Opinion & Analysis
Is The Future Of Golf Hiding In Trackman’s Code?
The first few words out of Niklas Bergdahl’s mouth were delayed because they were traveling across an ocean and six hours into the past. The delay is fitting because we’re discussing the future of golf and how the technology he’s been a part of for four years is changing that landscape. “We have a new radar system that we call an ‘ultra-high-frequency radar system’ that allows us to track the ball as it rolls across the green,” Bergdahl said. Bergdahl and his colleagues at Trackman Golf are rolling into a new frontier of golf analytics.
Trackman has become the premier launch monitor on professional circuits around the world, and with Dustin Johnson using it to rise to power as the most dominant golfer in the world, the company has gained the attention of casual fans as well. And for good reason. When I was at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio on the last day of practice rounds, there were more players hitting balls with a Trackman than not. And when you fully understand the amount of actionable data provided by Trackman, it seems there’s no other way to truly maximize your game in today’s world.
There are things a launch monitor can see that no naked eye on Earth can. What I learned speaking with Bergdahl and other members of the Trackman team is that those things a launch monitor can see might make the difference, not only in a professional reaching the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings, but also in a brand new golfer blossoming into an avid player.
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Before we dive into the details of Trackman, I want to draw your attention to a couple of things. In 2003, Michael Lewis released Moneyball. Lewis’ book takes us on a journey into the front office of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics organization. The A’s are notoriously one of the league’s poorest teams, but somehow in 2001, Billy Beane (the team’s general manager) built a team that won more than 100 games. How did he do it with less money than all but two other teams? Paul DePodesta.
DePodesta developed a system for valuing players based on statistics that created runs for the team. In DePodesta’s mind, nothing else mattered. Building a roster to create the most runs was the only answer, and the analytics used in baseball at the time weren’t good enough. There’s a long backstory that we could go into, but it would be better if you read the book. The bottom line is, before DePodesta came along and Billy Beane had the guts to trust him, nobody in baseball was thinking about the value of statistical analysis, or data at all. Moneyball changed that.
Fast forward to 2009: STATS LLC is the data-tracking company that supports the NBA with analytics. In the 2009 NBA Finals, STATS demoed its newly minted SportVU camera system that hovers above the court during NBA games and collects 25 data points per second. Let that sink in. Twenty-five data points per second. Keep that figure in mind for when we start talking about the “ultra-high frequency radar” and putting with Trackman.
The demo went well and at the start of the 2010-2011 season, four teams were using the SportVU technology in their stadiums: the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio Spurs. Within a couple of years, teams started to figure out what the practical application of this massive amount of data was, and in 2013, Zach Lowe penned a piece for Grantland outlining how the Toronto Raptors were using the data collected. In his piece, Lowe describes the program the Raptors developed to overlay the defensive schemes used by the team and compare them to every movement of every player during every single play. The result was the capability to produce a video such as the one below for every second of every game.
As you can see, the defensive players are represented twice: once by the lighter circle, called the ghost, and once by the white circle. The ghost is where the player actually is during the play and the white circle is where the staff thinks the player should be at any given time based on the defensive scheme adopted by the team. It’s pretty heady stuff. The application of sitting down a player and showing him this film is obvious. Trackman can do essentially the same thing with golf. And not just the full swing, but now too, with putting.
For the last half-decade or so, launch monitors have been able to provide us with the ball flight of players on television. Anyone who watches the sport from home wishes the broadcasts would show more and more of the colored line on the screen showing us how inferior we are to the professionals. But this article isn’t about the professionals, it’s about the little guy and how Trackman is changing the way we can enjoy the game.
Enter Trackman RANGE.
Along with Bergdahl (whom we’ll return to in a moment), I spoke with Matt Frelich, the VP of Sales and Marketing for Trackman. When I started this piece, I had a hypothesis in mind that the future of golf was personal launch monitors. That eventually we would get to a point where the technology was so affordable that most players could buy one with a little planning, much like rangefinders. Personal launch monitors exist today but in a limited capacity. And the difference between most of those and Trackman is really in the name of the company. Trackman uses Doppler Radar to actually track the entire flight of the golf ball (or whatever object it’s calibrated for), whereas most others use a snapshot reading from about 10 inches before and after impact.
Only a couple of minutes into my conversation with Matt Frelich, my personal hypothesis was blown to bits. For about 10 seconds, I was a little saddened, but what he shared with me soon after nearly made my head explode.
Imagine walking onto a driving range, setting your bag down behind a selected spot of turf and pulling your phone out. You scroll through your apps and select the Trackman app. Once you log on to the app, you’ll be connected to the Trackman server at said range, and then you’ll be prompted to hit a calibration shot. You take a swing, look at your phone once more, and the prompt will ask you, “Was this your shot?” You confirm it is and then you’re locked in.
Now for the next however long you’re at the range, Trackman will provide you the same data the pros are getting for each and every shot with the data hub right on your phone. While you’re checking your numbers, it will also be doing the same exact thing, at the same exact time, for the 75 other golfers hitting balls down range. And you didn’t have to pay a penny extra.
Trackman RANGE, in theory, looks like this.
This is a “single-radar setup”, which means that there is one 3-foot by 3-foot radar installed behind and above the range hitting area. The Trackman package includes the radar and server, and the app and will be available in your respective App Store. Trackman personnel come and install all the equipment at the range, and once installed, the system will track all shots within a 75-yard wide hitting area at the same time, providing unique data to each individual player. On natural turf, you’ll be able to move up and backward just as you do now. Trackman calls these “dynamic” bays as opposed to hitting off mats in what they call “fixed” bays.
They also have a “three-radar setup,” which is the same concept. Using it, the hitting area can be expanded from 75 yards to 130 yards in width.
I was blown away. The most incredible thing is that Trackman has developed the app to track all of your historical data no matter what range you go to; it’s all linked to an account within the app. What’s more, both the single and multi-radar setups will tell you the actual distance to targets on the range. Those flags that you’re currently shooting with a laser rangefinder will now appear on your phone screen. And when your shots land, you’ll know exactly how close you were to hitting the target, which is the most actionable part of the whole set up.
The other unique feature with Trackman and its ball-tracking radar is because Trackman is tracking the ball and not a snapshot of data before and after impact, you will get accurate data on how your ball reacts in poor conditions or high winds. There will be no more guessing as to how much the wind affected your 9-iron. You can see it, and you can learn to make those adjustments on the range instead of guessing on the course.
I asked Matt Frelich how long it would be before I could go and try out one of these ranges. “Assuming you’re willing to fly to Copenhagen, Denmark, you could try it out this afternoon,” he said. “As far as the U.S., our first range should be up by the end of August this year,” he said. I had to make him clarify. It was the first of May when we spoke on the phone.
“Wait, so you’re saying this isn’t a plan?” I asked. “It’s actually being executed as we speak?”
“Yeah, Trackman RANGE is happening right now,” Frelich said. “In fact, we had the multi-radar setup at the year’s first major. We tracked every shot hit on the range for the entire week. All the data you saw on the range during the coverage came from this setup.”
Now, one must keep in mind that Trackman RANGE will only provide ball data, not club data. The use of Trackman 4 is working its way into everyday teaching, however, and for good reason. In our conversation, Frelich and I also discussed the impact this technology could have on how the game is taught. He offered a scenario that resonated with me.
“Imagine you have this player who comes to you and is hitting a huge slice,” he said. “You look at his swing and determine that his swing path is too far outside to in. You give the player a drill to work on and he works on it for a few minutes, then goes back to hitting balls. He still slices the balls and you can’t see much difference in his swing. This continues for an entire lesson and the player leaves frustrated…” I stopped him and said this was the exact reason I’d only taken a couple of lessons.
“Wait, so you’re saying this isn’t a plan? it’s actually being executed as we speak?”
“But with Trackman, I can take that player and do the same thing, but I’ll measure his swing path currently and set an objective.” he said. “Let’s say 0 is the objective and he starts out at -10. I give him the drill, he works on it for a minute, then he starts hitting balls again. He still slices it, but this time his swing path is -8 instead of -10. It’s progress that my eyes can’t see and he likely can’t feel, but his path is getting better. Over the 15 or 20 swings, he gets it down to -6, then -2, then he hooks one and it’s +2. What we’ve just done is take a player who would have left really frustrated and changed his entire outlook because I can show proof that he was improving throughout the session. That’s the difference with using data and not using data.”
When the NBA implemented the SportVU camera system, they didn’t yet have the tools to process it on a practical level, but they knew that in order to constantly improve, they needed the data. Three years later the Raptors had developed a system that can tell each and every player how far out of position they were on each and every play. SportVU gave the NBA coaches and players actionable data that is virtually impossible to see and convey to the naked eye but can easily be conveyed and comprehended through the digital world. Trackman is doing the same thing with golf.
We’ve already seen what Trackman’s technology does for the best players in the world, but the best players in the world aren’t the future of golf. The kids and teenagers playing in junior tournaments, learning the game with this type of data, are the future of golf. The people who decide to pick up the game in their 40s, who will be able to go to a range with Trackman installed and can tell if their progressing, are the future of golf.
Trackman RANGE is cool, but the final frontier of data collection in golf is putting. To this point, radars have only been able to track objects in flight, which has proven difficult to adapt to putting. “What makes putting data difficult”, Bergdahl says, “Is the fact that the ball is on the ground, but also that the putter tends to get in the way. With the radar behind the putter, the follow through has given us trouble in the past to be able to see what the ball is doing. With Trackman 4, we’ve solved it.”
Bergdahl would go on to say that with the Trackman 4, the ultra-high-frequency radar can give the player an effective Stimpmeter reading of the green by using the “ball deceleration rate,” basically how quickly the ball loses speed. Knowing the quantifiable speed of the green you’re practicing on can be huge in honing your feel for speed in putting.
While measuring the speed, it also tracks when your ball stopped skidding and when it started rolling. It breaks that down into a percentage of the putt. In the graphic above, you can see that the sample putt was 18 feet, 9 inches. The ball was skidding for 34 inches of that putt, which means it was only rolling end over end for 85 percent of the distance it traveled. The one thing you’re trying to do when you’re putting is always put a good roll on it. Now you see the fruits of your labor with Trackman.
Another way to think about it is this: You’re working on five-footers at your club. You’ve hit about 50 of them thus far and feel good about your stroke, but you also know that seven or eight of those putts that went in the hole went in because you got lucky. Maybe you hit it too hard and it did one of those “bounce up and in” deals, or you pulled it a little bit and it just barely caught the edge of the cup. Without hard data, your mind will simply log those “accidents” as successes. But if you have Trackman, it’s going to tell you where the ball would have ended up had it not gone in the hole. Trackman will tell you if your putt was going to roll two-feet past the hole or if it was going to stop just short and to the left. Those insights can better inform you of where you are in your path to improvement. Again, the message here is “actionable data.”
The difficult part of this technology is that Trackman 4 won’t be available to the casual golfer like Trackman RANGE will be. Trackman 4 starts at $18,995, so its Performance Putting Software won’t be as readily available as the range setup will be. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t be available at your local golf shop.
Data has revolutionized professional golf. As I’ve written about before, the evolution of ShotLink technology and Strokes Gained Analytics has given players the ability to understand and improve areas of their game that, until the 2000s, weren’t even measurable. What I think is important about where we’re headed is that we will potentially see non-golfers become casual golfers and casual golfers become avid golfers. And in a time where everyone is screaming that the game is dying, I have to believe this is a shining light into the future.
Photo Credits: TrackMan Golf/Media Kit
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Another Open Championship has come and gone and links golf was once again in the spotlight at Royal Troon! For those who have never played a links course (like myself), it sparks a desire to fly across the pond to experience it for ourselves. While a golf trip to the UK or Ireland is a bucket-list item, most people look to play the big-name courses (Old Course, Carnoustie, Lahinch, Royal Portrush,etc.), but don’t realize they can get a similar experience by traveling to some of the lesser known destinations where you will find some of the purest links courses in the world. With this in mind, here are our picks for the best hidden gem links courses you should play when you book a UK or Ireland trip:
IRELAND
We start our list off with a 36-hole club in the Northwest of Ireland, a remote area of the Emerald Isle that is known for its rugged terrain and spectacular scenery. Bordering the Wild Atlantic Way, Ballyliffin is relatively newer (est. 1947) but offers golfers one of the purest links golf experiences anywhere in the country. While not easy to get to, the two courses onsite (Old and Glashedy) are well worth the travel with large dunes shaping the fairways that overlook the North Atlantic Ocean and a myriad of pot bunkers everywhere you look. Even Rory McIlroy believes that “Ballyliffin’s two courses are a must play on any golf trip to Ireland.” and we tend to agree.
How to incorporate Ballyliffin in a golf trip:
Stay:Ballyliffin Lodge, Hotel & Spa
Play: Old Links & Glashedy Links at Ballyliffin, and Old Tom Morris Links or Sandy Hills Course at Rosapenna
The next course on the list is in the Sligo area of the Northwest where we find Enniscrone, roughly 3 hours (by car) south of Ballyliffin. Like many links courses, Enniscrone was originally a 9-hole course when it was opened in 1918 before an additional 9 holes were added 12 years later. In 1970, Eddie Hackett was tasked with redesigning the course to help the two 9-hole courses flow effortlessly into one 18 hole layout. A big feature that can be seen throughout your round here are the towering dunes that shape the course and protect some holes from the ocean winds. Built right out of the landscape of the dunes bordering the sea, the course has a lot of undulation in the fairways and greens with some elevated tee boxes providing unreal views of the natural land.
How to incorporate Enniscrone in a golf trip:
Stay: The Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo
Play: Enniscrone, County Sligo, and Donegal
Additional Courses: Strandhill, Carne, and Narin & Portnoo
Another fantastic gem on the Northwest coast of Ireland is the NEW (2020) St. Patricks Links at Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Links. The land was purchased back in 2012 which was already a 36-hole facility and Tom Doak was brought in to reimagine the property to the layout it currently is today. Large sand dunes shape the front 9 holes before heading back through some more subtle dunes back towards the clubhouse. The course offers elevation changes with some tee boxes sitting atop the dunes offering spectacular views of Sheephaven Bay and beyond. With two other courses and a fantastic hotel on property, this destination is all you could ever ask for.
How to incorporate St. Patricks in a golf trip:
Stay: Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Links
Play: St. Patrick’s Links, Sandy Hills Course , and Old Tom Morris Links (all at Rosapenna)
For our last hidden gem in Ireland, we head 30 minutes north of the country’s capital, Dublin, to The Island Club. Built along rugged terrain and the highest sand dunes on the east coast of Ireland, the Island Club is situated on a small peninsula surrounded by water on three sides providing a difficult challenge, especially with the winds. Founded in 1890, the Island Club continues to be ranked in the Top 10 courses in Ireland and has held some Amateur Championships and Open Championship Regional Qualifiers.
How to incorporate The Island Club in a golf trip:
Stay: The Grand Hotel, Malahide
Play: Island Club, Portmarnock Old, County Louth
Additional Courses: Royal Dublin
SCOTLAND
Located along “Scotland’s Golf Coast” of East Lothian is where we find the classic links of Dunbar. Opened in 1856 with only 15 holes, this is one of the many courses in Scotland that Old Tom Morris had a hand in crafting. Laid out along rocky and rocky terrain, the course is only 6500 yards long and while not long by modern standards, the course requires shot making and proper club selection to play well. The course has held many national and international tournaments including a few rounds of The Open Final Qualifying.
How to incorporate Dunbar in a golf trip:
Stay: No. 12 Hotel & Bistro
Play: Dunbar, Gullane (No.1), North Berwick
Additional Courses: Craigielaw, Kilspindie, Gullane (No.2, No. 3)
The next course on our list brings us to the Scottish Highlands, one of the lesser traveled destinations in Scotland, but still home to some amazing links courses including Cruden Bay! Located 25 miles north of Aberdeen on the east coast of the Highlands, Cruden Bay was opened in 1899, although history would indicate golf has been played at the property since 1791. Another Old Tom Morris design, the course is consistently ranked in the Top 25 of courses in Scotland and it is easy to see why. At only 6600 yards, it is relatively short, but the natural lay of the land provides elevation changes, punchbowl greens, and some large, 3-story high dunes that offer spectacular views for a classic links experience.
How to incorporate Cruden Bay in a golf trip:
Stay: Leonardo Hotel Aberdeen
Play: Cruden Bay, Trump International Links, Royal Aberdeen
Additional Courses: Murcar
We head back to the Highlands just north of Dornoch to where we find Brora Golf Club. Similar to a lot of links courses, Brora opened as only 9 holes in 1891, but that only lasted for 9 years before an additional 9 was added in 1900 before a James Braid redesign in 1924. At just over 6200 yards, this is one of those courses that will make you appreciate links golf in Scotland with cattle and sheep roaming freely around the property. The course is a typical links routing with the front 9 going out and the back 9 coming back to the clubhouse. The defense of the course is the wind (naturally), but the greens are relatively small with pot bunkers standing guard to catch errant approach shots.
How to incorporate Brora in a golf trip:
Stay: Royal Golf Hotel, Dornoch
Play: Brora, Royal Dornoch – Struie & Championship
Additional Courses: Golspie, Tain
Staying in the Scottish Highlands, the last Scotland links gem on the list is just outside of Inverness at The Nairn Golf Club. The narrow fairways are fast and firm leading to decent sized, tricky greens that roll true, but are guarded by devious pot bunkers. The first seven holes play right along the water and with not a ton of elevation changes, spectacular views across the Moray Firth can be seen throughout the course. With fantastic course conditions throughout the season, this fantastic links is an absolute must-play when visiting the Highlands.
How to incorporate Nairn in a golf trip:
Stay: Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness
Play: Nairn, Castle Stuart (Cabot Highlands), Fortrose & Rosemarkie
Additional Courses: Nairn Dunbar, Moray
Golfbreaks by PGA TOUR highly recommends you start planning your trip across the pond AT LEAST 12-18 months in advance in order to secure tee times and hotel rooms over the dates you desire. With more and more people taking up the game of golf, these bucket list trips have already become extremely popular and will continue to gain interest so make sure to start planning early!
RELATED: Open Championship courses you can play (and when the best time to book is)
Editor’s note: This article is presented in partnership with Golfbreaks. When you make a purchase through links in this article, GolfWRX may earn an affiliate commission.
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The final major of 2024 is nearly here as the top golfers head to Scotland’s southwestern coast to battle for the claret jug at Royal Troon. Golf’s original major dates all the way back to 1860 and has been played at 14 different courses throughout the United Kingdom (yes, this includes Northern Ireland) providing countless memories including celebrations, heartbreak, and unique moments that will never be forgotten (looking at you Jordan Spieth).
With The Open teeing off less than a week from now, we wanted to highlight some of The Open Championship’s finest links courses that should play when you make the journey to golf’s homeland:
- Old Course at St. Andrews
- Carnoustie
- Muirfield
- Royal Portrush
- Royal Troon
- Royal Birkdale
- Royal St George’s
Old Course at St. Andrews
Do we even need to say anything else? The “Home of Golf”, host of 30 Open Championships, the most coveted tee time in the WORLD, there are a million reasons to have St. Andrews on your links golf bucket list. From the double greens, to the tee shot over the Old Course Hotel, to the walk up 18th fairway with the town buildings framing a picturesque scene (especially at dusk), every golfer should make the voyage to St Andrews at least once in their life.
Carnoustie
Carnoustie – Championship Course
Roughly 25 miles north of St. Andrews lies the devious links of Carnoustie, often recognized by the large white Carnoustie Golf Hotel as the backdrop of the 18th green. While the course has only hosted The Open 8 times, it is considered to be one of the hardest layouts in The Open rota (just ask Jean Van de Velde) although not that long, playing just under 7000 yards from the tips.
Muirfield
Located right next to this week’s host of Scottish Open (The Renaissance Club), this fantastic links layout has hosted the prestigious Championship 16 times since 1892. The narrow fairways and penal rough requires precise shots off the tee while avoiding the devious pot bunkers is a must. The course is set away from the coastline so you won’t get the sweeping ocean views, but a round at Muirfield is one the premier tee times in all of Scotland (so make sure you book early – 12-18 months at least).
Royal Portrush
A view of the new 572 yards par 5, seventh hole designed by Martin Ebert on the Dunluce Course at Royal Portrush Golf Club the host club for the 2019 Open Championship in Portrush, Northern Ireland. © 2018 Rob Durston
Our next stop brings us across the Irish Sea to the northern coast of Northern Ireland and the popular Royal Portrush. Having hosted The Open only twice in its illustrious history, Royal Portrush is a golfer’s dream with 36 holes of pure links golf set against a gorgeous backdrop of the ocean and cliffs. The Open Championship will return to Portrush in 2025 and YOU CAN BE THERE to watch it all in person!
Royal Troon
TROON – JULY 26: General view of the ‘Postage Stamp’ par 3, 8th hole taken during a photoshoot held on July 26, 2003 at the Royal Troon Golf Club, venue for the 2004 Open Championships, in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
The host of this year’s Open Championship, Royal Troon is home to one of the best par-3 holes in all of golf, “The Postage Stamp.” A downhill 125-yard tee shot to a minuscule green surrounded by bunkers on all sides makes it one of the more challenging holes. Another hole that adds to the challenge is the 601-yard par 5 that used to be the longest golf hole in Open Championship history. This year will be the 10th Open Championship held at Royal Troon, the first since 2016 when Mickelson and Stenson had a battle for the ages in the final round.
Royal Birkdale
For the next course on the list, we have to head down to the northwest coast of England just outside of Liverpool. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 courses in all the UK, this 10-time host of The Open has hosted many other prestigious events such as Ryder Cups, Women’s Opens, and more! The course is laid out with fairways running through flat-bottomed valleys surrounded by high dunes which provide many blind shots throughout the course. The Open returns to Royal Birkdale in 2026 so it won’t be long before it is back in the spotlight.
Royal St. George’s
For the final course on our list, we are staying in England, but heading across to the southeastern side of the country to Kent. Royal St. George’s is 4th on the list of most Open Championships hosted with 15 (1 behind Muirfield) the most recent being Collin Morikawa’s victory in 2021. RSG is the only active course on The Open rota in this part of the UK, but two former hosts (Prince’s and Royal Cinque Ports) are within 3 miles of the property. The expansive course is laid out with holes separated by dunes with heavy rough, undulating fairways, and deep pot bunkers to challenge your game. While it may not be mentioned in the discussions of St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and the like, Royal St. George’s is still a Championship layout that is worth the trip across the pond.
With these big-name courses in such high demand, it is important to note that if you want to play them, you need to start planning your trip early. Golfbreaks by PGA TOUR, the world’s #1 rated golf tour operator, suggests planning and booking your trip at least 12-18 months in advance in order to secure a tee time at the courses you want. The UK & Ireland specialists at Golfbreaks by PGA TOUR have the knowledge to help tailor the perfect golf trip for your group so you can play big-name courses and hidden gems you might not have heard of. If you’re ready to start planning your bucket list trip across the pond, make life easier and go with Golfbreaks by PGA TOUR.
Editor’s note: This article is presented in partnership with Golfbreaks. When you make a purchase through links in this article, GolfWRX may earn an affiliate commission.
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The 2025 Ryder Cup matches will be held over the sprawling, bruising, Long Island acreage known as Bethpage Black State Park Golf Course. The course has hosted multiple national championships, most recently the 2019 PGA Championship. In September 2025, Bethpage Black will welcome teams from the USA and Europe to contest the 45th Ryder Cup matches. Team Europe, the defending champions, will be led again by captain Luke Donald. The U.S. PGA has not yet announced the name of its leader, yet all sources and speculations point to a 15-time major champion and an eight-time participant in the biennial event.
Bethpage Black will join Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester (1995) as the second Empire State course to host the event. The Ryder Cup matches were played in the metropolitan New York area once before, in 1935 at the Ridgewood Club, in Paramus, New Jersey. It’s fair to say that metro NYC is due to host this world-stage, golf event. I can’t wait. The USA’s loss to Europe in 2023 adds to the considerable drama.
What makes Bethpage Black an outlier in the world of championship golf, is its mere existence. It’s a state park golf course, one of five on property, each with a colorful name. The Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow join big brother Black as outstanding tests of golf in Farmingdale. Of the five, only the Green was not originally built as a state course. The Lenox Hills Country Club, designed by Devereux Emmet, opened in 1923. By 1932, the club had closed and the land had become property of the state. Its birth date made the Green the oldest of the five courses. New York State began to build on a series of adjacent parcels, guided by the hands of Alber “A.W.” Tillinghast, Joseph Burbeck, and Alfred Tull. The Yellow course, built entirely by Tull, was the last of the five to open.
State park courses just don’t hold major championships. Private clubs and elite resorts are the typical sites that receive the nod from the world’s golf bodies. It’s a testament to the lovers of Bethpage, the New York state government, and the PGA of America (among others) that Bethpage is as good as it is, and that it continues to improve. It’s a fitting site for the 2025 Ryder Cup matches, but the 2025 Ryder Cup matches need a beginning to their story. I’ll do my best to provide it.
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- Bethpage Yellow Golf Course
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- Bethpage Black Golf Course
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- Bethpage Red Golf Course
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- Bethpage Yellow Golf Course
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- Bethpage Black Golf Course
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- Bethpage Green Golf Course
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- Bethpage Blue Golf Course
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- Bethpage Red and Black Golf Courses
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- Bethpage Green Golf Course
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- Bethpage Red Golf Course
The quintet of courses near Bethpage, New York, is just the beginning of the New York state park golf course system. 19 parks in total offer golf from the tip of Long Island, to the shores of Lake Ontario, through the Catskill mountains, to my home town. I’m a Western New York guy. The Buffalo area has been my home for most of my 58 years on the golf ball known as Earth. I live two miles from the westernmost, state park golf course: Beaver Island. The Beav, as everyone calls it, was designed by William Harries. It opened the year I was born, which means that it is close to 60 years old! Unlike the Bethpage property, where topography is king, the Beav is a flat course, albeit full of enough interest to bring you back for more.
As I considered the magnitude of the state park system, I realized that golfers who frequent those 19 state parks can point to their home course and say, “You know, the Ryder Cup will be at a state park course next year.” I started to count on my fingers, the number of state park courses I had played: Beaver Island, Green Lakes (Syracuse), James Baird (Poughkeepsie), and the five at Bethpage, I realized that I had played eight of the 23 total courses, and had visited a mere four of the 19 parks.
Bethpage is the only, multi-course state park across the Empire State. Other venues range from pitch-and-putt, to nine-hole, to regulation 18-hole courses. The majority occupy nice tracts of land, and feature 18 holes of memorable, enjoyable golf. PGA Tour professionals Joey Sindelar and Mike Hulbert grew up on one of those courses, and Dottie Pepper spent a bit of time on another, near her hometown.
There will be many stories that trace the path to Bethpage and its 2025 Ryder Cup, and I look forward to reading and hearing them. This one is my own, and I’m proud (and a little frightened) to undertake it. I’ll visit each of the remaining parks over the next 16 months, and report in with images and words that tell the story of each park and its golf course.
The Ones I’ve Played
The Bethpage Five
As mentioned above, I’ve played eight of the 23 courses, but the majority of that number is owed to a 2011 pilgrimage to Long Island. The Black had just hosted its second US Open championship, and the ink for the 2019 PGA Championship was not yet printed. I spoke with a Bethpage caddy, in anticipation of the trek. I wrote a series of articles on the courses on my own site, BuffaloGolfer. Down the road of this, current series, I’ll discuss the most poignant piece that I connected with Bethpage. That’s a story for another time. After all, Bethpage is a five-course meal.
It’s safe to say the the Bethpage property is unlike any other, municipal, golfing space in the world (at least, those not named the Links Trust of St. Andrews!) The park encompasses nearly 1500 acres of wooded land and offers much beyond golf to its visitors. As pilgrimages go, Bethpage is it. For a New York state resident, on a weekend, it would cost a total of $257 dollars … to play all five courses. Even for those outside the state, the trip to Bethpage is worth consideration. Each course rambles over uneven, heaving land. Holes carry along falloffs and bend unexpectedly around corners. Greens are benched into hillsides and settled into valleys. All five courses remind you of the others, yet none of them says to you “You’ve played this course before.”
James Baird State Park
One of the hats that I wear, is high school golf coach. Each spring, golfers from my team travel to Poughkeepsie to play the James Baird State Park golf course. Pronounced “Bard,” the course was opened in 1948, after a middle-aged, Robert Trent Jones, senior, put pen to paper to lay out the course. Jones was about to become a household name, as he would offer renovation advice to many of the country’s classic clubs. He was most famously associated with the Oakland Hills Country Club near Detroit, the host site of the 1951 US Open. You know, the one where Ben Hogan purportedly gasped “I’m glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees.”
Trent didn’t leave a monster in Poughkeepsie. What he left was something that locals call Baby Bethpage. The James Baird course is blessed with topography similar to its five-course cousin, but it offered a challenge that Bethpage does not: a huge expanse of marsh across the belly of the property. There was not going over nor through it, so Jones simply went around it. He created something that he never, ever did: a short par three. Jones was a fan of the brutish, 200-yard plus, all-carry, par three hole. For the third hole at Baird, he had all of 120 yards, and it was downhill! Jones placed a green in the marsh, connected to the mainland by an earthen bridge. He then turned north for a time, then returned south, outside the marsh. Trent Jones had another stretch of tricky land to navigate, this time, on the inward half. He brought a trio of holes (pars 4-3-5) through a challenging corner of the property, before returning to the open meadow that hosts the majority of the layout.
James Baird is a tremendous golf course, one that prepares our high school competitors well for the next step: the state federation championship at, you guessed it, Bethpage Black. Six golfers move on to compete against other, high school divisions, at the big brother of them all.
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Green Lakes
The Baird course came to life 13 years after Trent Jones opened his first, New York state parks course. Originally from Rochester, New York, Trent ventured 90 minutes east to Manlius, near Syracuse, in 1935, to lay out one of his first ten courses. RTJ was gifted the magnificent land that abuts the two glacial lakes in central New York. The lakes are meromictic, which we all know means that surface and bottom waters do not mix in the fall and spring, as happens with dimictic lakes.
Trent Jones placed his clubhouse and finishing greens (9 and 18) in an interesting portion of the property. The ninth hole is an uphill, par five that plays fifty yards longer than its measured distance. Once home to upper and lower greens, the lower has been expanded and enhanced, and the upper is now abandoned. On the other side of the clubhouse, the sneaky 18th moves out of a corridor of trees, into the open space beneath the clubhouse. It’s a bit reminiscent of the 18th at Bethpage’s Green course. It’s not a long hole, yet when you walk off with five or six on your card, you wonder where you went astray.
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The front half of the course plays along a vast meadow, above Green Lake, the larger of the two, nautical bodies. The inward side forages among the tree above Round Lake, before finally emerging at the home hole. The apparent contrariety of the two nines is resolved through expansion of fairway corridors on the treed nine, and the constriction of playing paths with bunkers and doglegs, on the exposed side.
If you’re a walker, Green Lakes will make you a fit one. It will also demand all the clubs and shots that you can fit in your bag.
Beaver Island
“Tame” isn’t the proper term to describe Beaver Island, the state park course near my home. I believe that “calm” is a better term. It may seem ironic, given that the 1965 course occupies a tract of land at the southern tip of Grand Island, where the Niagara River splits east and west, before reuniting at the north end. When we think of the Niagara, we think of the mighty rapids and cascades near the brink and bottom of the falls. At the southern split of the river, however, you can throw a canoe in the water and have a paddle. Beaver Island knows that it is adjacent to the river, but you never get the sense that this golf course borders water. I’ve redesigned the park hundreds of times in my head, moving the golf course to the banks of the river, where the trails, beach, playground, and other amenities are currently found. In the end, not every great golf course can, nor should, be built.
William Harries trained under the famed competitor and architect, Walter Travis. Despite this exposure to the master, Harries went his own way with his golf courses. The most striking difference is in green construction. While Travis was extraordinarily creative and daring, Harries was the polar opposite. His greens are routinely flat and easy to navigate.
He designed a number in the western New York area, including Brookfield Country Club. Originally known as Meadow Brook, the club hosted the 1948 Western Open, won by the aforementioned, Ben Hogan. The majority of Harries’ work was in municipal courses, and he designed Sheridan Park for the town of Tonawanda. That course hosted the 1962 USGA Public Links championship.
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On Grand Island, Harries traced his layout around three ponds. The massive, western one, comes into play on the second through fifth holes. The middle one plays games with the approach to the eighth green. The final one, on the inward side, forces golfers to carry their tee shot over water, to the 14th fairway. Beaver Island bears no resemblance to the topography of the other locales mentioned previously. There is no heaving, no tumbling, no turbulence, along its fairways. Beaver Island is more St. Andrews in its flattish presentation, which makes it an honest, what-you-see, sort of golf course. It’s an enjoyable walk in the park, a not-too-demanding one.
Part Two: south-central New York-Soaring Eagles, Chenango Valley, Indian Hills, and Bonavista
Ryder Cup Trophy @ Bethpage – Photo courtesy of PGA of America
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Q
May 27, 2017 at 1:48 am
You would know all about being futile, as you are one, yourself.
Mad-Mex
May 25, 2017 at 8:30 pm
Interesting article with lots of high tech information which will not help your recreational golfer, which is in my opinion the backbone of the golf industry.
If this were to be installed in a driving range, it would be nothing more than a curiosity, specially since like it has been stated before, the cost of the range balls would have to be increased so the operator could recoup its investment, and at $20,000 plus, it would be a while before that investment is made. If a fitter buys one, his/her prices would also have to go up.
Mr. Crawford, can you answer me a couple of simple questions:
1) How can I correct my swing based solely on the information this computer is giving me? I developed a small slice, my brother-in-law looked at my swing and saw I was coming over the top, he stuck a tee couple of inches in front and to the right of the golf ball, he then told me to swing and hit the tee, problem solved, total time, 5 minutes, can TRACKMAN compete with that?
2) At what point are you overloaded with data? And if we don’t have a human watching us, doesn’t the information become worthless when we cant figure out how to get the right “numbers”
IMHO, this is a niche and there is no way $20,000 simulators are going to be the future of golf or the saviors of golf.
Adam Crawford
May 25, 2017 at 8:50 pm
Mad-mex, I will try and answer your questions, but there are probably some teaching professionals who will elaborate on my answers. Disclaimer: I’m not a teaching professional, I’m simply a golf enthusiast. Also, these questions could be answered at great length, but I’ll try and be brief here.
1) Trackman isn’t going to correct anything. It’s simply giving you the information to show where you are compared to what the “objective” is. Each person’s “objective” is different. My example in the piece is that if a tip you’re given doesn’t look as though it’s improving your ball flight but Trackman is showing an improvement in your swing path, then you will know you’re on the right track. Whereas simply looking at the ball flight may be discouraging. Your example is something I see a lot in people I play with. They get a tip using a visual image or feeling that works in the moment, but manifesting that image or feeling at a later time is hard to come by. With the data, you can see patterns in your swing results that you may not be able to see with just your eyes. No, Trackman can’t fix you in 5 minutes, but a 5 minutes solution is not a long-term solution, it’s more likely a fluke. I’ve experienced a lot of flukes I couldn’t’ muster the next time out.
2) I think it’s easy to get overwhelmed with data if you don’t understand how to apply it. Which is the learning curve people often have with golf. There’s so much to the game that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But with Trackman Range, the data will be fairly simple. For example: how far did I carry the ball? How much did it curve? Where did it start in relation to where I thought I was aiming (this one is huge)? How far away from my target did the ball land? How are the elements affecting my shot (which is a really great thing to know because it’s hard to tell with the naked eye)?
This article wasn’t really about the Trackman 4 that gives you club data, that’s a different animal. Trackman Range will give you the numbers you need to know in order to help tighten your shot group. At least that’s how I see it.
Q
May 27, 2017 at 1:47 am
Nah. You’re just blind and stupid.
SH
May 28, 2017 at 1:46 am
You only wish you were the real me
JD
May 25, 2017 at 9:10 am
Nope. This will fail. Trackman & Foresight are basically trying to operate like computer companies in the 80s and trying to sell business machines for exorbitant prices. Only once they commoditize these machines, would they see any sort of amateur/casual golfer adoption or growth.
FlyPhish
May 25, 2017 at 12:32 pm
^This guy gets it.
Anon golfer
May 25, 2017 at 1:26 pm
I haven’t research their portfolio. That being said, I’m guessing they have multiple patents for this system to help avoid commodization (for 20 years anyway). Patents aren’t fool proof but they are useful for this type of system.
JD
May 25, 2017 at 3:01 pm
I really don”t get it. I can almost hear Mark Cuban on Shark Tank screaming at them. They have a patent on the source code in their systems for determining “spin parameters of a sports ball” (https://www.google.com/patents/US8845442), and they are selling machines at 20k a pop. Now I understand the Doppler cameras are expensive and drive the cost to manufacture up, but still between them and Foresight they are ignoring almost 99% of the golfing market by refusing to produce cheaper models with cheaper cameras.
They are a software company and they don’t even realize it. Tragic.
Adam Crawford
May 25, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Economies of scale aren’t quite that simple. Maybe they could produce a cheaper and more affordable version for the casual golfer, but the production costs go up significantly when you do that. So if they made that decision and then all of a sudden people still didn’t buy them at that price, they could very easily produce themselves out of business and have 300,000 TrackMans sitting in a warehouse with nowhere to ship them. Or it could be the opposite, they release a product and don’t have the production infrastructure to match the demand, which is also a business killer.
It’s very possible that for their business model, they have found the sweet spot for their market equilibrium. But since they are a privately held company there’s no way to know that for sure. You also have to think about them in the sense that maybe they don’t want to degrade the capability of their product in order to produce an affordable model. If they are running in the black by only selling to fitting houses and tour players, then so be it. Yes, I’d love to have a Trackman that I could buy for $1,000. But I also know that if I were the CEO of Trackman, I’d be worried about trying to scale something that, even at a lower price point, not every golfer is going to be able or willing to buy. It’s shaky ground.
JD
May 25, 2017 at 5:17 pm
I hear what you’re saying but these are all supply chain issues, go find a COO. I am hard pressed to think the demand wouldn’t be there. You have virtually all club manufacturers at $800+ for new irons, inflated green fees in almost all states, and 40% of the country unable to golf for roughly 6 months out of the year. How many articles have we read through on hear talking about the decline in golf because people cant afford to play enough to the point where they would put together a decent round? Putting one of these in your garage, basement, or backyard with an ability to sync to an iPad or TV solves a lot of problems for a lot of people. Now I’m just a golf obsessed individual like many on here, so maybe my vision of the potential market is a tad skewed, but I would at least hope they have folks looking into it.
Until then, I will continue to prepare my business plan to my wife as to why we need to spend 5k on a GC2.
TH
May 26, 2017 at 1:50 am
It doesn’t even have to be $1000. Just make it $5000. Like how personal computers and the first generation Digital Cameras used to be. That should be enough to sell a boat load, $5000 is more affordable than $20K.
D
May 26, 2017 at 9:23 pm
Well, you would know all about being futile as you are one, yourself.
Mr Muira
May 25, 2017 at 3:08 am
The title made me laugh.
1. ITS GOLF.
club, ball and the grass it sits on.
Don
May 25, 2017 at 1:10 am
This is great technology, but the idea that it would cost the same for golfers to use a range like this is wishful thinking. I had switch driving ranges because the owner the range I frequented bought a similar system. First the price of a bucket of balls was increases to maybe 25% higher than area prices for other ranges. I was OK with that as long as I got to use the shot tracker. Well then they started charging 10 dollars an hour to use the shot tracker and you still also have to pay the same inflated price for balls even if you don’t use the shot tracker. I switched ranges to a low technology range and I bought a annual membership for what I would spend in 4 months at the previous range.Now I get to hit unlimited balls which is great. I can go whenever I want, hit as many balls as I want off grass, and don’t have to open my wallet when I go to the range. I think this is great technology to use occasionly but these ranges will not be popular with golf junkies that just need cheap practice. More for the Topgolf crowd.
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 7:26 pm
See, I disagree that only low handicap golfers will benefit. The value of knowing exactly how far your carry distance is and how far you are from your target is invaluable. No, Trackman won’t fix your swing. But it will tell you where and how far you hit the ball based on your tendencies in your swing. And I think that’s what is beneficial. It’s not about fixing your swing, it’s about hitting consistent shots with the swing you have. After all, swing your swing.
Steve
May 24, 2017 at 8:00 pm
The problem being that most double digit caps don’t have a consistent enough swing to hit consistent shots.
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 8:10 pm
Right, but the only way to get a consistent swing is to groove one through practice, and grooving a swing while also having accurate ball data is only going to make the end result better.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 10:56 pm
Hackers don’t practice. That’s why they hack.
AZGolfer
May 24, 2017 at 11:31 pm
Steve,
This is where you’re wrong. Most double digits are digits are actually very consistent with their club path. Face angle is inconsistent which comes from bad information they’ve been fed for years.
Amateurs, specifically the serious higher handicap player has the most room for improvement. Thus is the most likely to benefit.
Whether they’re serious or not – is the true question.
Heres the thing
May 25, 2017 at 2:50 pm
The thing is though, that you don’t need trackman to figure this stuff out. I have played professionally for years now, some on the canadian tour and mostly on the mini tours. While i’m clearly not as good as the guys on tour, I can’t see how trackman would fill those gaps in my game. I make a mental mistake or two a round, and don’t make enough putts. Statistically tee to green i’m above the PGA tour average. My distance control is one of the better parts of my game; I hit it pin high the vast majority of the time (Some days left and right). I’ve never spent much time on trackman. I figured this all out by playing and playing. I don’t think you can really trust trackman to figure this kind of stuff out. It can help, but honestly at the end of the day if you want to get better you have to make more putts and get up and down more. Ballstriking is such an overvalued commodity in golf. Honestly all you have to do is not hit it badly and you can shoot under par. The game begins on and around the greens and as long as you hit it decent and keep the ball in play you can shoot low score, but golfers are obsessed with this perfection tee to green which I understand because I find myself falling into that trap as well. But every golfer has at one point or another played a round where they hit is really poorly (for how they usually hit it) but managed to shoot a good score because for some reason they were at peace with it that day and stayed out of their way and shined on the greens. Golf is will, heart, and determination. Nothing else. Trackman and all these other things are really amazing tools but I fear they overwhelm the golfer with too much information about a game that is fairly simple. You hear the best in the world say it all the time; the more they simplify things, the better they play. I can attest to that. The more I let GO of my understanding of the golf swing and just do what I know how to do….get it around the greens in regulation, the lower scores I consistently shoot. Back to the point…distance control is a feel thing that you learn by being on the golf course with differing elevations and wind conditions. Trackman can’t teach you that.
Eric
May 24, 2017 at 7:06 pm
Great article, very interesting and looking forward to practicing at a range with these Trackman
Uh
May 27, 2017 at 11:15 am
Is that all you can afford?
Looper
May 24, 2017 at 3:57 pm
I’ve heard most tour pros use it for gapping? Especially with the short irons and wedges…
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 8:11 pm
I think you’re exactly right. The benefit of ball data is that it can tell you exactly how far you hit the shot that you “feel” is a 3/4 wedge. If you hit your standard sand wedge 100 yards, then a 3/4 “feel” shot should be 75 yards, but is it? That’s where something like this is really valuable. Because it will help people really understand their distance.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:04 pm
As others have said the likes of Nicklaus and Hogan had no problem determining accurate distances without this technology. I personally just use a range distance marker. Range balls are typically not an ideal representation of proper ball data so you’d be effectively be getting the wrong information anyway which seems counterproductive to me.
HH
May 25, 2017 at 3:24 am
Back in the day, they had caddies walk out to the range and hit shots at them at specific yardages
SH
May 27, 2017 at 10:56 pm
Useless knowledge in less than 140 characters …. by a twitter blurting brainlet
SH
May 29, 2017 at 3:26 am
You only wish you were the real me with the proper avatar
farmer
May 24, 2017 at 3:39 pm
A new TMan goes for something north of 20k. Hard to imagine that this new thing would be cheaper. That limits it to large, urban areas with enough golfers to make it a money maker. Those of us in the sticks are out of luck. For all that it may do, if you find out you have a -10 path, you have to have someone to determine the cause.
AZGolfer
May 24, 2017 at 11:35 pm
Disagree. If you knew what “0” FELT like – you’d get there more often.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:56 pm
Disagree. You need to know how to get to 0 if you’re ever going to know how it feels. Many hackers just aim further left to counteract their slice and will never get to 0 without lessons. Instead they just keep wasting money on the latest new driver.
JimmyJam
May 24, 2017 at 12:52 pm
So I’m guessing the range will also get brand new balls? Wasn’t there an article on here recently showing the testing of range balls vs. a real ball and the range balls flew nowhere near the correct distance. The tour guys get to practice with Pro-V’s, us peons get the 10 year old balls with no dimples…
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:09 pm
Exactly. Seems counterproductive to me, especially when the quality of range balls varies so much.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:37 am
Nope.
david
May 24, 2017 at 11:11 am
all recreational golfers have huge drivers, rangefinders, apps to keep track of their stats, large grips on putters, etc etc. 90% of golfers still suck, and swing outside in, and no trackman aint gonna help any of them. It might help scratch or tour guys a bit, but like an above comment said, I’ll take Jack without his trackman or Bobby Jones or Hogan any day for the next 50 years. They felt the game, could feel trajectories, how to hit an 8 iron 120 yards low to a back pin, how to cut a high fade into a wind and stop it, etc. trackman helps fog up the mind. I repeat, golf is a game of feel and thousand of hours of practice. I’m a 61 year old scratch, keep improving, and don’t need technology other than equipment.
Mark
May 24, 2017 at 1:27 pm
I don’t have 1000s hours to practice. I do have a 1yro, 4yro, a wife and a love for golf. My goal right now is to be the best dad I can be.
Because the classic greats didn’t use technology, that is not a reason for me not to. I might as well not use a car or microwave because my awesome great grandfather didn’t.
I am a bogey golfer. I don’t putt well. I do have a large grip. I 3 and 4 putt half my holes every round. I tried the grip why? Because feel didn’t work. I tried practice, blades, mallets, center shafts and finally grip. It feels better at least even if I didn’t get any better. On my last round I shot a 98. 28 putts were from 3 and 4 putts.
I do OK tee to green. Why? Because I use a range finder and gamegolf. I look at my stats after a round to see where I am trending. I know my clubs this way. GPS tells me how far I am. Gamegolf tells me my club averages (not just my absolute best) and my miss tendencies.
I am better due to technology. Now I need some tech for putting.
gimmie
May 25, 2017 at 6:45 am
Cool story david.
Bret
May 25, 2017 at 9:44 pm
Nicklaus, Jones, and Hogan would all have used Trackman is it were available in their day.
Hogan learned what he learned about the golf swing after thousands of hours of trial and error on the range. With a Trackman he could have learned it in a week.
Once you understand the ball flight laws and what conditions of impact make a ball go a certain way, it is easy to self-correct on the golf course. The problem is that old guys like me were taught incorrectly for years. We were taught that if we sliced it then we must have opened the clubface.
But now we know that a draw can easily be hit with a clubface that is open at impact.
It is all about clubface AND path, not just one or the other.
Scott
May 24, 2017 at 11:03 am
The golf balls at my range are awful. Can trackman tell me how a Pro V1, Tour Preferred, or Chrome Soft would have flown? If not, the help is limited at best.
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 11:09 am
I can see that as a concern, however, most golfers are more concerned about hitting multiple shots within a 10 yard circle or something similar for consistency. Yes, a range ball will be a significant distance difference with woods and drivers, but irons were talking maybe 3-5% difference. Which is only an issue for the best of golfers. I think this can be tremendously helpful for the mid to high handicappers.
Eddie
May 24, 2017 at 11:53 am
Doubt this will be available at a range with crappy balls.
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 12:25 pm
That’s also a good point.
AZGolfer
May 24, 2017 at 11:33 pm
Adam – Trackman converts the “crappy” range balls back to premium balls. Just like hitting a premium ball. Algorithms are put together by the best engineers in the industry.
JimmyJam
May 24, 2017 at 12:53 pm
Which is where 95% of golfers practice…
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:13 pm
I’ve never been to a range with good balls, and I use the largest in Europe. I’d say it’s much closer to 100%.
Riley
May 24, 2017 at 1:48 pm
The regular trackman can convert range balls to real balls so i’d suspect this could be done on this new product too?
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:32 pm
It’s the consistency of range balls that’s the problem. You might pure two consecutive shots that go completely different distances with different ball data due to both balls having a different construction and/or age. How do you know which is right?
Patdugolf
May 24, 2017 at 11:02 am
I hope the biggest and only 24 hr range in Northern California ( Haggin Oaks ) installs this application. Traffic will be insane
Adam
May 24, 2017 at 10:37 am
Variety of junior golfers out there. College coaches must ask whether they’re getting someone who’s great because of perfectly fit equipment, expensive coaching, heavy use of launch monitors, etc. (i.e., upper class kids), or raw talent which hasn’t had access to any of it. Is your recruit already maxed out?
Steve
May 24, 2017 at 7:55 pm
If they’re already “great” like you said, then who cares?
Kh
May 24, 2017 at 10:17 am
Yeah but how much does it cost to go and hit balls at the Trackman range? $30 for a bucket of 50 balls? What a joke
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 10:41 am
The idea is that only ranges that are already financially successful will adopt this, but the purchase price is not as much as I initially thought. If you have a range with a lot of play, it wouldn’t take much to recoup the investment, and the technology is very likely to attract significant increases in play. At least the way I see it.
L
May 24, 2017 at 12:45 pm
Yup. PGA Play Golf America! A richman’s game! If you can’t afford it, then go street basketball, the poor man’s game!
farmer
May 24, 2017 at 3:27 pm
What is the price of this device?
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 3:42 pm
The Trackman 4 starts at $19,000, but it’s not the same device used for Trackman RANGE. Trackman RANGE uses the same technology but packaged in a more powerful radar set up. They wouldn’t let me reveal the price for the setup described in the article.
Shortside
May 24, 2017 at 10:05 am
My first thought is this could be THE 21st Century groundbreaking moment for the sport. I’m too old for it to impact my game to a major degree. But I can’t think of anything else that has the potential to grow the game like this does. A tool that truly brings the game to the masses. It’s going to be interesting to see this play out over the next few years.
L
May 24, 2017 at 12:45 pm
You mean 460cc Titanium heads aren’t?
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 3:46 pm
That’s sort of how I felt when I started working on this.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 10:54 pm
How can a tool that will only be available at select locations bring golf to the masses? That type of tool must have a near zero cost. That’s why football is so popular. The cost of the ball, shared by a group, is effectively nothing.
larrybud
May 24, 2017 at 9:55 am
Great stuff. Exciting to see what new technologies will come out in the next 10 years. People who poo-poo stuff like this clearly don’t get it: It’s just DATA. What you (or a teacher) does with it is what counts, but I can’t see how anybody in their right mind wouldn’t want to know MORE information about their ball flight than they already have.
Josh
May 24, 2017 at 10:06 am
EXACTLY! Who wouldn’t want to know more and then apply it in a useful manner?!?!?!
The cream will still rise to the top, but it should help everyone get better, even if they only look at their carry distance!
ROY
May 24, 2017 at 10:09 am
Agree with you, and think the CLUB data Trackman produces is great, but what can Trackman range tell you that you cant find out for yourself with a friend or by doing on course practice??
Josh
May 24, 2017 at 10:10 am
Can’t eyeball carry distance nearly the way that this can track it (from what I’m reading here). Much more efficient practice imo
larrybud
May 24, 2017 at 10:50 am
You’re going to hit 20 wedges to the same flag to get a good indication of your trajectory and distance?
Tony
May 24, 2017 at 9:42 am
And just what is the average golfer, with average knowledge, ability, time, and inclination really going to do with all this extra information. I’ve played for 40years ,I like new technology, but there is a practical limit to what you can actually action with the new sciences of golf. This is Complete overload, and is it really of any practical benefit , to help you hit a little ball into a hole with a stick on your days off work.
AZGolfer
May 24, 2017 at 11:40 pm
Have you ever been on TrackMan?
Tony
May 25, 2017 at 7:28 pm
Yes, a few times. Hcp6, swing speed 120mph. Unfortunately I just don’t have the time to fuss with all the data. The ball goes where I want it to, or not. Working on my short game is more important to scoring than trying to zero out swing path.
Jim
May 24, 2017 at 9:33 am
LOVE TRACKMAN. USE IT DAILY. Can’t do the best driver fittings without it. Period. Want custom shafts in irons? Can’t get the BEST ONE for your swing & the head you want without it.
Teaching by it?…I can fix that -10 swing with a penny or a tee and get better visual feedback for the student on all the other factors affecting shaft/ face angle and path with the penny and high speed video.
The greatest players & ball strikers all learned without it, most even without video.
One COULD ARGUE Tiger was better WITHOUT IT.
GOLF won’t ever let someone outsmart it. Bryson will never meet up to his hype. Ever.
Is ‘mastering’ golf shooting par? For most recreational players that’d be a record day! Be VERY happy, but at the bar or later that night, they’d be thinking about that one drive that had to be punchef out of the trees, the bunker shot that barely made it out and led to the double ‘on 7’ or the lip out on 18 that woulda been for -1.
Golf DEMANDS a superior mindset, heart, touch & creativity to be among the best.
Not robotics
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:26 pm
Completely agree. I remember my good rounds, birdies, eagles, and the other not so good stuff. That’s why I play, and keep coming back. Do a group of kids having a kick about with a football care about shots on target? No, they care that they won or not.
Trackman_misses_the_whole_story
May 24, 2017 at 9:32 am
Until Trackman can collect data on the quality of the impact (club head data for impact, etc.), it should always be viewed as incomplete. It’s only part of the story and, unfortuntely, it’s the “back half” of the story. You must have the “front half” to fully understand why the back half did what the data shows. I believe there’s more value in having the impact quality data when learning. Even the example provided on how a golfer would learn with Trackman is flawed without taking this into account. GC Quad is the better tool in this regard.
Ramrod
May 24, 2017 at 9:56 am
Exactly what I was going to say. GC Quad all day long. Strike is king. This article is basically a trackman advert.
ROY
May 24, 2017 at 10:07 am
SO Quad can tell when on the club you strike the ball??
larrybud
May 24, 2017 at 10:49 am
Smash factor pretty much indicates the quality of strike.
TR1PTIK
May 24, 2017 at 12:39 pm
+1 Not to mention that this can easily be remedied with a can of foot powder spray. Also, if you’re swinging out-to-in with an open face you’re still going to slice it. If strike were “KING” it wouldn’t matter what swing path and face rotation are doing. That simply isn’t the case.
Stickers
May 24, 2017 at 5:57 pm
It’s interesting that no one ever mentions that you need to put four stickers on club head to measure club data on GC Quad.
The Real Swanson
May 24, 2017 at 11:38 pm
Most of the YouTube reviewers have at some point in the past. Not really a deal breaker.
AZGolfer
May 24, 2017 at 11:37 pm
Any instructor with basic knowledge of TM can determine impact. Face to path versus spin axis. Also validated by ball flight. If Quad was truly the best, why isn’t the range at PGA and LPGA Tour events littered with them?
Don’t kid yourself.
Clayton
May 24, 2017 at 9:28 am
Jack won 18 majors because he probably intuitively knew a lot of the things that trackman and similar systems can tell us now. This tech likely won’t create a dominant player like Jack. It’s more likely to help even the playing field as players with talent but less intuition will now have insights that match them to intuitive players. Everyone learns differently. Some need to feel it, others see it, other diagnose it.
Quick question, where is the range in the US going to open in August?
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 10:26 am
Clayton, thanks for commenting. The Trackman rep wouldn’t reveal to me where it was going to be released because they were still in final negotiations.
MySlice
May 24, 2017 at 9:27 am
The days of golf being “Hard” are numbered!
AndyUK
May 24, 2017 at 9:00 am
Great idea with Trackman Range. “And you didn’t have to pay a penny extra.” – I seriously doubt as the range owners need to recoup their money somehow. However, I would happily pay a little extra for the privilege.
Adam Crawford
May 24, 2017 at 10:31 am
One of my questions for the reps was about range pricing. The idea is that they will attract enough extra players that they won’t need to increase the cost. Most of our discussion was about places that are specifically a driving range and not also a course. So if you think about the average price of a bucket of balls, multiply that by the number of daily players, you realize that it wouldn’t take a ton of players coming to spend $8-$12 at the range to recoup the price of Trackman. They wouldn’t let me reveal the price in the article, but I can tell you it was considerably less than I expected. I think if it’s installed at a busy location, they won’t need to raise prices to recoup their investment, I think they will attract more than enough players to make their money back. You also have to think about the fact that this will only be installed at places where the golf community is strong. The First Tee of San Antonio (where I practice) probably averages 400-500 players per day, which an average purchase of $8-$12, that’s adds up to be quite a bit of revenue.
Steve
May 24, 2017 at 11:37 am
That’s nice in theory, but I HIGHLY doubt it’ll work like that. Everybody wants to make more money. If the range is making this kind of investment, you can bet on them charging for it. It doesn’t have to be an astronomical amount, but those $8-12 buckets will now be $12-15 buckets. They’re still going to attract more people (maybe not AS many as they could, but more nonetheless) since that jump is not very large by any means, but they’ll also be pocketing much more cash to pay off the investment. They’d be stupid not to.
Jim
May 24, 2017 at 2:25 pm
We had 4 dedicated TRACKMAN stalls at our (north of NYC) range several years ago. Part TMan sponsored experimemt part BIG$$$ from the range. You could play TRACKMAN, THR GAME, and compete w/ someone any where else with it or a buddy coming next day. We sold memberships or people could rent it in 20 min (or more) sessions…It wasn’t huge either way, but w/o their assistance it woulda been a big loss…
Everyone is aware of TMan now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s back 🙂
Charles
May 24, 2017 at 8:58 am
Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors without Trackman!! I do not believe anyone else can come even closer with Trackman.
Desmond
May 24, 2017 at 9:14 am
I don’t pretend to have Jack’s goals.
TheCityGame
May 24, 2017 at 9:25 am
Yes, but you are aware that none of his competitors had trackman either, right? You do understand the difference, right?
Rich
May 24, 2017 at 9:32 am
No one else at the time had Trackman, either. Jack was great, of course, but he’s irrelevant to this topic.
larrybud
May 24, 2017 at 9:49 am
And his competitors lost those 18 majors without a trackman. Your point is irrelevant.
Steve
May 24, 2017 at 11:32 am
I’m 100% positive that Jack would’ve used Trackman if It was available in his day.
Joey5Picks
May 24, 2017 at 4:58 pm
“Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors without a 460cc titanium driver” so no one else should need one, either? Trackman, nor 460cc titanium drivers didn’t exist then.
JThunder
May 25, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Jack Nicklaus used every bit of technology available at the time – throughout his career – to play the best golf he could. As others have said, if Trackman existed in his era, he would have not only used it, he’d likely have been among the first to do so. Also, the Beatles would have used computers and the Roman army would have used drones. Now, quick, discuss whether Jesus would have been on Twitter!