I just saw this article on KHOU.com about a driving range called Top Golf. It isn’t just a range. The hitting bays are three levels/stores. The range balls have microchips in them which track distance and accuracy, and give points to players. Groups can rent bays and have hitting competitions which are very fun. Oh, and the bays are catered. The location featured is so popular it is getting 30,000 visitors per MONTH. Check out the video.
I doubt a Top Golf will come to Utah any time soon, but it would be cool if they did.
Golf Buddy is certainly one of the most respected names when it comes to the best golf GPS units. Now Golf Buddy makes a wearable golf GPS watch, the WT3. Let’s take a look at this $249 (retail) golf GPS watch.
Golf Buddy WT3 Golf GPS Watch Features
Preloaded with over 36,000 courses worldwide, 40,000 capacity
GPS tracking
Automatic course and hole recognition
Shot distance measurement
Pin placement
Dynamic green view
Target/hazard information
Digital scorecard
Long lasting battery
Water resistant
Multi-lingual
On The Course
The convenience of always having your golf GPS with you in the form of a wearable watch is great. No digging in the bag. No going back to the bag or the golf cart.
The other great part of having it with you is tracking your every step, for those of you like me who love to walk the golf course. The GPS tracking will tell you how far you walked, how long you walked, and what your average speed was. Cram the essential functions of a FitBit into a golf GPS and there you go.
WT3 Screens – click to zoom
The yardages provided by this golf GPS, and that’s really what we’re most interested in, are fast and accurate. Unlike other golf GPS watches, this one will tell you distances to hazards, lakes, trees, bunkers and the like. The standard yardage mode gives you the middle of the green yardage in big bold letters with smaller yardages for front and back of the green.
For fine tuning approach shots, you can position the pin on the green for more accuracy, just like handheld golf GPS units.
This wristwatch golf GPS also serves as a basic timepiece. In time mode the watch shows the time, day and date. The battery life when simply running the watch in time mode is a full 50 days.
Critiques
My only beef with this golf GPS watch is the charging cable. Rather than a common mini-usb cable, the charging cable is proprietary. If you forget to grab the cable before your trip to Bandon Dunes or Scotland, you’re going to be walking off your yardages from sprinkler heads. You’re not going to find this cable at any store.
Colors
The Golf Buddy WT3 golf GPS watch comes in black or white.
Conclusion
Comfortable, convenient, great yardages, finetuning on the greens, and automatic course/hole recognition. The Golf Buddy WT3 golf GPS watch can be summed up in one word: SOLID.
Notables: Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar, Tommy Gainey, Harris English, Russell Henley, Vijay Singh, Bo Van Pelt, Stewart Cink, Guan Tianlang.
European Tour
Volvo Golf Champions
Dates: January 9-12
Venue: Durban Country Club, Durban, South Africa
Notables: Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn, Matteo Manassero, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Darren Clarke, Branden Grace and Padraig Harrington.
I poke a lot of fun at golf “journalists.” Being a blogger I can do that. After all, most of them think we bloggers don’t even know how to spell, and they’re not afraid to say it. One journalist/blogger I do read daily and respect highly is Geoff Shackelford. Geoff writes for his own blog along with being a journalist for Golf Digest. Geoff’s sarcastic style on his blog is right up my alley.
Today’s interesting piece from Geoff appears in the February Golf Digest. It is related to the new Olympic golf course in Rio being built by golf architect Gil Hanse. Topics covered include whether it will be done in time for the 2016 summer Olympics, and some nice surprises about the terrain that have come to light recently.
Remember back in the old MASH TV series how Radar O’Riley was shipping a jeep home, one part at a time? I’m doing something similar, putting together FootJoy golf shoes one part at a time. Each of the last four weeks a “mystery box” has arrived containing one small part of a new breakthrough shoe. Come to think of it, I’m assembling one shoe… Oh well.
FootJoy DNA FitBed
This week’s mystery box contained an “Xtra-Thick FTF FitBed,” pictured above. Yes that was going to be my guess for the name.
“FTF” is short for Fine Tuned Foam. This foam makes up the cushion bed inside the shoe. The bed provides stability but is still soft and comfortable.
FJ Trivia
Thanks to FJ for this trivia. FootJoy has been the most worn show on the PGA Tour since shoe counts were first taken in 1945.
Even more entertaining is that I now know that shoe counts on the PGA Tour began in 1945.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
