Equipment
Arccos Caddie: Golf’s first artificial intelligence platform
It’s a brave new golf world. Arccos is launching golf’s first artificial intelligence platform, Arccos Caddie.
Arccos, which you know from its shot-tracking app, has integrated the Microsoft Azure cloud platform into the about-to-launch Caddie. The utility uses advanced analytics to help golfers make better, data-driven decisions during their rounds.
We were keen to see the fruits of Arccos partnership with Microsoft (announced in January), and this is their first effort to move connected golf forward.
Drawing from Arccos data set of more than 61 million shots on over 40,000 courses, Caddie is able to recommend optimal course strategy on most golf holes worldwide. It factors in wind speed, direction, participation, temperature and more. And it doesn’t require a user to have played a course before to make recommendations.
“Every shot in golf involves a decision-making process, and the caddie’s role has historically been to help you make more intelligent choices. Today, however, less than 3 percent of players have access to a caddie,” said Sal Syed, CEO and Co-Founder of Arccos. “Everyone else is missing out on a crucial source of information that can help inform every shot. With Arccos Caddie, we’re democratizing the caddie experience through the power of A.I. and the Microsoft Azure cloud.”
At the end of the day, beyond the undeniable “cool” factor and trendiness of connected apps, Arccos aims to help golfers get better. Per CEO Syed, Arccos users improved their handicaps to the tune of an average of 2.77 strokes last year. Obviously, their expectation is that Caddie will foster even greater improvement.
Caddie will be will be available via subscription and officially launches May 22nd. Arccos is offering a free promotional window to try the Caddie system from May 22-31. Any user of the Arccos 360 app (with Gen 1 or Gen 2 hardware) who has played at least five rounds will have access to the Caddie platform during that period.
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/18/24): Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made.
From the seller: (@DLong72): “Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made. ?: $1150. ?? 100% milled collectors item from the limited releases commemorating when Ping putters won every major in 1988 (88 putters made). This was the model Seve Ballesteros used to win the 1988 Open Championship. Condition is brand new, never gamed, everything is in the original packaging as it came. Putter features the iconic sound slot.
Specs/ Additional Details
-100% Milled, Aluminum/Bronze Alloy (310g)
-Original Anser Design
-PING PP58 Grip
-Putter is built to standard specs.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Ping PLD Limited Anser – 1988 Open Championship – #2 of only 88 Made
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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As you probably know by now, Collin Morikawa switched putters after the first round of The Masters, and he ultimately went on to finish T3.
The putter was far from the only change he made last week, however, and his bag is continuing to change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage.
On the range of The Masters, Morikawa worked closely with Adrian Reitveld, TaylorMade’s Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, to find the perfect driver and 3-wood setups.
Morikawa started off 2024 by switching into TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver, but since went back to his faithful TaylorMade SIM – yes, the original SIM from 2020. Somehow, some way, it seems Morikawa always ends up back in that driver, which he used to win the 2020 PGA Championship, and the 2021 Open Championship.
At The Masters, however, Rietveld said the duo found the driver head that allowed “zero compromise” on Morikawa’s preferred fade flight and spin. To match his preferences, they landed on a TaylorMade Qi10 LS 9-degree head, and the lie angle is a touch flatter than his former SIM.
“It’s faster than his gamer, and I think what we found is it fits his desired shot shape, with zero compromise” Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the RBC Heritage.
Then, to replace his former SIM rocket 3-wood, Morikawa decided to switch into the TaylorMade Qi10 core model 13.5-degree rocket head, with an adjustable hosel.
“He likes the spin characteristics of that head,” Rietveld said. “Now he’s interesting because with Collin, you can turn up at a tournament, and you look at his 3-wood, and he’s changed the setting. One day there’s more loft on it, one day there’s less loft on it. He’s that type of guy. He’s not scared to use the adjustability of the club.
“And I think he felt our titanium head didn’t spin as low as his original SIM. So we did some work with the other head, just because he liked the feel of it. It was a little high launching, so we fit him into something with less loft. It’s a naughty little piece of equipment.”
In addition to the driver and fairway wood changes, Morikawa also debuted his new “MySymbol” jersey No. 5 TP5x golf ball at The Masters. Morikawa’s choice of symbols is likely tied to his love of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.
Not enough changes for you? There’s one more.
On Wednesday at the 2024 RBC Heritage, Morikawa was spotted with a new TaylorMade “Proto” 4-iron in the bag. If you recall, it’s the same model that Rory McIlroy debuted at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
According to Morikawa, the new Proto 4-iron will replace his old P-770 hollow-bodied 4-iron.
“I used to hit my P-770 on a string, but sometimes the distance would be a little unpredictable,” Morikawa told GolfWRX.com. “This one launches a touch higher, and I feel I can predict the distance better. I know Rory replaced his P-760 with it. I’m liking it so far.”
See Morikawa’s full WITB from the 2024 RBC Heritage here.
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Equipment
Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage
Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.
It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.
When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”
“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”
View this post on Instagram
According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.
Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:
“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.
“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.
“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.
“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.
“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”
So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.
His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.
See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here
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Matt
Jun 23, 2017 at 6:59 pm
Sounds like an excellent product and a good self coaching function for anyone who needs to start thinking about course management to improve their game. Enough to convince me to buy Arccos 360.
Alex
Jun 2, 2017 at 6:58 am
Maybe I’m missing something, but when I tried using the Caddy, it wouldn’t give me any information on my shots after the tee shot. So I would hit a tee shot, but then when I would go to the ball for my 2nd shot, I didn’t have the Caddy option any more, just the standard Arccos yardages. The problem with this, obviously, is that if I don’t hit my tee shot to the exact distance and location that the Caddy wanted me to, then the club selection that it told me for my 2nd shot before I teed off is no longer valid. Seems strange to me.
Joe Perez
May 12, 2017 at 4:56 pm
Maybe I just don’t “get” it. If the suggestions are made using the data of 61 million shots, where does any recommendations based on MY ability factor in? Is using 61 million shots worth of data going to tell the caddie feature that *I* only hit my x-yards? Will it use the data from the cloud and then access *my* past rounds to see if the club it suggests is a club that I can hit that far?
peter tiearney
May 12, 2017 at 9:13 am
Will these “caddies” be allowed in competitions?
TR1PTIK
May 12, 2017 at 11:56 am
It will likely be up to the rules committee of the event you’re playing. Standard USGA rules would not allow it.
ooffa
May 12, 2017 at 7:54 am
it doesn’t.
Egor
May 11, 2017 at 2:56 pm
The negativity is strong here …
I’ve been using Arccos + Caddie for the last 4-5 rounds. It is useful to me because it has club suggestions based on my already tracked arccos rounds. There is room for improvement and it doesn’t currently recognize that I have a giant wall of trees on one hole, but it’s great tech.
As far as slowing down a round, nah. Not at all. 3 years golfing. Two things have sped up my round – laser range finder, and on-phone GPS.
Sure, I could walk off yardages, take into account my distance off fairway, do some math in my head, guess at the pin placement, look up the yardages from the tee to certain landing spots in yardage books that every course always has available and free (sarcasm) and hope that their tee positions are not too far off from the standard, but pulling out my phone for ~10 seconds on the tee and identifying actual yardage from my spot to my desired landing spot is much easier. Guessing at pin placement and walking off yardages potentially costs me more strokes. Is it 120yd to carry the front bunker or 125yd? Maybe it’s only 110yd, but I’d know for certain if I had my phone and a GPS app.
You can hate on-course phone GPS apps all you like, but if the player knows how to use the tool quickly, they are much more efficient, time saving, and stroke saving than walking off sprinkler heads that *ALWAYS* have accurate yardages on them.. 🙁
Get behind me when I’m walking off yardages for a round, and then get behind me with a GPS Phone App. You’ll change your opinion.
As far as RandA legal – doubt it. Caddie has current wind data pulled from weather reports which it factors in. It’s awesome, but I don’t use it if I’m posting for Hdcp or playing in a stipulated tournament round.
Arccos does have a “tournament legal” app for tracking shots.
SV
May 11, 2017 at 8:33 am
Wonderful!! Something else to slow a round down. GPS/rangefinders, sprinkler heads or other course markers give the yardage. Make a decision and hit the shot. A player should be able to make a decision without having to consult an electronic device.
TR1PTIK
May 11, 2017 at 12:59 pm
In theory, this would actually help with pace of play because if a golfer trusts the information provided by Arccos they would simply grab the recommended club and play on rather than grabbing a club, second guessing themselves, and going back to their bag for another. However, I do agree that a player should be making these decisions on their own. It’s part of the “art” of golf. I think it’s similar to the deal on green reading books that provide detailed topographical information. I don’t mind if a player does it on their own accord by rolling a few putts and visually inspecting the contours of the green to jot down in their notebook, but that’s it. Using technology to take all of the skill and instinct out of it is paramount to cheating in my mind. You can do data analysis and all that nonsense off the course, but when you’re on it just play golf.
MFJ
May 11, 2017 at 1:56 am
Is it ‘legal’? I don’t see any reference to being approved by the RandA/PGA. That would be an important factor for me.
MSchad
May 11, 2017 at 8:29 am
May be wrong, but I don’t think this is meant to be used “on course”. I believe using your data, it will analyze how you should play a hole/coarse to achieve the best score for your game a head of time. I’m looking forward to seeing if it recommends if I should use different club selections on particular holes on the courses I play.
TR1PTIKE
May 11, 2017 at 12:52 pm
Because Arccos requires a phone to be on your person (from what I’ve read, specifically in your front pocket) and it provides GPS distances to various points on the golf course, it is illegal to use in competition where full USGA/R&A rules apply. This is one place where Game Golf has a distinct advantage as you can use the device with or without your phone. I own GG Live and despite what some reviewers have said, you do not have to have your phone in order to use it. You can simply turn it on, clip it to your belt, and play as you would with the old device.
Scott
May 11, 2017 at 5:54 pm
This is incorrect, at least to a degree. You can use GPS devices on course so long as they don’t have weather and elevation (there may be a local rule requirement for competition). I’m guessing the Arccos caddie app won’t be legal because it takes those into account. Hopefully they will make an app that takes elevation and weather out of it.
TR1PTIK
May 12, 2017 at 10:07 am
See Rule 14-3
“Except as provided in the Rules, during a stipulated round the player must not use any artificial device or unusual equipment, or use any equipment in an abnormal manner: a. That might assist him in making a stroke or in his play; or b. For the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play; or c. That might assist him in gripping the club”
As far as USGA rules go. You cannot use a GPS or Laser Rangefinder on the course during play.
Alex
Jun 2, 2017 at 6:50 am
Arccos has a “Restricted” version of their app available on the App Store that does not give yardage during the round so that you can use the GPS tracking for your round without getting any assistance from the app.