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 GolfLogix began selling its GPS software for smartphones in July. But there are new players on the scene that can be operated via smartphones such as a Blackberry or iPhone. GolfLogix, which manufactures the Garmin GPS-8, started selling its GPS software — available at golfgps.com — to smartphone owners in July. “We are a software company, but we have never manufactured hardware,” said Diane DiCioccio, media relations director for GolfLogix. “That’s why we partnered with Garmin — because of their expertise in making GPS hardware.” DiCioccio thinks golfers enjoy having options when it comes to using gadgets. “There are two kinds of golf technology customers — those that want a standalone device like our GPS-8 that does just one thing, and those golfers who embrace technology and use their smartphones for many uses, now including acting as a golf GPS device,” she said. According to its website, GolfLogix is the first in the golf GPS industry to offer its application to GPS-enabled smartphone users. “Golfers are bringing their smartphones on the course anyway — it just makes sense to add GolfLogix GPS,” said GolfLogix CEO Scott Lambrecht. “Golfers can download GolfLogix to their iPhone or Blackberry and play a round, get all the distances they need to play better and capture stats on everything from their club and shot distances to their greens in regulation.” Both platforms have a lot to offer, and the smartphone advent doesn’t mean standalone devices are going anywhere. “We use state-of-the-art equipment to enable every course we offer,” said Julie Davis, vice president of marketing for SkyCaddie. “The professional SkyCaddie mappers are golfers themselves, so when they enable a course they look for ground reference data that golfers will look for, like traps, water and trees. Everything we do in regard to distance measuring is done from ground level.” There is one issue facing smartphone use for GPS that the USGA will have to address: At the World Amateur Handicap Championship this summer, three golfers were disqualified for using their cell phones after they were banned from the event. It wasn’t the phones that worried the Myrtle Beach tournament officials, but the fact they were Internet- capable, meaning a golfer could use a nonconforming program. Still, this is only an issue in tournament play. I’m not sure I’m going to give up my SkyCaddie. But I did find a smartphone golf application that’s intriguing — it’s called Intelligolf (intelligolf.com). Company CEO Craig Schmidt grew up in Orange and got into the computer business as a marketer and an engineer. When the PalmPilot first came out, he and his buddies created a software program that would keep golf scores and figure out payoffs on side bets. Intelligolf was born, and the company now has customers in 125 countries. I used the application recently in a round that included a teaching pro, a guy with a 5 handicap, one with a 25 and me, a 12. For fun, we had Intelligolf track more side bets than I would ever consider, including a Nassau, skins, bingo-bango-bongo, birdies, sandies and greenies. Intelligolf kept our scores, applied our handicaps to the side bets, kept track of our putts and reminded me why I don’t like to gamble, because at the end of round I was down more than $100. When I downloaded the round, Intelligolf showed me my statistics — 38 putts, five greens in regulation and eight fairways hit. No wonder I didn’t win. GPS World Magazine says 240 million GPS-enabled phones will be on the market this year. By 2014, nine out of 10 cell phones will have a GPS chip. I can see the day when my smartphone not only tells me how far I have left to the pin but, more importantly, where my ball is hiding in the woods. Eric Tracy is also known as The Mulligan Man. He can be reached at eric@themulliganman.com. |
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RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
EXCELLANT article, Eric...we R all TECH-NO junkies and the next
few years will prove interesting in the developements
of GPS and the game of golf!
Here's UR tip of the day...
yer BALL isn't suppose to BE in the woods in the FIRST place!
Again...really EXCELLANT article!
| Comment at 1/5/2010 |
