Aformernightclubownerand
directorofgolf,Steveis nowin
chargeofensuringover10,000
coursesacrossEuropeare
accuratelymapped.Asyoucan
imagine,thisis noeasytask.
SkyCaddieis theonlycompanythat
mapscoursesinpersononfoot,
whichprovidesa distinctadvantage
whenit comestoupdating course
changesandaccuracy.
Mostotherprovidersusesatellite
imagery,whichhasitslimitations.
Sometimescloudscreepintoview,
othertimesit is blurry,misaligned
ordistorted.Butmostofthetime
they’resimplynotuptodate,with
newimagestakensporadically.The
factremainsnotourcaddierelieson
satelliteimagesorflyovers– they
usecoursemapsproducedina
similarwaytohowStevedoesit for
SkyCaddie,andwithgoodreason.
“Ifa pro’scaddieuseda satellite
imageforhisinformation,hewould
befired,”Stevetellsus.“Hehasto
dothegroundwork– accuracy
matters.There’sa reason
whycaddiesgooutthere
andwalkthecoursesand
toa certaindegreethat’s
whatwe’redoing for
theplayersof
SkyCaddie.They’re
gettingthebenefitof
someonelikemeand
thepeopleI traingoing
outandmappingtheir
golfcoursesforthemlike
a tourcaddiewoulddo.
Youcanbesurethatwhat
you’vegotis accurate.That’s
whywetravelalloverEurope
doing it, there’s no other way.”
Tourproven
Untilrecently,thisenhanced
accuracyhadonlybeenutilisedby
amateurgolfers,butthisyear
playersontheSeniorStaySure
circuitstartedusingSkyCaddie’s
newSX500GPSinconjunctionwith
theirlasers.“IusedtheSX500in
ItalyandI’llbeusingit inevery
StaysureToureventI playthisyear,”
saysGaryWolstenholme,whowas
oneoffiveplayerstofinishinthe
toptenoftheSeniorItalianOpen
usinganSX500.“Itis veryuseful,
particularlywhenyouareplaying
anunfamiliargolfcourseorwhere
there are no landmarks to laser to.”
Soit’sclearthatSteve’sefforts
arereapingrewards.It is well
documented,however,that
SkyCaddiedevicescomewitha
higherpricetag,specificallyan
annualmembershipfeethatnot
manyothercompaniescharge.It’sa
stickingpointforsomegolfers,but
Stevebelievesit’smorethanjustified.
“Idon’tunderstandwhyanybody
wouldbegrudgepayingoutless
thanhalfa MarsBara weektokeep
hisgolfGPSaccuracyuptodate,”
Stevesays.“Anybodywhoknows
anythingabouttheGPSbusiness
knowsthereisnootherwaytogetit
uptodateandaccurate.Someone
hastowalkouthereandphysically
updatethetechnology.It’sa fact.
“I’vejustdoneRoyalNorwich’s
newgolfcourse,whichusedtobe
Western Park but it’s nothing like
WesternPark,it’scompletely
different.They’venotusedone
fairway,onegreenoroneteebox
fromWesternParkinthatnew
design.Soanyoneusingaerial
imagesisgoingtobeclueless.”
WemetupwithSkyCaddieSteve,
ashe’sknownonsocialmedia,at
LeicesterGolfCentre,a newly
reopenednine-holecoursejustsouth
ofthecity.Ratherthanupdatingthe
oddbunkerchange,todayheis
completelyremappingthecourse
givenit hasundergonea total
overhaul.He’sinvitedtrainee
Graham ‘Nobby’ Clarke along to show
himtheropes.WhileGoogleMaps
currentlyshowsit astheremnantsof
thecourseit usedtobe,SkyCaddie
userswillbenefitfromprecise
distances across this fun new layout.
Cutting-edgetechnology
Tomapeachcourse,Steveusesa
top-of-the-rangepieceofsurveying
equipmentwithbuilt-inGPSanda
minicomputer,relayingmessages
viasatellites.Onit,SkyCaddie’s
softwareallowshimtoeffectively
seetheshapesofthetees,fairways
andgreenshehasmappedbefore
uploadingit totheSkyCaddie
database.Hisbackpackcontainsa
secondreceiver,enhancingthe
accuracytothenearestyard.
“Thepowerofsocialmediais
amazing,”Steveexplains.“Backin
theday,theonlywaywefoundout
aboutcoursechangeswasthrough
peoplephoningupSkyCaddieto
complainthata bunkerwas
missing.Sowehadtobeproactive.
NowthroughTwitter,Instagram
andFacebook,golfersandthe
coursescontactmetoletme
knowthey’redoingworkto
thecourse,soI cangoand
mapit beforeit’seven
openforplay.Whenit
doesopen,SkyCaddie
usershaveup-to-date info
ontheirdevice.”
Givenhisjob,it won’t
surpriseyoutohearthat
Stevehasvisitedover5,000
coursessincehestartedin
2006.Whiletheappetiteto
playthemhasdiminished,hestill
remainspassionateaboutgolfand
hisroleinhelpingplayersenjoythe
gameallthemore.Thebigquestion
is,doeshehavea favouritetrack?
“IjustloveScotland.There’sa
golfcourseatSkiboCastlethattook
mybreathawaywhenI firstwent
there.It wasthefirsttimeI eversaw
grasscarpetgoingtothetees.I was
justsoimpressedwithit.Now,
Trump’scourseinAberdeenhasthe
same;they’vemadesomefabulous
changesthere.It’s just a stunning
golfcourse.”
Sonowyouknowtheeffortthat
goesintoallthenumbersyouseeon
yourSkyCaddieGPSdevice.The
nexttimeyouplay,youcanbe
confidentthattheaccuracyandlevel
of detail is the best in the business.