Apps

SG Tour: The Ultimate Golf Gaming App

Make your picks, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Open Championship time, easily the biggest-wagered golf event of the year. You can go to Royal Portrush or the U.K. yourself and scare up a Ladbrokes agent, or, thanks to a new app called SG Tour, you can get in golf contests year-round by playing against friends or creating your own digitally driven league — right on your smart device, wherever sports gaming is legal.

Created by Secret Golf, the SG Tour is a godsend for seasoned golf fantasy leaguers, neophytes and everyone in between. Says Secret Golf’s Major Champion Steve Elkington (1995 PGA Championship), “We designed the SG Tour so fans could share our experience competing on the PGA Tour each week through games and interactive content that bring them closer to game while participating with their friends.”

With its simple, attractive interface and intuitive design, SG Tour allows golf fans to compete against their friends during PGA Tour events for cash and bragging rights. Even if you’re not an inveterate stat follower you are part of the action, experiencing the successes and failures of your favorite PGA tour players as if you’re on the green field of battle yourself.

Available now, the SG Tour offers a variety of golf-inspired games designed by professional golfers, including single-day, multi-day and tournament-long contests. Six custom-tailored games are available for the app’s rollout (see the accompanying photos), even a “Trunk Slammer” version for betting who doesn’t make the cut.

All it takes is one fan to set up a game, choose an entry fee and payout structure — from winner-take-all to 1-2-3 places to Tour style payouts based on a percentage of the total purse — and start inviting friends to join in.

Once everyone has downloaded the app, accepted the invite and registered with a clever screen name, they’re good to go — with every par, birdie, bogey and “other” notched by the Rorys and Tigers of the world gaining even greater significance.

The app’s robust behind-the-scenes software instantly crunches the numbers, pushing out scoring and team member standings in real time. No more brain-frying spreadsheets or delays in finding out who took home the big bucks this week — the minute the final putt drops, the winners and payouts are calculated.

The SG Tour App also offers a slew of interactive features including voice annotated course flyovers, an interactive putt predictor and daily featured PGA tour player videos and podcasts.

This is serious golf geek stuff, and it’s at your fingertips.

Open Championship week is the perfect opportunity to dive into the SG Tour universe. Why let Ladbrokes have all the fun?

Download it on the Apple app store.

Apps 2018: 80Breakr Scorecard

Tired of trying to keep score with a busted pencil, or worse, no paper card at all, forgotten until you’ve finished the first hole? Check out 80BREAKR, the only golf scorecard app partnering with golf courses, golf associations and PGA pros. 80BREAKR’s mission is to help golf courses thrive, and help amateur golfers improve. The app’s game improvement mode can be used on the range or course, and with the assistance of a PGA pro will help golfers lower their score and achieve their personal goals.

“It works like a real scorecard,” says inventor Tom Green, a mechanical engineer who has translated his Silicon Valley bona fides to the golf realm. “It sits there being a scorecard, but it’s got betting modes, GPS, distance to the center of the green. Just glance at it and you know. No grabbing a laser or clicking around. It has 30,000 courses all over the world, downloaded for free. It’s got all your stats— drive distance, putts, chips. It’s got info to take to your pro, a game planning feature, target scoring, a full score budget. So as you go along you can see how you are doing against your budget. It’s got automatic competitions, skins, nassaus, automatic, running below your score. Closest to the pin, long drive.”

You can switch between betting modes in real time and it keeps track of how every player in a group is faring against each other, and the course. “There are in-app purchases for betting modes for two bucks, we have lowest price GPS at $4.99 and handicap service for $9.99 that posts automatically.”

Participating 80BREAKR courses have a sign-in sheet at check-in and can offer it instead of a scorecard; players use the app. As partners they get the “Beer Me” button, which tells them when players on the course need service. The system can build in a turn menu on the app to pop up on the 8th hole so players can order the pro shop special. “That’s all included, no setup fee or yearly fee,” Stewart says. “It’s also available to them on an a la carte basis to push pro shop specials to players, for whom we have all the playing data. No more e-mails.”

www.80BREAKR.com

Apps 2018: e-Gull Per-Hole Payment System

Pretty much ever since the Scots settled on 18 holes as the standard golf round, the time it takes to play those holes has gotten longer and longer even though modern equipment hits the ball farther and farther. Today the quandary seems just as deep with distractions and other time sucks demanding the modern golfer’s time (Facebook, anyone?). So in steps a European company with a great idea: Finding a way to make per-hole golf work for both customer and course owner. E-Gull has found that path.

eGull Pay is the “Uber of golf,” tracking the holes golfers played via GPS and charging their credit card when they are done. Course operators can now more easily fill unused inventory without having to discount it while attracting busy executives, millennials, women and new players. Free to course operators and free to the golfer, the eGull Pay App is a simple add-on to any tee-sheet. The course is in control to set the hours open for play and the course sets the price per hole. Golfers check in at the pro-shop and the app does the rest.

“This is a per-hole payment system designed mostly for public courses,” says Pascal Stolz, e-Gull’s CEO. “We put control in the hands of the course. You have to come to the pro shop to check in. You can’t just come to the course and start on whatever hole you want to. They direct what hole to go to. Courses need to be comfortable with the process.”

Since the PGA Show, Stolz announced new software improvements giving course operators the ability to configure multiple “per hole” rates such as standard, preferred, member, senior, kid and added options such as cart rentals per hole, rental clubs per hole and more. Also, in addition to single golfers, a twosome, threesome or foursome rate can be configured and a family of four can use one single phone to track the entire family’s round.

Now based in Carlsbad, California, the company started in France. E-Gull is launched on 60 courses in Europe already including Le Nationale outside of Paris, site of the 2018 Ryder Cup. In fact, the company is running a social media promotion: get golfers contacting courses they’d like to see the e-Gull system on, copy them on an e-mail, and they could win tickets for two to Ryder Cup.

“We have tested the app on the course, people walking or riding, Apple vs. Android. It’s a great app, super simple. Golfers we’ve talked to love the concept and are on board. Our goal is to see more people on the course and fill more holes. We are creating flexibility and ingenuity to adapt golf to fit into modern lifestyles, helps grow rounds and revenues and drive participation in the game.”

www.egullgolf.com

Apps 2018: Arccos Caddie

Golf’s first artificial intelligence platform — and now conforming to USGA competition rules as long as users click into “Tournament Mode” — Arccos Caddie gives golfers more confidence in their club selection. It leverages a data set of nearly 100 million shots hit during 700,000-plus rounds played by the Arccos community, and 418 million mapping data points on 40,000+ courses. Arccos Caddie also considers live weather conditions to show players their optimal strategy on nearly every hole in the world, regardless of whether they’ve previously played the course.

Arccos Caddie is offered for free to Arccos 360 owners.

Arccos 360 consists of 14 ultralight sensors that easily attach to the club grip and communicate with a free app for iOS and Android devices. The system seamlessly records every shot a golfer makes, analyzes the data in real time and reveals strengths and weaknesses to enhance on-course decision-making.Arccos delivers data on distances hit, club averages, driving accuracy, greens in regulation, sand saves, putts and more. By accessing the Tour Analytics web dashboard, Arccos users and their instructors can gain valuable insights via deep dives into stats, playing patterns and rich data comparison for every club, shot, hole and round.

Arccos Driver is single-sensor solution that delivers live data for tee shot distances, fairways hit and more. It functions by automatically detecting each drive, then using a player’s smart phone to record second shot position. Other features include the King of the Hole game, which turns any par 4 or par 5 into a virtual long drive competition.

www.arccosgolf.com | Check the price on Amazon!

Apps 2018: FlightScope Mevo

The FlightScope mevo, a portable and light-weight multi-sport radar that debuted in mid-2017 but is now better than ever, provides distinct data parameters and action video capturing capabilities for athletes to practice with a purpose.

“For the past 16 years, FlightScope’s products and unmatched technology have served as a trusted tool among professional golfers to improve and track performance metrics,” said CEO of FlightScope Henri Johnson. “I am proud mevo has joined our line of products as an affordable and reliable solution for consumers to take their skills to the next level.”

By simply synchronizing to mevo’s iOS and Android app, mevo captures video directly through the athlete’s smartphone. Athletes can practice without interruptions as mevo clips the videos automatically, before storing on the app for easy upload and sharing. The video clips are saved with data overlay highlighting key performance metrics to help athletes improve from their previous session. The mevo is currently available for golfers and baseball players, and will soon be available for soccer and other sports. Golfers training with mevo have access to performance data including ball and club speed, vertical launch angle, carry distance, spin rate, smash, height and time. Baseball players using mevo are able to track statistics including pitch speed, pitch spin, exit speed, carry distance and vertical launch angle.

The FlightScope mevo was developed as a consumer product for athletes to practice with a purpose, but also works in conjunction with FlightScope’s coaching radars, which give coaches and instructors access to the athlete’s video clips and allows them to offer tips and feedback on the athlete’s performance.

Additional FlightScope products designed more for teacher and institutional use are the X3, XI Tour, XI Plus and Range. “The X3 is our flagship model that includes chipping and putting data, and also uses our new fusion technology which uses three-dot radar and also has a camera to better facilitate the accuracy of data,” said FlightScope’s Justin Wilson. “We have new parameters with putting and chipping data — face angle for putting, which is huge. We call it an all-inclusive unit. That’s the end goal. It will tell twisting of the face at impact as well. We are adding more data parameters as we go along.”

$499 for the mevo | www.flightscope.com

Apps 2018: Game Golf Pro Tracking System

While the original Game Golf tracking system is still available with its belt-attached sensor, the Game Golf Pro is a godsend for folks who just can’t seem to incorporate that belt-tap into their pre-shot routines.

Instead it uses a stand-alone sensor that communicates via BlueTooth to new, smaller grip-mounted sensors dialed into each club in the bag via a smartphone app. Also, the new system filters out practice swings, second shots, third shots — any shot that isn’t the real one. In other words, you don’t have to go back and edit. And if you don’t want to use the app in real time but would rather save your stat analysis for after the round, the “home” sensor compiles all info for download later, which, a company rep says, “eliminates a pain point.”

But there are advantages to using the app during play — it has a great, detailed rangefinder, it syncs with the Apple Watch, and the GPS data comes from the sensor so it’s not draining the phone battery. Those are the three big hardware improvements.

You can also subscribe to a new smart caddie system for $4.99/month; it offers club recommendations, course strategy based on shot history, elevation numbers, weather reports and more. By the way, the original GameGolf is still available for $99 — it still has shot tracking, of course, but you’ll need to remember to tap that belt sensor.

$300 | www.gamegolf.com

Apps 2018: V1 Instruction System

V1 instruction continues to evolve its leading platform by announcing a new product matrix offering options for all levels of teaching.

“Golf instruction and how instructors teach continues to evolve,” Chris McGinley, CEO of V-ONE Sports, said. “By asking the right questions including where and how, and listening closely to our V1 teaching professionals, our job is to provide the right tools and a pathway to success.”

Whether teaching full or part time, in a bay or studio with fixed cameras, with mobile on the go in multiple locations, or require branded communications and integrated marketing for a golf academy, V-1 has the right package to make an impact.

“We have people out testing it, and we try to make it the best we can,” said V-1 Vice President Gary Pallis. “The system is seamless; you video the swing with the app, upload it, the instructor gets an e-mail link to the video online. When he does the analysis, you get an e-mail back.”

Pallis added that V-1’s 5,000 teachers have done three million lessons to date. “We’re triple of anyone else, and it’s done by the top instructors.”

The V1 video instruction platform offers multiple options for teaching in a studio, on the range or both utilizing V1’s award winning Pro HD desktop and Pro App mobile software. V1 Premium packages provide video instruction, branding, integrated marketing in Complete, Studio or Mobile options. V1 Basic packages are for individual instructors who just want the best video analysis tools.

Both Premium and Basic packages include the ability to capture and analyze video, create and deliver more effective, high quality digital lessons and deliver them via email, text, and cloud-based locker. V1 allows for tips and drills to be integrated into lessons, and it offers a large range of professional model swings for compare and overlay during analysis.

www.v1sports.com

2015 Buyer’s Guide Apps

WGT Mobile from World Golf Tour
Free (in-app purchase)

wgt.com

One of our favorite smartphone/tablet golf games, WGT Mobile has it all—stunning graphics, excellent game play and realistic courses. Play St. Andrews, Harbour Town or Bethpage Black, for example, and test your skills against your friends or serious gamers all over the world. With the Golf Channel’s backing, qualify for the Majors and have your scores posted during a broadcast. Win “credits” (money) toward equipment sponsored by the major brands. The app has user reviews of equipment, too, which is helpful with the overwhelming selection of golf gear. Buy virtual equipment that you actually own and see if your AI golfer is better than you. A hint: Use your credit toward ball purchases. That’s how you’re going to go low.

Orange Out! By Cobra Golf
Free

cobragolf.com

Orange Out! By Cobra Golf is hilarious and fun. It’s like Fruit Ninja meets golf. You’re stuck in a golf warehouse with the Cobra AMP driver and you must use that club to splatter oranges—it’s surprisingly entertaining. There are many different levels, with accuracy challenges or beating the clock, making it a cool game to pass the time away.

Puma StyleCaddie from Cobra Golf
Free

cobragolf.com

Channel your inner Rickie Fowler with this fun little app. The Puma StyleCaddie is your virtual dressing room that contains all of Puma’s key apparel, footwear and accessories. With new male and female mannequin animations, you can virtually mix and match to create your own, one-of-a-kind golf look. Become the style envy of your playing partners each time you step on the first tee!

The Golf Shaft Database from Cool Clubs
Free

coolclubs.com

Clubfitting is essential to getting better, and the folks at Cool Clubs, the leader in custom clubfitting, have created a golf shaft database to better help your game. Powered by the S3 (Shaft Simulation System), which is Cool Clubs’ new state-of-the-art, fully automated shaft profiling machine, it collects more information about golf shafts than ever before. The database is packed with over 1,000 premium shafts, shaft images, manufacturer specs, and explanations and videos to understand the data. There’s also customized shaft recommendations for your swing and equipment, and with myShafts, you can quickly access your favorite shafts. Get the data and the top-of-the-line shafts just like the pros, and take your game to the next level.

Golf Star from Com2uS USA, Inc.
Free (in-app purchase)

withhive.com

This used to be one of our primary sources of golf gaming, and it’s still a great game to have. It requires you to be on WiFi to play it, and its stunning graphics and game play can have you playing for hours. Play against people from all over the world and test your skills. Draw shots, fade shots, punch shots—Golf Star lets you do it all, including playing in three exciting game modes: Career, 1:1 Match Mode and Online Match Mode. You can even play in weekly tournaments and win prizes. Golf Star is beautiful, challenging and worth a couple of rounds.

Flick Golf HD from Full Fat
$.99

fullfat.com

If the golf swing was as simple as the golf “flick,” the game wouldn’t be so complicated. Just use your thumb and you’re on your way to a hole in one! With stunning graphics and game play, this is a must-have on every golfer’s smartphone.

GolfMDs

golfmds.com

GolfMDs provides the most trusted platform for learning the game through instruction. As the leading online marketplace for instructional services nationwide, GolfMDs is on a mission to help all golfers realize their potential. Find top local pros, upcoming clinics and classes, swing tip videos and more.

Golf State of Mind

golfstateofmind.com

Golf State of Mind is considered to be one of the best resources for learning the mental game of golf.Performance coach David MacKenzie has created hundreds of lessons and practice drills to give golfers of all levels the tools to improve confidence and mental toughness.

Mobicoach

mobicoach.com

Simply download and register your free Mobicoach app to connect with a world-class Mobicoach instructor for live video instruction and analysis on your iPad 2, iPad mini or iPad Air. Once you try Mobicoach live, remote coaching, you’re going to love it! Remotely connect with your instructor for instant analysis and feedback. Through live video streaming, advanced drawing and video analysis tools, display screen mirroring and post-session review, Mobicoach delivers an unmatched collaborative coaching experience. The Mobicoach service includes a growing roster of top instructors. Book a session time that’s convenient, affordable and with a world-class instructor of your choice.

MZ Coach (Mental Zone)

mzcoach.com

Mental Zone Coach is a web-based instructional application that provides mental game coaching. MZ Coach follows the program developed and utilized by Mental Coach Rick Sessinghaus with his private, youth and collegiate clients. Following a three-step process of Assess, Implement and Master, MZ Coach offers you a personalized instructional plan to develop and master nine mental game performance factors. As your game evolves and changes, the instructional plan can be modified and customized to your most current needs. With MZ Coach, you can have a 24/7 mental coach.

Thinq Golf

thinqgolf.com

What if you could play a simple and fun game on your computer or smartphone that trains universal mental skills, and is specially designed to improve your golf game in just 10 minutes? Well, you’ve just found the perfect solution! THINQ Golf is training for your mind—a comprehensive website and mobile app created in an effort to bring an unconventional, but scientifically sound golf training method to an area of the game that’s often ignored—the mental game of golf!

V1 Golf

v1sports.com

Capture, compare and improve your golf swing on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. Record and analyze your swing or compare it side by side to V1 Golf’s library of Tour pros. The V1 Golf app also includes a facility directory containing many PGA professionals who you can send a swing to and receive professional swing analysis. V1 Golf includes a free personal online locker from V1 and features a suite of drawing tools, video trim and playback options, game improvement drills and more! On the practice range or on the course, V1 Golf is fun, easy to use and the perfect app to improve your game!