As the first season of the televised simulated golf league, TGL, played out on weeknights over the winter, there was one piece of the technology that truly stood out. Sure, the six-story-high simulator screen was the eye-catching behemoth in the operation, but the biggest accomplishment by engineers surely was the way shots were tracked onto the green and their position identified with admirable accuracy.
That piece was truly the difference between TGL and your local golf bar or driving range that has simulator golf. And there had to be plenty of people sitting on the couch thinking, “Man, I wish I could play that way.”
With the right equipment and enough cash, you now can.
This week, Foresight Sports, the company that focuses on home golf simulation and the GCQuad Launch Monitors that are popular among tour pros, and PuttView, which makes high-tech putting practice systems, announced they have combined to bring a new experience to simulator golf. For the first time, sim players can putt on a green and into actual cups, rather than hit into a screen and hope the Wizard of Oz is in a good mood.
“The good news is when you’re actually putting to a hole, every putt is going to feel more meaningful. And you’re gonna be a better putter when it comes to actual golf,” said David Bezeau, a Foresight quality assurance engineer who, along with QA software engineer Ned Jensen, gave Golf Digest a preview of the system in April, .
The issue with most simulator play is that putting is wonky. Players hit onto the green but then have to roll their putts into the screen. Figuring out your aim and firmness for the stroke is difficult, and it can be so frustrating that players simply use generous “gimme” zones to avoid the time and hassle.
The problem is, of course, that you eliminate a critical part of the game.
Foresight and PuttView have addressed that by basically creating a downsized home version of TGL. Players hit into the screen as usual, and then the computer tracks where the ball lands on the green. As in TGL, a lighted circle appears where the ball should be putted. Since it spent millions of dollars on its system, TGL has the ability to change the slope for every hole played; in this version, the size of the green depends on your allotted space (in other words, how big is your garage or family cave?), and the green surface can be sloped to provide numerous options. So if you’re working with a top-end setup, the system can, say, leave you with a 12-foot, left-to-right putt of varying degrees. The next putt might be a four-footer turning left.
At Foresight’s headquarters in San Diego, the simulators have greens that allow for the longest putts of about 12 feet, with six cups spaced out to allow for different slopes. (Depending on your own putting space, you do have to putt into the simulator until you reach your established Puttview distance.)
PuttView’s practice technology includes numerous choices on how to view and execute putting.
With some personal exposure to regular indoor simulators, I definitely felt like this was a big step up in the entire experience. It was my first exposure to the PuttView system, and the detail and variety of practice are a bit mind-blowing. Beyond using it with the swing simulator, there are a bunch of serious practice drills to go with some fun games like darts.
For those who can afford it, this is the next frontier in simulated golf. It comes with a sizeable price tag, of course. The combination of Foresight Sports’ SIM IN A BOX and PuttView’s Simulator Series starts at $45,500. The PuttView Simulator alone is $19,980. If you’re fortunate enough to already have a Foresight simulator and PuttView system, the software integration is $3,500.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com