate in fit and feel along with excellent breathability. We’ve tried them, and it’s like walking in slippers, with the stability of a normal golf shoe.

Ecco Cool £220 www.globalecco.com The boffins at Gore (of GoreTex fame) have a long history of creating brilliant waterproof and breathable membranes. Until now 90 IS SUE 3 6 4 TODAYSGOLFER .CO.UK

membranes have only ever worked on a golf shoe’s upper. But Ecco cut channels inside the sole, so air flows underneath the foot (a third of a foot’s sweat glands are in the sole).

Gore created a new surround membrane to envelop the whole foot as well. It means sweat can escape much more easily.

PRIZE DRAW

WIN

A SHOT SCOPE ON-COURSE SHOT TRACKER

As it’s our tech issue we’ve teamed up with the owners of Shot Scope to offer six readers the chance to win their system

Analyse Shot Scope’s app gives all the stats.

Wristband This collates your stats; you u just tag the pin. n.

Club tags These attach to the top of each grip.

hot Scope has been designed to improve your game – without disturbing it. While similar systems require you to “tag” every shot, this one works entirely in the background as you play; you just tag the pin location at the end of each hole.

The system comes with 20 grip tags (to install in the top of each club) which in conjunction with a wristband automatically tracks every shot you hit during a round.

Once you’re done simply sync your wristband with the Shot Scope app on a smart phone or computer and get access to more than 100 tour-level stats from your game. Unlike other GPS tracking systems Shot Scope doesn’t need you to access your phone during your round, or even carry it in your pocket, so you’re free to enjoy your game.

The guys at Shot Scope have improved the putting stats, too, as by tagging the flag at the end of each hole the system knows how close you’ve hit your approach as well as being able to work out how good you are at putting from different distances. Once your round is uploaded you’ll get a map of where you’ve hit every shot, as well as keeping a record of fairways and greens hit along with distances for each shot hit.

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How to enter Visit www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/win, click on the Shot Scope option and enter your email address. Entries close midnight on August 30.

E N T E R N O W AT W W W.T O D AY S G O L F E R . C O . U K / W I N