Golf Monthly UK – August 2019

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.