When the GPS-based stat-tracking system added the Smart Laser to its line of products last fall, it billed the rangefinder as the first to produce estimated distances that not only accounted for slope, but also wind, temperature, humidity and altitude. Now, it will expand the Smart Laser’s capabilities to include access to the company’s app knowledge base of green maps and its patented AI-driven course strategy.
Developed initially for the company’s GPS-sensor club performance tracking software, the Arccos course knowledge has been built with data recorded from more than 1.5 billion shots by Arccos users. Now, included in the Arccos membership, the company’s “AI Strategy” makes both club and target recommendations that are geared to each player’s current game performance, specific course features and conditions. The shot-by-shot recommendations were developed in collaboration with Ryder Cup assistant captain Edoardo Molinari, who counsels tour players on statistical analysis of how to maximize their scoring potential. For instance, it not only will determine the best strategy off the tee that might include a 5-wood instead of a driver, but also will detail which is the safer side of the green to miss.
Through the Arccos app, Smart Laser users also will have access to the company’s library of green maps, which feature the degree and direction of slope on each green. Developed with high resolution, 3D LiDar mapping, the Accos library now includes more than 9,000 greens with maps that show the subtle elevation changes and directional guides to help players determine the break of a specific putt or how an approach shot might bounce after landing in a particular section of a green.
In addition to the standard laser distance, the Arccos Smart Laser produces a “Plays Like” distance within the viewfinder that uses real-time weather data to adjust for the effects of wind, humidity and temparature, in addition to altitude and elevation (slope). There’s also a tournament mode for use in competitive rounds that clicks off the “Plays Like” feature.
According to Arccoss CEO Sal Syed, the average adjustment from the actual yardage to the Plays Like number, based on more than a million uses, is 13.2 yards and only 25 percent of that adjustment is because of a slope change. “There’s on average, a 10-yard environmental difference,” he said. “We are putting enough nuggets in here with AI Strategy to help you understand that there’s an easy way to maybe get more information, get more into the technology to help you with your game.”
The mapping strategy, which is developed from the same research that tour players use to prepare to play tournament courses and tournament rounds, goes beyond yardages and hazards and slopes, Syed said. “What’s amazing about this is how we drill down into actual results to formulate recommendations,” he said. “For example, it will take your dispersion pattern into account. It takes into account conditions, too, so that if you’re hitting a drive downwind, we know the dispersion pattern tightens so you can be more aggressive with your line. Or if you’re playing into the wind and there’s trouble to the right, your dispersion pattern into the wind widens so dynamically you’re going to see a more defensive or conservative strategy.
“It takes all those conditions into account, all those nuances, which people call ‘local knowledge,’ so basically anybody can have local knowledge even if they’ve never been to a course before.”
The Arccos Smart Laser retails for $300 with an annual membership fee that provides access to the Arccos app of $199.99 (free for the first year).
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
