79for it, too: Architects and
tournament officials rely on
it, for instance, to redesign
courses and set up the
course for the tournament.
“Before ShotLink, a bunch
of people would have an
opinion, but nobody really
had all the facts because
nobody could really see
where all the shots landed,”
says Steve Evans, senior
vice president of golf
technologies at the PGA
Tour. “Nobody could actually
tell what the scoring
average was if somebody
hit the bunker with their
tee shot versus someone
who hit the fairway.”
ShotLink’s motto is to
“Turn data into information,
information into knowledge,
and knowledge into
entertainment.” Perhaps
the Tour needs to update
it and add “entertainment
into cash,” since it licensed
the data to IMG Arena
in November for sports-
betting purposes overseas.
Betting sites use the
ShotLink data to set the
odds, while gamblers use it
to make educated bets. With
the Supreme Court in May
2018 striking down a 1992
federal law that effectively
banned commercial sports
betting in most states, it’s
only a matter of time before
U.S. golf fans will be able to
place bets, too.
With the advent of
betting and ShotLink+, the
motion tracking of balls in
and around the green using
a three-camera computer
system (similar cameras
will soon replace fairway
lasers to track tee shots
and layups), reliable data will
be more vital than ever. It’s
why the Tour’s technology
partner, CDW, is updating
ShotLink’s infrastructure
with a “hyper-converged”
platform that more tightly
integrates the traditional
server/network/storage
system. “When considering
the role of data in sports
betting and gambling, we
understand that the uses
of technology are always
evolving, but it is universally
important that consistent,
accurate and real-time data
be available,” says Matt
Troka, CDW’s senior vice
president of product and
partner management.
ShotLink is also changing
the onsite fan experience,
via the Tour’s mobile app.
Not only will it tell you who’s
coming up the fairway, it
will give you their ShotLink
data in real time. In July, a
wayfinding feature debuted1.
A Tour player
hits a shot.
2.
With ShotLink,
the ball’s landing
point is captured
by volunteers via
handheld lasers.
With ShotLink+,
the ball flight and
landing spot is
tracked in even
greater detail by
unmanned cameras
(top, right) and
on IBM Surface
tablets (left).
3.
All that data is
harnessed and
crunched inside
ShotLink’s on-site
truck, then...
4.
...distributed to
fans’ devices (and
to assorted other
numbers nerds) in
real time.How it Worksat the St. Jude’s. It directs
you to concession stands
and restrooms, etc., and to
any player on the course.
Clearly, betting while on
site isn’t far behind. It
almost seems quaint that
smartphones were banned
up until a few years ago.
“We’ve got a ton of
data, but the magic is
transforming it so that it’s
easy for fans to consume at
the right moment,” Evans
says. “Just like with fantasy
football, the casual fan can
have a gamified experience
even if they’re not betting.
The engagement of people
who participate at that level
is so much higher. We look
at it as a platform to really
build our fan base.”1 234