If you have ever watched a PGA Tour event on TV, in person, or on your computer, you probably have wondered at some point, how are they able to get the precise distance a ball has traveled, how far it is away from the pin, or the statistics for number of putts Tiger Woods makes within 10 feet?
All that data comes from an army of 300-400 volunteers that follow the action on the golf course using survey grade lasers and handheld devices to record every move each player makes on the golf course and that data is sent in real-time to the PGA TOUR ShotLink truck.
During round one of the BMW Championship I was able to get a behind the scenes tour of the PGA TOUR ShotLink truck and learn about how ShotLink works and how they collect and gather the data, that you and I see at home.
Background on ShotLink
The first electronic scoreboard system was first introduced by the TOUR in 1983, but that system like those that followed over the years proved to be very inefficient and unreliable, relying on scorers to write down the data at the end of each hole by a greenside operator. This was so error prone and that it eventually lead to the creation of ShotLink in 1999. The vision of ShotLink is to “Turn Data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into entertainment” according to a quote on the ShotLink website.
In 2008 CDW became the Official Technology Partner of the PGA TOUR with a five-year integrated marketing and business partnership. CDW powers ShotLink with state of the art technology and support both on and off the course. “This partnership is a unique opportunity to demonstrate how CDW helps organizations achieve their goals through specialized technology solutions,” said Mark Gambill, Chief Marketing Officer, CDW. “We look forward to leveraging our IT expertise and range of products and partners to help the PGA TOUR provide an enhanced experience for fans and improve TOUR operations.”
How ShotLink Works
Prior to each golf event a team from the PGA TOUR goes out the golf course to map it out and get a digital image of each hole. The background information that is collected is used to plot two points by any two coordinates on the golf course (e.g. from the tee-box to the fairway or location of the next shot).
At a typical PGA TOUR event, ShotLink is operated by small staff of PGA TOUR employees and 300-400 volunteers who score each hole on the course with a walking scorer, fairway laser team, and greenside laser team throughout the tournament. That’s almost three-man years of effort between volunteers and staff. Fun fact: The annual ShotLink volunteer count on the PGA TOUR is approximately 10,000
All the data that is collected in real-time is used in multiple ways from the player statistics displayed on the course scoreboards and TV broadcasts, to the shot information like distance traveled, distance to the pin, to the information you view on the PGATOUR.com ShotTracker application, and more.
Watch the video to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the PGA TOUR ShotLink. I was blown away by the amount of data and information collected and you’ll never look at golf statistics the same way again!
Special Thanks to the PGA TOUR’s Sean Howland and CDW for making this possible.
For more information visit http://www.shotlink.com or http://www.pgatour.com
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Remarkable!. So is this also a way to keep a precise measure of how far a group is behind of another one? Especially after Tiger and Pad’s situation a few weeks ago, it would seem like much of the guess work on how far behind a group is gone. Thanks for the video.
it truly is remarkable
Wow! I remember having discussed this on a couple of blogs, talking about the brilliance of shot tracker and how it works but this exhaustive report just blows your mind away. To imagine the kind of effort and manpower required to give us the accurate shot by shot information for each player on each hole through the tournament is just phenomenal.
Never thought that they needed so many volunteers and even with volunteers, my understanding was that it worked like the system that the PGA Tour now seems to have abandoned according to your story. The kind of fancy gadgetry that these volunteers have to move around with must also cost quite a bit but then, it is the kind of money that only the PGA in America can invest in because of the money flowing in, even in these difficult times. Elsewhere, the reliance is still on volunteers takings down scores at the end of each hole from the players. I was at a tournament recently, where the system is pretty much the same, taking down scores before the player moves on to the next hole. And in some cases, if the player is not very happy, he might even brush the volunteer off, so clearly, it is not the best system to have in place.
Dear sirs.. I have been looking for an electronic type scoreboard that can be used at country clubs for member guests, state tournaments etc. I was wondering if a simple version of this could be made. I woud be looking for a base scoreboard that could relay information from the course back to the club to allow all people be up to date with the action going on.
a staationary scoreboard – plac ed permanently around the clubhouse area for people to view. Could also be used for upcoming events at the club, past champions, a calendar board but all electric. Making club events fist class and make the golfer feel like he’s on tour. also interestede in a system that could be portable and used at various state and regional events. I can be contacted at above information. I am not interested in the scoreboard systems out there that are built out of wood by various companies. I am interested in an electronic scoreboard scoring system that cna be used for and by amateur g0lfing tournaments.