Tag: GPS

  • Bushnell’s New Wingman HD: Golf GPS Meets Premium Sound System

    Bushnell’s New Wingman HD: Golf GPS Meets Premium Sound System

    If you’ve ever wished your golf speaker could do more than just play music, Bushnell Golf just answered that prayer. Their latest release, the Wingman HD, takes the GPS speaker concept to a whole new level with a vibrant touchscreen display and audio quality that’ll make you forget you’re on the course and not at a backyard concert.

    What Makes the Wingman HD Different?

    The standout feature here is the 3.5-inch color touchscreen that shows you everything you need at a glance: distances to the front, center, and back of the green, plus up to six hazards per hole displayed right on screen. No more squinting at your phone or trying to remember yardages while you’re lining up your shot.

    But Bushnell didn’t forget that this is still, at its core, a speaker. The device packs dual 15-watt speakers with passive radiators that deliver 360-degree sound. According to Alfredo Marquez, GPS Product Manager at Bushnell Golf, “Wingman HD is built for golfers who want to stay dialed in on every shot and keep vibes up from the first tee to the final putt.”

    Smart Features That Actually Make Sense

    One clever addition is the dynamic audio adjustment feature. As your cart speeds up, the volume automatically compensates so your music doesn’t fade into the background. It’s controlled through the Bushnell Golf Mobile App, which also unlocks additional features like GreenView for detailed green contours, a shot distance calculator, and on-device scoring.

    For those who like to personalize their experience, the Wingman HD lets you set up custom first-tee intros and personal soundbites. And if you’re playing in a tournament or large group event, you can pair up to 100 units together for what Bushnell calls “Concert Links” mode, creating synchronized sound across the entire course. I can see the anti-music-on-course purists shaking their heads – Sorry, but the game is changing!

    Built for Real Golf Conditions

    The device earned an IPX67 rating, meaning it can handle dust, rain, and whatever else the course throws at it. Bushnell also included their BITE magnetic mount, which secures the speaker directly to your cart’s metal bar without any fuss. There’s even an indoor and outdoor EQ mode for when you’re at the range, using a simulator, or just practicing in the backyard.

    Wingman HD Key Features

    • 3.5” Color HD Touchscreen for visual distances, hazards, GreenView, and HoleView
    • Premium Audio with 2 x 15-watt speakers + passive radiators for powerful, for clear and immersive sound
    • Bi-directional Speaker Design for immersive 360° audio
    • Dynamic Audio Adjustment: Controlled in the app; the volume compensates as speed of cart increases. 
    • Audible & Visual GPS: front/center/back distances, hazards, shot distance calculator
    • Custom Audio Features: 1st tee intros, personal messages, and custom soundbites
    • “Concert Links” pairing: connect up to 100 Wingman HD units for concert-like sound
    • Integrated BITE Magnetic Cart Mount: secure directly on the cart bar
    • On device scoring (Connected to the App) 
    • Indoor/Outdoor EQ mode for range, simulator, or backyard sessions
    • Rated IPX67 Dustproof & Waterproof 

    The Bottom Line

    At $199.99, the Wingman HD positions itself as a premium option in the GPS speaker category. It launches in mid-October through select golf retailers and directly from BushnellGolf.com.

    For golfers who want their course technology to handle both the technical and entertainment sides of the game without carrying multiple devices, the Wingman HD delivers on both fronts. It’s not just about adding a screen to a speaker; it’s about creating a single device that genuinely enhances how you experience a round of golf.

  • 12 Days of Christmas Gift Guide – Last Minute Ideas

    12 Days of Christmas Gift Guide – Last Minute Ideas

    Our 12 days of Christmas gift guide series was off to a great start, but unfortunately got derailed last week due to a family emergency. With just a few days left until Christmas, we still have a few last minute gift ideas for you!

    V1 Sports – V1 Golf App

    V1’s free golf swing analysis and instruction app helps golfers play their best by capturing and reviewing your swing with powerful analysis and playback tools. The V1 golf swing app also allows you to connect with one of thousands of instructors who teach with V1 Sports.

    I recently connected with perennial Top 100 instructor Brian Mogg using the V1 app. I sent him 2 videos of my swing for analysis and in a few days he responded with his feedback and some drills to work on what I needed to improve upon. The results were immediate. Now I can send follow-up videos to make sure I’m progressing well and we plan on getting together in person at some point to reinforce what I’ve learned.

    The V1 app really is the perfect way to improve your game, contact free, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Did I mention the app is free? OK, your lessons won’t be free obviously – That’s between you and your pro, but you can use the V1 app for free as long as you want to capture swing videos and use it to analyze your own swing videos.

    For those of you that want more (who doesn’t), there’s the premium upgrade that costs $6.99 per month, or $59.99 per year. The premium version removes ads and adds a huge HD model swing library, allows you to compare two swings side by side in slow motion, overlay two videos for close inspection, and you get priority in-app support should something go wrong.

    GolfLogix Green Books & App

    We’ve written about GolfLogix before, and their golf GPS app has been one of the most complete and popular GPS apps available for several years, with over 5 million users worldwide. With the introduction of their Green Books, they’ve taken things to the next level.

    GolfLogix Green Books provide yardage guides, but the real star of the show are the detailed heat maps and putting break maps of each green for over 14,000 golf courses. I brought one of the books to Pinehurst and they were especially useful on the famed #2 course with their extreme upside-down bowl greens.

    For those that prefer to take advantage of more modern technology, GolfLogix also has their aforementioned phone app that provides accurate GPS distances, in-round pro-level stat tracking, approach view and the new Putt Line feature. It’s basically like having the green books on your phone. Membership for GolfLogix Plus is only $49.99 per year.

    Bushnell Wingman GPS Speaker

    If you are one of the lucky ones that can still find them in stores, the Bushnell Wingman is one of the most sought after golf gifts in all the land. Bushnell is already well known for their industry leading golf GPS and laser rangefinders, but the Bushnell Wingman was one of the most attention getting products introduced at the 2020 PGA Merchandise show, and it has lived up to the hype as they have been having trouble keeping it in stock all year!

    The Bushnell Wingman is a high quality bluetooth speaker combined with a golf GPS that works with the Bushnell Golf app on your phone to briefly mute your music while speaking out distances to the front, middle and back of the greens, as well as water hazards. It’s all controlled by a little magnetic remote. You can even program it to spout sarcastic comments for your buddies. The Wingman also has a powerful magnet to stick it to any metal surface without falling off. Now the only thing you have to worry about is not offending your playing partners with your selection of music on the course! the Bushnell Wingman retails for around $149.99 and is available at most golf retailers, big box stores and Amazon.

  • 7 Golf Accessories You Can’t Live Without

    7 Golf Accessories You Can’t Live Without

    2020 hasn’t been the best year for humans so far, with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing our daily lives into a tailspin. Fortunately, summer is almost here and golf is starting to get going again. Let’s face it – The golf course is arguably a safer place than a grocery store these days! In the US, over 97% of golf courses are open, so it’s time to get ready for summer and grab some of the hottest accessories available.

    Bushnell Pro XE

    For years Bushnell has made some of the very best laser rangefinders in golf, and the new Pro XE rangefinder is no exception. Packed with cool features and innovative technology, Bushnell’s flagship Pro XE model (pictured above) includes Slope with Elements which adds temperature and barometric pressure to the slope technology to provide accurate, compensated distances. The BITE magnetic cart mount is a welcome new feature as well. Available direct at bushnellgolf.com

    Bushnell Wingman GPS Speaker

    Like it or not, playing music on the golf course is here to stay. Streaming music services and bluetooth speakers are everywhere, so it’s only logical that the casual weekend golfer would want to play music on the course while they play. I’m not interested in talking about the why, but the how. To that end, the hottest new speaker for golf is the Bushnell Wingman. Not only does it sound great, but it has a powerful magnetic mount and a built-in GPS remote that speaks front, middle & back distances from over 36,000 courses worldwide using the Bushnell Golf App on your phone. Available direct from bushnellgolf.com.

    Flightscope MEVO

    Launch Monitors – Most of the world’s best players have them, why don’t you? Well, for starters they cost as much as a nice car. Until now that is. Flightscope has taken some of their industry leading Doppler radar technology and shrunk it down to a pocket-sized personal launch monitor that everyone can afford. The Flightscope MEVO costs only $499 and measures 8 performance data parameters like carry distance, club head speed, smash factor, apex height, flight time, ball speed, spin rate and launch angle. I use mine all the time. It’s invaluable for testing clubs and measuring my swing performance. https://www.flightscopemevo.com/

    Golflogix Green Books

    If you watch the pros play on TV, you’ll notice they are always looking at their yardage books, especially around the greens. For years they have had access to professional green books that detail all the slopes, humps and bumps on the greens of the course they are playing. Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to that kind of information for your home course? Now you can! One of the leading golf GPS apps – GolfLogix – is now taking their industry leading digital Putt Breaks technology and offering it in highly detailed, full color green books complete with heat maps. More than 14,000 courses have already been detailed, with more to come! To check for your home course, just go here: https://store.golflogix.com/

    Tanto Ball Mark Repair Tools

    I don’t know about you, but I struggle with ball mark repair tools. I love the switchblade style, but I can’t seem to keep them in good working order. For some reason they are always breaking. I use this style of divot repair tool because it won’t poke me in the leg or tear a hole in my shorts, but the spring loaded mechanism never lasts very long. But now there’s Tanto USA with their overengineered divot tools! Their stainless steel bladed, titanium powder coated tools are heavy and solid, like an expensive pocket knife. I’m looking forward to many years of repairing ball marks with this tool. To get yours, just visit: https://www.tantousa.com/

    Tattoo Golf Apparel

    Tattoo Golf has been one of my favorite golf apparel brands for years. You may not have heard of them until now, but you’ll be glad you did. Their youthful designs are colorful and fun, and the modern technical fabrics perform well even in the humidity of a hot Florida summer. While many of their designs feature a variation of their ubiquitous skull and “crossclubs” logo, you can also get golf shirts with cool Hawaiian style floral patterns. They make shirts, shorts, pants, hats and accessories for men and women and run frequent sales through their website where you can save up to 20% or more. Check them out today at https://www.tattoogolf.com/

    Walker Trolleys

    While some of us have used golf as a form of therapy through all this COVID-19 business, in an effort to practice social distancing many golf courses have adopted a single rider per cart policy or encouraged walking the course. The physiological benefits of walking on the golf course are well known and cannot be understated, so it’s no surprise that the golf push cart market has blown up recently! For those that demand quality craftsmanship in a classic design with some modern engineering and materials, Walker Trolley’s Cape Model premium golf push cart might be right what the doctor ordered. Made with anodized aluminum, waxed canvas and and leather, Walker Trolleys have built a sturdy, functional push cart that seems to be imported from a bygone era where walking was the only option. To get one of your own, pre-orders are being accepted now: https://walkertrolleys.com/products/walker-trolley

  • Father’s Day Gift Guide – Summer 2018

    Father’s Day Gift Guide – Summer 2018

    It’s June, and the commercials are already playing on TV for Father’s Day. If you haven’t gotten your golf-nut dad anything yet fear not, because we’ve got some great ideas for every budget. Let’s get right to the list. Here are nine gift suggestions for all you last-minute shoppers!

    Golf Clubs

    2018_C300_Cavity_Iron_HeroWilson C300 Irons – The new C300 and C300 Forged irons feature Wilson’s Power Hole technology – Urethane-filled holes positioned around the face to allow the face to flex and expand the sweet spot. The C300 Forged irons offer the same greater ball speeds for better players that prefer a more traditional shape and feel. Wilson C300 Irons: $799.99 at Amazon.com

    Cobra KING F8 Driver – The KING F8 driver is packed with tech. A precision CNC milled face for maximum ball speed, 360 Aero technology for speed combined with adjustable weights and hosel for a precise fit make this driver a great option for almost everybody. Add in Cobra Connect powered by Arccos Golf and you’ve got the most technologically advanced driver on the market. Better players will gravitate to the KING F8+ driver with less draw bias and heavier swing weights. Cobra KING F8 Driver: $358.87 on Amazon.com

    Pyramid Putters – With a milled face and grooves angled to help steer mishit putts back online, the Pyramid putter can help you make more putts. It also has a pyramid-shaped alignment feature on the top and a proprietary taperless grip for lighter grip pressure. I love the soft feel and positive roll off the face of the Pyramid Putter. The matte black finish reduces glare and it’s cheaper than many competing brands. $279.95 Available direct online at Pyramidputters.com

    Accessories

    UA TUNED™ Golf AssistGlove Ride – When the weather is hot and sweaty, one of the biggest challenges is to keep your golf glove fresh & dry. Glove Ride’s Glove Caddie helps by giving you a place to attach multiple gloves and help them dry up and stay in shape. It attaches to your golf bag with a solid metal clip and has a strong velcro strip to attach multiple gloves while they air-dry. There’s also a poker chip ball marker that can be customized for special events or golf courses. Available online at Gloveride.com for $19.95

    Golf Pride Align Grips – Up to 80% of PGA Tour pros use Golf Pride grips. That’s not likely to change any time soon now that they’ve introduced new grips with ALIGN Technology. A raised red ridge on the bottom of the grip provides consistent hand placement and club face awareness. The ridge is made of 50% firmer material than the surrounding grip to amplify the feel. ALIGN technology is available on three popular grips: The MCC, MCC Plus4, and the new Tour Velvet. Go to golfpride.com for more information.

    Under Armor Eyewear – Under Armor has come a long way in a few short years. As a leading sportswear company, they’ve cut into the market share of giants like Nike and adidas by offering high-quality products at a reasonable price. One department where they’ve excelled is in eyewear. For golf, they’ve developed UA Tuned Propel sunglasses that provide contrast enhancement which helps you to read the course more precisely & track the ball easier. Even better, they’re priced at only $74.99 at underarmor.com

    Tech & Gadgets

    Bushnell HybridBushnell Hybrid – For years people have been asking for a laser rangefinder combined with GPS. I’ve always wanted a device that combined both technologies, but as it turns out, it’s not that easy to make. Good news – Bushnell has finally gotten it right with the new Bushnell Hybrid. The Bushnell Hybrid gives you this information by displaying the lasered distances to the pin and GPS provided front and back yardage readings within the LCD. You can also get GPS yardages for front, center and back on the outside of the device in case you have a blind shot and cannot see the pin. Available for $399 at Amazon.com

    Swing Caddie SC200 – Launch monitors are all the rage these days on the professional tours, but not many people can afford the same models the pros use since in most cases they cost over $10,000. However, there are a number of devices that can give weekend amateurs much of the same information at a fraction of the cost. One of these devices is the Swing Caddie SC200 from Voice Caddie. The SC200 is about the same size as a large cell phone, making it very portable. The Doppler radar displays information like carry yardage, swing speed, ball speed, loft angle and smash factor. Best of all, it only costs about $350 on Amazon.

    Garmin Approach S60 – Garmin is best known for its navigation devices for cars, but they have quietly been making top quality GPS distance measuring devices for a while now. One of these awesome devices is a watch called the Garmin Approach S60. Much more than just a golf GPS watch, the Approach S60 is a full-fledged smartwatch that pairs to your phone via Bluetooth and displays notifications for incoming calls, texts, emails and other alerts. It comes preloaded with more than 41,000 golf courses around the world and using the Garmin Connect app on your phone you can update the course list and get updates for the watch. The full-color display is easy to read in bright sunlight and the battery lasts up to 10 hours in golf mode. Available now on Amazon for $345.59

  • First Look: Bushnell’s Advanced Distance Measuring Devices

    First Look: Bushnell’s Advanced Distance Measuring Devices

    Bushnell has been a leader in GPS and laser rangefinders for golf and other outdoor activities like hunting for years. Electronic distance measuring devices have been a part of my golf routine for so long, I can’t even remember the last time I played a round of golf without one. Using a laser rangefinder or GPS speeds up the game so much, especially for low handicap and pro golfers that usually take more time getting yardages, that I still don’t understand why golf’s governing bodies haven’t accepted their use in high-level events. In any case, Bushnell has some new devices to show off this season, and they won’t disappoint! Here’s a sneak peek:

    Bushnell Hybrid
    Bushnell Hybrid: MSRP- $399.99

    Description – The Hybrid combines the latest in Laser and GPS technologies to provide better data so golfers of all levels can make better decisions on the course. The new Bushnell Hybrid rangefinders utilize precise laser and GPS yardages allowing the golfer to see distance like never before. The new Bushnell HYBRID takes the guesswork out of the game by displaying the lasered distances to the pin and GPS provided front and back yardage readings within the LCD.  Additionally, Bushnell has incorporated exterior GPS front, center and back yardages to assist with correct club selections when golfers have cart path only or blind shots.

    Bushnell Hybrid - Reticle

    Key Differentiators

    • 1st ever integrated Laser/GPS display
    • Dual Battery source (CR2 for Laser, USB for GPS)

    HYBRID Laser Features

    • PinSeeker w/ JOLT Technology
    • Accurate to 1 yard
    • 5X Magnification
    • Ranges 400 yards to a Flag
    • Fast Focus System
    • Stable-Grip Technology
    • Tournament Legal

    GPS Features

    • Exterior Front/Center/Back Readouts
    • Up to 4 hazard distances per hole
    • Bluetooth for auto course updates
    • Auto course recognition
    • Auto hole advance

    Bushnell Phantom: MSRP- $99.99

    Bushnell Phantom GPS

    Description – Phantom GPS Rangefinder, rounding out a robust collection of products comes preloaded with more than 36,000 courses and provides simple measurements to the front, center and back distances of the green – along with up to four hazard/layup distances per hole.  The Phantom unveils “Bite Technology.” Equipped with a high powered magnet the Phantom can easily attach to a cart bar or any metal surface, providing quick and easy yardage readings. Additional features include auto course and auto hole recognition, shot distance calculator and long battery life (play up to two rounds before charging).

     

    Bushnell Pro X2: MSRP- $499.00

    Bushnell Pro X2

    Description –The Pro X2 has rubber armored metal housing that makes the device fully IPX7 waterproof, incredible range capabilities of up to 1,300 yards (450+ yards to a flag), 2nd Generation E.S.P. (Extreme. Speed. Precision.) and PinSeeker with JOLT Technology.  Dual Display Technology allows users to easily toggle between the bright red display featuring VDT (Vivid Display Technology) or the crisp black display. Bushnell Golf also included JOLT Technology amongst the host of features offered in the new Pro X2. When the golfer aims the Pro X2 at the flag, JOLT Technology will provide short, vibrating bursts to reinforce Bushnell’s advanced PinSeeker Technology has isolated the target and locked onto the flag. The vibrating bursts provided by JOLT Technology will assure golfers have the exact distance to the flag. The Pro X2 is also equipped with 2nd generation E.S.P. technology.  E.S.P. provides yardage five times faster and more accurately than ever before. Not only has the acquisition speed been increased to a lightning fast level, E.S.P. provides 1/2 yard accuracy from five to 125 yards, and the distance is displayed to 1/10th of a yard.  Having more accurate distances creates the confidence the golfer to hit every shot with confidence.

    Pro X2 Features

    ・      Slope-Switch Technology

    ・      Rubber Armored Metal Housing

    ・      IPX& Fully Waterproof

    ・      Dual Display Technology

    ・      PinSeeker W/ Jolt Technology

    ・      Accurate to 1?2 yard

    ・      6X Magnification

    ・      Ranges 5-1,300 yards; 450+ to a Flag

    ・      2nd Generation E.S.P.

    ・      Fast Focus System

    ・       Stable-Grip Technology

    Conclusions

    You really can’t go wrong with any of Bushnell’s offerings. My current rangefinder of choice is the Pro X2, and I’ve been using it for over 8 months as of this writing. It’s fast, accurate, compact, and the display is easy to read. That’s basically everything you’re looking for in a laser rangefinder. I’ve also used the predecessor to the Phantom and loved it’s compact size and simplicity. The new model is magnetic, which addresses the only complaint I had with the old model, which was what to do with it once you broke the flimsy plastic clip it came with. Now you can simply stick it on the roof supports on your golf cart or the handle of your push cart. Easy peasy!

  • Leupold GX-2i2 Rangefinder

    LeupoldGX-2i2 handheldIt wasn’t that long ago that I remember playing golf without any distance measuring devices other than a bush around the 150 yard mark in the fairway. Along came the 100, 150, 200 and 250 yard markers, then sprinkler heads all over the course were marked with yardages. From there, it wasn’t long before laser range finders and GPS devices started showing up. The game hasn’t been the same since.

    Leupold is well known in the hunting and shooting sports world for making some of the best rifle scopes and optics available, so naturally their expertise would lend itself well to golf rangefinders. I’ve used lasers from several different companies over the years, but I’m most impressed with the technology that Leupold has built into their GX line of rangefinders.

    All laser rangefinders can give you accurate distances to most targets, and some also give you yardages adjusted for slope, but Leupold has taken it to the next level with a feature called True Golf Range (TGR) and Club Selector. The Leupold GX-2i2 laser rangefinder has the ability to adjust for slope, elevation and temperature to give you the most accurate adjusted yardage. It can even suggest the right club to hit based on the adjusted yardage. While these features aren’t legal for USGA tournament play, they are very useful for practice rounds and getting to know an unfamiliar golf course. It’s also important to note that you can easily turn off the TGR features to make the device legal to use in tournament play.

    Testing this rangefinder at home in Florida might be tricky since most of the golf courses are flat and the highest point in the entire state is only 345 feet above sea level. So, to put Leupold’s True Golf Range feature to the test, I flew west to the Rocky Mountains! While attending the ING Spring Conference in beautiful Heber City, Utah I found the ideal place to test the Leupold GX-2i2. At close to 6000 feet in altitude, Wasatch Mountain State Park‘s mountain course is a perfect example of alpine golf at its finest. The front nine rises two miles up into the mountains, and the back nine descends back down to the clubhouse.

    WastachMountainStateParkThe dramatic elevation changes of this course and high altitude of the Heber Valley area make club selection very difficult for someone like me who usually plays at sea level. The thinner air means the golf ball travels 10-15% further, and while that can be a huge ego boost for tee shots, the sometimes severe uphill and downhill holes require lots of imagination to get the correct distance with approach shots. Golf blogger extraordinaire and Salt Lake City resident Tony Korologos knows this better than most.

    To set up the True Golf Range and Club Selector features, you simply go through the menu options on the screen while looking through the rangefinder’s reticle. When you turn on TGR, the GX-2i2 will ask you to input the altitude, temperature and how far you hit a typical four, six and eight iron shot. Once equipped with this data, the GX-2i2 will not only give you the actual line-of-sight yardage to your target (accurate to a tenth of a yard), but it will also will give you an adjusted distance based on the temperature, altitude and slope. Not only that, but the GX-2i2 will also suggest which club to hit based on this information.

    I know what you are thinking – That’s cool and all, but how well does it work? Fantastically! For my high altitude testing in the mountains of Utah, the True Golf Range feature worked flawlessly. I remember a few specific situations in which I simply didn’t trust the adjusted distance, but went with it anyway and I’m glad I did.

    The 12th hole at Wasatch Mountain is a straight downhill par 5 that measures 635 yards from the back tees. Now, I’m a pretty long hitter (I average about 290 off the tee according to Game Golf) but 635 yards is no joke! Well, after a drive that measured about 377 yards, I was left with 254 yards to the flag for my second shot. The Leupold GX-2i2 told me the adjusted yardage was 219 and to hit a four iron. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of hitting a four iron over 250 yards, but in the name of science – I hit it anyway! I flushed it, and to my surprise the ball landed on the green and ended up pin high. Mind blown.

    The next situation came up on the 17th hole, a 223 yard downhill par 3. On that day I had 217 yards to the pin, and the GX-2i2 suggested a seven iron. Again, my brain is just not able to process hitting a seven iron 217 yards, but being an obedient test subject I pulled a seven iron and hit it pin high. Mind blown again.

    GX-2i2 carry caseIn my 54 holes of testing the Leupold GX-2i2 rangefinder at high altitudes in the mountains of Utah, I found that the True Golf Range was amazingly accurate and invaluable for me. The Club Selector feature is a very nice addition, but I found that I mostly ignored the club suggestions because not every shot is a stock iron shot in golf. When in doubt however, it proved very useful. This rangefinder is staying in my golf bag for a long time, even if I don’t use TGR for tournament play. It’s accurate, light weight and packs a lot of technology into a nice compact package.

    Perhaps my buddy Tony will want a ruling now because without the GX-2i2 rangefinder and its whiz-bang technology there is no way I could have beaten him 1-up in our tightly contested 36 hole grudge match at the fantastic Soldier Hollow Golf Course. In my defense, I was actually playing with a torn retina in my right eye, but that’s a story for another day…

  • GAME GOLF Launches New Tracking App

    GAME GOLF Tracking AppOne of our favorite golf gadgets – GAME GOLF – is getting a new mobile app! The popular game tracking device functions by using GPS and sensors in each club to collect information about every shot you take on the course and present the player with detailed statistics about their game after the round. Now, the new app will allow golfers to collect the same stats as the current wearable device and access the GAME GOLF platform in real-time, for free.

    The App provides golfers with an aerial view of each hole, distances to key locations using the GPS Rangefinder feature, and the ability to “tag” each shot by selecting the club used.  You’ll be able to see greens in regulation, fairways hit, scrambling percentage, putts per hole, club distances and more. Golfers can view their platform profile and data on their mobile device or at GAMEGOLF.com.

    The GAME GOLF tracking app is available for free in the Apple iTunes Store and Google Play Store.

     

  • 2015 PGA Show – Best New Accessories

    Ogio Silencer Golf Bag
    Ogio Silencer Golf Bag

    Perhaps the most diverse and interesting group of products at the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando is the accessories category. We see all kinds of electronics, soft goods, golf bags and various other products that it is hard to narrow the list down to just a few standouts. 2015 was no exception as we were able to sample quite a number of cool gadgets. Here are the ones that stood out in the crowd:

    • Arccos Golf – Arccos Golf is a game analysis platform that allows golfers to capture information about their swing, club performance and statistics in real time via a set of sensors installed to each club that connect to your phone or tablet via bluetooth. The amount of data collected can be overwhelming, but the mobile app and website help to dissect the information and pinpoint areas that need improvement. Easy to use and priced competitively, Arccos should be a big hit with the tech-savvy golfer looking for advanced stats and game tracking.
    • Golfersskin Sunscreen – Hopefully the sun is out most of the time when you play golf. After all, enjoying time outdoors is partly why we play. Too much time in the sun however, and you can develop sunburns or even skin cancer. Most sunscreens are oily and messy, but Golfersskin was developed specifically for golfers to be easy to apply without hurting your grip on the club. It’s not oily or slick and cleans up easily, while protecting from the sun as well as any sunscreen out there. It’s also fragrance free so it won’t attract bugs.
    • Izzo Swammi GT – There are many cool rangefinders and GPS devices on the market, and you can spend upwards of $600 on the latest models. That’s what makes the $199 Izzo Swami GT so attractive. It provides quick and accurate GPS yardages for over 30,000 courses, plus it includes game tracking technology using NFC sensors similar to GAME GOLF. It’s a simple, easy to use device with no frills.
    • Ogio Silencer Golf Bag – Ogio has been making very high quality products for as long as I’ve known about them. Their golf bags are among the most functional, stylish and durable on the market. The new Ogio Silencer golf bags have a great feature that locks each club so that they don’t bang together while being transported. This not only saves the clubs from bag nicks and bag wear, but also cuts down on noise. In fact, the Silencer system keeps the clubs locked in the bag even upside down.
    • Golf Pride MCC Plus4 Grips – There hasn’t been much change in golf grips for decades, because there really isn’t much you can do within the rules and, frankly, rubber is rubber! Golf Pride has been one of the leaders in golf grips for decades and are widely used on all professional tours around the world. What most pros do that most amateur golfer don’t do however, is build up the grips with additional tape for less taper under the right hand. The new Golf Pride MCC Plus4 grips feature a larger lower hand and new softer rubber material. They have a 4.6% larger lower hand diameter than the Original MCC. The larger diameter of the Plus4 encourages lighter grip pressure, reduced tension and just feels better to me. The lower hand has a soft rubber compound ideal for enhanced feel and the upper hand material is a soft compound with brushed cotton cord.
    • Switchgrips Putter Grips – Changing grips is a pain and can be expensive, especially for putters. Switchgrips has taken the grip world by storm by letting people change their grips without cutting and installing a new one every time. With their proprietary under listing and interchangeable grips, if you want a change simply loosen with the torx wrench, pull the old one off and slide and twist a new one it into place. Grips come in different colors, sizes and materials, including rubber, leather and exotics like Alligator and Ostrich.
    • Ernest ES14 Launch Monitor – Launch monitors are all the rage for club fitting these days, and even golf telecasts on TV use them to show viewers information about tee shots. While the ones used by golf pros and high-end fitters can cost upwards of $40,000, Ernest Sports has a few models that cost under $500. Sure, the expensive units from Trackman and FlightScope are able to track the entire ball flight using military grade doppler radar, but the Ernest Sports ES14 is still able to give you all the information you need like club speed, ball speed, spin, launch angle, carry distance and smash factor, all in a compact package that fits in your golf bag. Oh yeah, and you don’t have to sell your car to buy one either.
    • Jan Craig Head Covers – The most basic of golf accessories, the head cover is often overlooked by many golfers when spending their hard earned dollars. Any time you buy a new driver or fairway wood you get a head cover, but those clubs are also the clubs that are most frequently stolen, along with putters. They are easy targets for thieves with their bright colors and easy-to-identify designs. Jan Craig makes premium hand-knit 100% worsted wool head covers that look great and mask your clubs’ brand to help deter thieves, but they are also beautiful and guaranteed for life. They’ve been around since the early 1960’s so they aren’t “new”, but they may be new to you! If you were paying attention to the past two Ryder Cups, you may have noticed that those cool looking head covers the US team was using were made by Jan Craig. These are simply the best made head covers you can buy. They are perfect for an old-school guy like me, and the fact that you can designing your own knit head covers on their website to suit your tastes is the icing on the cake for me.

    Jan Craig Headcovers
    Jan Craig Headcovers

  • Game Golf – Review

    GAME GOLF PackagingFor the last few years I’ve observed what I think is a transformation in the golf industry. I believe that innovation and technology has hit a wall with regards to equipment, largely because of the limits on performance imposed by golf’s governing bodies. Nowhere is this more evident than in the golf ball market. Having tested “tour” level golf balls from just about every major manufacturer in the last 6 months, I concluded that they all perform about the same. I started seeing this trend while participating in Golf Digest’s  annual “Hot List” testing. Some of the best performing golf balls we tried often turned out to be the cheaper versions of “tour” level balls that cost significantly less.

    This lack of innovation in the equipment market has led entrepreneurs to think outside the box and come up with new game improvement technology over the last half decade or so. The market is now flooded with swing trackers, launch monitors and distance measurement devices. One of these new products is called GAME GOLF, and it is the world’s first automatic shot tracking system according to creators of the device.

    GAME GOLF is a GPS-enabled game tracking device that you wear on your belt. It comes with sensors (or tags) that you attach to your clubs by screwing them into the hole in the top of your grips. They provide 18 tags in case you have some other clubs rotating in and out of the bag on occasion. To use the device, you simply turn it on and go. GAME GOLF comes pre-loaded with over 35,000 courses and finds the course you are playing automatically. From there, you simply pick your club, tag the device and hit your shot. GAME GOLF will record your location, club selection, shot results, distance and more as you play your way around the course.

    When you get home simply attach the GAME GOLF unit to your computer via the included USB cable and upload your round to the web. From there the GAME GOLF website will show you a map of your round via satellite imagery, statistics for the round, distances for each shot and much more. During the upload process you can edit your round details in case you forgot to tag a shot here and there, or if the GPS was a little off from your location. You have full control before your round becomes official and you save it.

    GAME GOLF - iPhone and Laptop - HighlightsOne of the great features of GAME GOLF is the social aspect of the platform. Once your round is posted, you can share the results on Facebook and Twitter. Other players using GAME GOLF that follow you will get notifications of your round and can comment on it. There is also a nifty challenge feature that lets you and other golfers using GAME GOLF to compare stats over a number of rounds for bragging rights. In a sense, there’s no hiding your game’s deficiencies with this thing! After 4 or 5 rounds you’ll start to see where your game needs the most improvement, and if you share, so will your opponents.

    Let’s take a closer look at GAME GOLF, how it works, what I liked about it, what I don’t like and what’s in store for the near future…

    How It Works

    I don’t mean to over-simplify this, but it really is almost foolproof to use GAME GOLF. The main tracking unit weighs next to nothing and attaches to your belt. It only has one button to turn it on or off. There’s no screen or controls to worry about. You simply put it on, turn it on and play golf. There is one sensor assigned to each club in your bag from the driver down to your putter, with a few extra wildcard tags thrown in for extra hybrids or whatever.

    When you turn on the unit, the GPS sensors find your location and the devices loads the golf course automatically. When you get to the first tee and tag the device with your driver, it locates you via GPS and is smart enough to know where you are. From there it awaits your next tag. When you arrive at your tee shot and tag the club you will use for your approach shot, it calculates the distance your tee shot traveled from the last tag and uses GPS location to determine if you hit the fairway, rough, bunker, etc. In a way, the GAME GOLF device is like having someone follow you around and track your statistics in real time. As you play your round, the device uses the info it gathers to track stats like drive distance, fairways hit, greens hit, average putts per green, scrambling percentage and more.

    When you get home you’ll plug the unit into your PC using a USB cable and upload the round to the GAME GOLF web portal. From there you can check the round to make sure the score is correct, edit your shots for greater accuracy and add the shots you may have forgotten to tag in the process of playing. Once your edits are finished you’ll “sign” your round which makes it official, and it is posted for the whole world to see. From there you can share the round with friends and compete in challenges with other GAME GOLF users.

    What I Like

    GAME GOLF is easy to use. The stats you can gather using the device are plentiful and powerful to help you improve your game. Once you get about 10-12 rounds in the system you really start to see good numbers on average distance for each club in your bag and where you tend to miss with each club. For example, I’m hitting only 43% of the fairways with 34% of my misses going left and 22% missing right. This system is awesome at identifying where you need to improve and giving you some solid data to measure your progress.

    The social aspect of GAME GOLF is also a great way to keep in touch with your buddies across the country or compare your game with the pros. Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood frequently use GAME GOLF during their practice rounds and it’s easy to compare your stats to theirs. For example, my scrambling percentage is 53%, compared to 62% for McDowell and 65% for Westwood.

    GAME GOLF was approved for use by the USGA, meaning that you can use it for handicap rounds and tournament rounds alike. The unit doesn’t provide any information to the user in real time so you cannot gain an unfair advantage by using it, unlike competing products which require the use of your phone with the sensors. Don’t get me started about phones on the golf course…

    What I Don’t Like

    GAME GOLF - Graeme McDowellThe tagging process takes some getting used to. It is suggested that you change your pre-shot routine to include the tagging process, but I prefer tag the shot after I hit. That way I don’t have to change my routine at all. I simply hit my shot, then before putting my club away I’ll tag the shot and move on. On the putting green I like to tag the putt while marking my ball so I don’t have to worry about it later, and on tap-ins I’ll quickly tag it while reaching for the ball in the hole or add it later when I forget.

    For the system to work properly you have to tag your club to the head unit to register the data. Failure to do so results in incomplete data when you upload your round. For example, if you tag your tee shot on a par 4 but forget to tag the second shot, then hit the green and two-putt for par, when you upload the round it’ll appear that you drove the green and two-putted for birdie. Thankfully you can edit your round and add the missing approach shot, but you’ll have to remember what club you hit and how far away you were. Forgetting to tag a shot happens most often on tap-in length putts, as I alluded to above. It’s pretty easy to add them in after the fact when editing your round, but unless you have a photographic memory of all the shots you take like I do you had better not miss too many tags or your round will be a mess to clean up.

    There are two things that make GAME GOLF so easy for me to use: I’m a scratch handicap so I don’t take as many shot as the average golfer, thus fewer tags and less info to remember when editing a round, and I’m an IT professional so I am very computer savvy. For me, the editing process takes about 5-10 minutes for a round. I’ll go hole by hole and check everything for accuracy, adding shots I forgot to tag or the system didn’t register properly. For some users the process may take longer, especially at first.

    More Observations

    I played a round of golf at a mountain course in North Carolina that had been re-routed at some point, because when I tried to upload my round in GAME GOLF the scorecard was completely erroneous and the holes didn’t match up in the correct order. Armed with the course scorecard, I emailed the GAME GOLF support team and worked with them to correct the course layout and scorecard in their system. With a few emails back and forth we had the information updated and my round was accurate. The support staff seem to have their stuff together and are very responsive.

    Prepare to check your ego at the door. The accuracy of measuring distance with GPS may be debatable, but so far with over 15 rounds in the system I can say that the average distances of almost every club in my bag are right about where they have been for years. Many people over-estimate how far they hit the golf ball, which is why most approach shots come up short. GAME GOLF may hurt your ego a bit when you realize that your average drive is 25 yards shorter than you think, but I’m here to give you actionable data to help improve your game, not stroke your ego. For the record, 24% of my approach shots taken from outside 100 yards come up short, compared to only 4% that go long.

    What’s Next?

    GAME GOLF is constantly evolving as a statistics and game tracking platform. The social aspects of it have just started to scratch the surface of their potential, and new features are going to be available via firmware updates to the device. As more people join the community, more opportunities arise for sharing of information and competing with one another. I would love to see some PGA Tour caddies using it to track their players’ stats during tournament play, and more pros on all tours take part in sharing rounds with the public. I could even see some kind of virtual golf tournaments take place using the platform. The possibilities are endless for this kind of technology.

    GAME GOLF is available for $199 at golf retailers and online at www.gamegolf.com. Also check out my interview with the folks at GAME GOLF on their blog.

  • Voice Caddie VC300

    Voice Caddie VC300

    Voice Caddy VC300When I saw the original concept for the Voice Caddy a few years ago at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, my first thought was “The world doesn’t need another golf GPS device,” but I was wrong. Several years have gone by and UComm Technology, the Korean company behind the Voice Caddy VC300 has improved greatly on their design and I believe this little gem is ready for prime time.

    Simplicity

    As more and more golf GPS devices hit the market, they keep adding features that make them more complicated and hard to use. Voice Caddy has gone the other direction with the VC300. They decided to do one thing, and do it well. The Voice Caddy VC300 simply gives you distances to the front, middle and back of the green, along with the ability to measure any shot distance from point A to point B. That’s it. No hard to read maps, useless scorecard features or complicated stat tracking features. The VC300 only weighs 24 grams and easily fits in the palm of your hand, measuring 45 x 45 x 12 mm. (see image below)

    Design

    The VC300 has a very “Apple” feel to it. The packaging and design are very similar to the way Apple presents their electronics and this philosophy appears to be deliberate. The design is slick, smooth and free of clutter. The device has three buttons – power, volume +/- and the main button that makes up the entire face of the device. It is also gesture-enabled like a smartphone. Despite the unit being so small and light, the VC300’s distinguishing feature is instead of showing you yardages on an LCD screen, it tells you the distance audibly, speaking out the yardage when called upon.

    Voice Caddy VC300Function

    Because the VC300 is so simple, operation is easy and straightforward. Turn the unit on and it speaks a welcome message and tells you the battery charge level. From there, in a few moments the unit will find the golf course automatically from a database of over 30,000 courses built in to the device. That course database is also user upgradable through the VC Manager software available on their website, and everything is free. There are no hidden costs, no subscription fees. The unit clips to the brim of your hat or your belt and detects which hole you are on, announcing it when you arrive at the tee box.

    To get yardages one simply pushes the main button, and Voice Caddy will speak the hole and yardage to the middle of the green. “Hole number 6, center, 120 yards.” Swipe your finger towards the front of the unit and you get yardage to the back of the green. Swipe the VC300’s face from front to back and you get the yardage to the front of the green. Double-tap the main button to get distance to the front and back of the green. You can measure the distance between any two points by holding the main button for a few seconds at the starting point, then holding the main button a few seconds at the finish, and Voice Caddy will tell you how far the distance traveled is. This is great for measuring your booming tee shots, or not great, depending how far you actually hit it!

    Details

    The Voice Caddy VC300 is available in three colors: Black, White and Pink. It is also available in seven languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The little device charges in only 2 hours and they claim the charge is good for 8 hours. When the VC300 arrived for testing it had a 28% charge out of the box. I managed to play 18 holes with it anyway. In fact, the battery died just as I pulled up to the 18th green, so that 8 hour life is probably a little understated. I bet you could squeeze 36 holes of play out of this thing.

    Shortcomings

    There are a few little issues that I noticed with the Voice Caddy VC300 during my testing. First, the distance measuring feature didn’t work every time I tried. A few times when I arrived at my drive and pushed the button for several seconds, nothing happened. It’s as if the unit forgot about it. Oops. Another small annoyance is the placement and sensitivity of the volume buttons. When installing or taking the VC300 off my hat brim, I instinctually grab it by the bottom for leverage, but that is where the volume buttons are and I always push them by mistake. Not a flaw, but perhaps the next version could move the volume controls to a less obvious place. Finally, on one particular course when arriving at the tee, it announced each hole as a par 4 when they sometimes were par 3s and 5s. Not a big deal because that info is largely irrelevant, but perhaps their course databases are off. Either way, none of these issues affect the accuracy of the yardages, which were always within a yard or two, confirmed by a Bushnell Tour Z6 Jolt laser rangefinder in my testing.

    Voice Caddy VC300Conclusions

    For $149, you get the smallest, lightest golf GPS device on the market that I am aware of. It measures distance, and doesn’t do anything else that golfers aren’t interested in like keep score, show you bad pictures and take up space. I’ve always preferred laser rangefinders over GPS devices because of accuracy and the ability to get a distance from any landmark or tree, whereas a GPS like this only gives you front, middle and back of the green. But what I found when using the Voice Caddy VC300 is that it is so simple and unobtrusive that I enjoyed using it. Because it’s clipped to my hat, I never have to think about it and I know I won’t leave it in the grass somewhere.

    As a blogger I always show up to play golf with new clubs and gadgets to try out, and I can get a good idea of how well they will do by the reactions and interest level of my playing partners. After all, they are my focus group. Plus, they all happen to fall within the target demographic of most golf companies. When I brought out the VC300 for several games, nearly everyone liked the concept and said they would be interested in having one. Considering the large price tags of laser rangefinders and more elaborate GPS devices, the Voice Caddy VC300’s $149 price tag, sleek design and simplicity of use makes it an instant winner.