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Will It Connect: The Golf Club, Big Data and The Internet Of Things

Will the golf club connect?
Will It Connect examines objects in both the B2B and B2C space through the lens of a practical application of the internet of things and big data.
The size of the worldwide golf equipment industry is expected to reach approximately $6.58 Billion by 2015. Given the size of the market and what golfers spend on training, this industry seems ripe for digital innovation as it applies to the internet of things and big data.
Is the golf club currently a connected device?
Sort of. There are an abundance of golf apps, which usually consist of GPS finders and golf course mapping tools.
More importantly, there is a device which attaches to your golf club called Swing Tip. The Swing Tip attaches to a golf club and provides all sorts of diagnostic information about your swing. In conjunction with the Swing Tip App, the device will provide an exact 3-D photo trace of your swing and track your performance over time. The device itself is rather large and clamps directly onto a club.
Much More Potential
Given that how you swing is just as – if not more – important as what you swing, it is only matter of time before technology reaches the point when the equipment manufacturers add this “connected” capability directly to a golf club.
Furthermore, when course GPS data and the golf ball, are connected, things become even more interesting. Also add in integration of weather conditions data just for fun.
Imagine the big data and features that will be available to golfers and manufacturers:
- Automatically track scores.
- Correlate swing motion to ball distance travelled.
- A complete mapping of swings on every hole, for every club, on every course.
- Correlate performance to equipment brand, manufacturer, etc.
- Match behavioral data to weather conditions.
- More precise club recommendations on the course, taking into account historical data, wind conditions, etc.
- Optimize tee times and golfer flow.
- Much more
Connected golf clubs will have significant commercial implications to many periphery golf services and products, including tools available to you at your golf lessons, current established golf technology locations such as GolfTEC and more.
Oh, and it will be much more difficult to cheat.
What do you think? Any other ideas? Add them to the comment section below or email us at info(at)complemedia.com.