For a product that relies on satellites some 12,000 miles above our heads, the product feels remarkably grounded. This sense is helped, no doubt, by a commitment to walking every part of every hole mapped – a commitment that has seen SkyGolf’s team of mappers walk the equivalent of 12 circuits round the world.
The leading edge
And so to the new SGX, which attracted so much attention at the recent PGA Show in Orlando. For a device that lays claim to be the next generation of GPS, it at first appears to have an awful lot in common with SkyCaddie’s previous top-of-the-range product, the SG5. It comes pre-loaded with basic information on 30,000 courses worldwide, like its predecessor; Intelligreen Pro, a multi-view system which charts not just green shapes and measurements but also key contours like steps and false fronts, was also available in the latter-day SG5, released in spring 2009; so was the HoleVue feature, a more impressive and interactive version of QuickVue that allows the golfer a detailed and interactive overhead view of the hole, complete with a zoom feature.
But a closer look at the SGX reveals its improvements are in the detail. For a start the thing looks refreshed; a sleeker design sees a bigger screen, in 'transflective' LCD to help vision in sun. A bigger memory means it can hold in-depth detail of up to 50 courses, 30 more than the SG5. The SG5 claimed up to 40 marked distance points per hole but that figure has risen, due to more detailed mapping and the addition of golfer-relevant aspects like fairway run-offs and dips. Navigation is better, and icons more iPod-like. HoleVue has been tweaked to provide something called a ‘pivot point’ – a charted route to and from the corner of a dogleg, which you can move about to suit your ability or ambition.
“There is also a lot of technology inside the SGX that we’re not telling anyone about at the moment,” adds Jackie Hitchcock, managing director of SkyGolf. “We don’t want a clamour for things before we are ready to deliver them. The SGX is the platform on which we will launch new, funky features and improve integration with our website. It will be around for a while.”
The SGX will in fact retail for the same price as the SG5 – £329.99 – although you will probably see a drop in the SG5’s price after the SGX officially hits the markets in April. SkyCaddie’s annual subscription rates are holding firm at £29 for the UK, £35 for Europe and £40 worldwide. Each allows unlimited course downloads, which can be stored in a ‘favourites’ section within the owner’s website account.
But despite the many nips, tucks and improvements, perhaps the true ‘next generation’ nature of the SGX lies in its new-found synergy with SkyCaddie’s website skygolf.com, in the form of something called Club SG – a web-based community SkyGolf launched last Christmas. SkyCaddie’s own phrase for this, just about audible above the trumpets, is ‘the portal to golf’s future’. Be that as it may, Club SG will not just offer SkyCaddie owners the chance to analyse scores and performance to the ‘nth’ degree; it’s also an admirable attempt to create an online community in which golfers can interact, and even communicate with their local club pro.
Hands-on approach
SkyCaddie has always been committed to working with the PGA pro and green grass retail, as shown by its sponsorship of events like the PGA Fourball. “We just feel the best way for our product to be sold is through hands-on demonstration through the pros,” Hitchcock explains. “For a start GPS is still a relatively new category and the endorsement of an expert naturally helps.
“But moreover, we want to get across that SkyCaddie isn’t just a distance-measuring device; it’s also an effective course management tool. A pro can take a golfer out for an on-course lesson and show them how to use the SkyCaddie to plot their way down the hole. That’s a great tool for him to use while teaching, and subsequently a much easier sell in the marketplace.”
And now SkyCaddie wants to take the club pro-golfer bond even further. Its intention is to try to boost the number of golfers taking lessons via the platform of the new Club SG, accessed via the SkyCaddie website.
“Very few golfers take lessons, as we know,” Hitchcock continues. “We are working towards our customers uploading a video of their golf swing – which you can do on a phone these days – to their Club SG page. The upload would prompt a link to local pros registered with us, our retailers. If a pro wants to he could take a look at the swing and either email back, give a virtual lesson from the video upload, or suggest the player comes down to the club for a lesson or two.”
Hitchcock even believes the SkyCaddie device can play an active role in the instruction. “Mostly in terms of showing people how far they hit the ball. Most amateurs can’t believe how short they hit it. Accurate information here becomes a powerful guide to playing a golf hole well, while the pro can use SkyCaddie to reveal distance gains through improved technique.
“Some of the best money the pros make is with teaching. If we can show what a great role the SkyCaddie can play here, it’ll be a winner for them.”
Whether such a scheme would work is up for debate, but a recent test performed by SkyCaddie is positive. Last Christmas they launched a promotion with PGA pros in which the pro was put up on a web link, which was then sent to SkyCaddie customers. The customer was invited to contact the pro, arrange a free lesson and be given some advice on getting the most out of their device. The pro was given a trade discount for taking part. Hitchcock reports 160 pros took up the promotion, with many reporting increased activity in lessons and sales through the quiet early year period.
“It’s the same principle for a web upload,” Hitchcock insists. “Bring the pro and the golfer together and you create a powerful tool. The new web community we are building is designed to do just that.”
It may be too early to judge how Club SG, or even the SGX, will fare; but what is certain is that they are being launched into an eager market. The GPS world is growing, with a cagey Hitchcock admitting to “five figure sales that are not far off six-figure”; just five years ago, she estimates, they were selling about 300 devices. Hitchcock further estimates that 8-10% of the UK’s golfers have bought some kind of distance measuring device, be it laser or GPS.
“I compare it to electric trolleys,” she laughs. “10 years ago nobody would use one; now, everybody does. They won through because of the benefits of use; you don’t come off the course panting, you’re fresh as a daisy. With SkyCaddie it’s similar. The same person who goes ‘Aw, what do you need that for?’ on the first tee is asking you for a yardage on the back nine.”
X Factors
- HoleVue and Intelligreen Pro are not yet available on all of SkyCaddie’s 30,000 mapped courses. SkyCaddie is revising data worldwide, and completion of the process will see all SGX features available on all courses.
- SkyCaddie is not offering a trade-in for the SG5.
- The EGU was the last major body to accept the use of SkyCaddies in competitions, changing policy in January 2009, after a survey found well over 90% of English clubs had approved it.
- Respected caddie Mike ‘Fluff’ Cowan is the latest to join a SkyCaddie advisory board that includes his current boss,
Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods’ coach Hank Haney and LPGA star Natalie Gulbis.
