Interesting concept - this company will appify drone recorded course aerials

[nevets88]

Have been banging on this drum here for awhile here, the potential that drones hold for golf. Here is one: company makes it easy to get an app w/flyovers of your course.

http://www.dronecaddyapp.com/

[Missouri Swede]

Golfshot has a flyover preview mode in their app.  It just uses the satellite images to make a moving image, so it might not be as realistic a picture as a drone flyover, but similar idea.

[SavvySwede]

Flyovers are cool during golf coverage but I not so sure they're going to help my golf game. If I'm playing an unfamiliar course the little doodles on the scorecard are usually enough to let me know the line for the tee shot and if I was really perplexed I'd open up my game golf or golflogix apps which have detailed yardages and such.

[DaveP043]

Its an interesting idea and business model, and the flyover demo looks really nice, but the yardage diagrams didn't look detailed enough to suit my preference.  I know I'm a dinosaur, but I really prefer old-fashioned paper yardage books.  They also make nice momentos of courses I've played over the years.

[Dave2512]

Won't help me my Shot Zones are huge ?

[rob0225]

Could see this slowing down the pace as well.  People pulling out their phone before every hole to see the layout before teeing off.

[Aflighter]

2 hours ago, rob0225 said:

Could see this slowing down the pace as well.  People pulling out their phone before every hole to see the layout before teeing off.

Exactly.Maybe the worst thing ever evented are smart phones and range finders for golfing.It would be interesting to know if theyre were pace issues before smart phones.

[Dave2512]

As if pacing off yardage was better?

We already have something like this with digital flyovers at courses that use GPS carts. The display not only shows the hole but gives yardages to fairway bunkers and suggests hole strategy. If anything is speeds people up.

[DaveP043]

53 minutes ago, Aflighter said:

Exactly.Maybe the worst thing ever evented are smart phones and range finders for golfing.It would be interesting to know if theyre were pace issues before smart phones.

I've been playing since around 1970, and there have always been pace issues.  I do think they're getting more common, but I may just have less patience as I get older.

[Yukari]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

I've been playing since around 1970, and there have always been pace issues.  I do think they're getting more common, but I may just have less patience as I get older.

I thought you were suppose to mellow out as you get older. No?

[turtleback]

On 12/31/2015 at 11:51 AM, DaveP043 said:

I've been playing since around 1970, and there have always been pace issues.  I do think they're getting more common, but I may just have less patience as I get older.

You can go back to The American Golfer, the golf publication published by Walter Travis back a hundred years ago and find articles on the same issues of pace of play and non-compliance with rules.

I can't find it now, but there is somewhere on the web that has pdf files of issues of The American Golfer and I downloaded one once (it was a long download because it consists of actual graphic images of the pages) and was amused at the extent that the concerns from 100 years ago are still the concerns now.

 

[x3nt0n]

I think the use of drone collected images is a wonderful idea. The standard seems to be satellite imagery, and in some areas it's years out of date. Big problem for newer courses and recent layout changes. 

[Club Rat]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2015 at 2:10 PM, Yukari said:

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2015 at 0:51 PM, DaveP043 said:

I've been playing since around 1970, and there have always been pace issues.  I do think they're getting more common, but I may just have less patience as I get older.

I thought you were suppose to mellow out as you get older. No?

I can attest golfing with Dave during the Newport Cup, he is very "Mello"

One of the most easy going guys you'll ever meet...... 

I tried my best to ruffle his feathers, but he just took it all in stride like a true competitor....

Oh by the way, Happy Birthday Dave...........

[Coronagolfman]

Don't really care how a player gets his yardage - the game still requires one to gauge the influence of the other variables like wind, elevation, lie and course condition (wet, dry, etc.)

Drones would be nice for advertising what a course looks like though ............

[Bryan Kasper]

On 12/31/2015 at 0:56 PM, Aflighter said:

Exactly.Maybe the worst thing ever evented are smart phones and range finders for golfing.It would be interesting to know if theyre were pace issues before smart phones.

I imagine it took a lot longer to get yardages without the use of phones and rangefinders. so they are actually probably helping the pace of play. well unless people just pull a random club and guess yardages every shot.

[DaveP043]

23 minutes ago, Bryan Kasper said:

I imagine it took a lot longer to get yardages without the use of phones and rangefinders. so they are actually probably helping the pace of play. well unless people just pull a random club and guess yardages every shot.

Not at all, as long as you're walking. Look ahead for your ball, then keep your eyes open for markers and sprinklers.  When you pass one, start counting your steps.  When you get to your ball, stop counting, subtract steps from the distance at the marker, and you're done.  Faster than pulling out a laser or waiting for your GPS to catch up.

[Golfingdad]

Just now, DaveP043 said:

Not at all, as long as you're walking. Look ahead for your ball, then keep your eyes open for markers and sprinklers.  When you pass one, start counting your steps.  When you get to your ball, stop counting, subtract steps from the distance at the marker, and you're done.  Faster than pulling out a laser or waiting for your GPS to catch up.

Yeah, it wasn't hard at all.  And like everything else you do to prep for your shot, it can often be done before it's your turn, so it essentially takes no time at all.  (Obviously if you hit the shortest drive and there is no group on the green in front of you, then the clock is ticking, but all other times, you have a cushion)

[Bryan Kasper]

 

On 1/7/2016 at 5:01 PM, Golfingdad said:

Yeah, it wasn't hard at all.  And like everything else you do to prep for your shot, it can often be done before it's your turn, so it essentially takes no time at all.  (Obviously if you hit the shortest drive and there is no group on the green in front of you, then the clock is ticking, but all other times, you have a cushion)

 

On 1/7/2016 at 4:57 PM, DaveP043 said:

Not at all, as long as you're walking. Look ahead for your ball, then keep your eyes open for markers and sprinklers.  When you pass one, start counting your steps.  When you get to your ball, stop counting, subtract steps from the distance at the marker, and you're done.  Faster than pulling out a laser or waiting for your GPS to catch up.

hmmm those are 2 good points. so i guess then there is no difference between them. (unless you are on a cart, where as you cant really count steps after you come upon a yardage marker.) because a person walking up to a ball having a phone gps out means about 5-7 seconds to update, look and then put the phone in the pocket, add in a couple small calculations for flag position on the green, and boom done in 9-10 secs. rangefinders take maybe 10 secs per shot because of the obvious challenges of getting the laser right on the flag. doesn't differ from the normal yardage markers by more than a couple secs when you think about it. although they may add up over the course of a round.