Live Golf and Augmented Reality on the PGA TOUR

If you are reading this then it’s reasonable to assume that you’re a golf fan. It is also reasonable to assume you’ve been to watch a PGA TOUR or European Tour event live. What did you think?

It’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. There are other sports out there that are more engaging to go and watch live. Do you agree?

One issue is that the action is spread out so you need to get lucky that something amazing happens in front of you. The other thing is that there is no partisan crown, except for at a handful of events.

Golf needs to think about the show that they put on if they want to bring bigger crowds in. Think about the famous 16^th hole at TPC Scottsdale during the Waste Management Phoenix Open! That is the best attended regular tour event in the world.

The PGA TOUR is Fighting Back

One of the biggest topics in the tech world in general, is virtual reality. Well the PGA TOUR are hoping to be a big part of this movement and use it to revolutionise the way we watch golf!

How could virtual reality help your viewing experience? Many ideas are being considered but, during the Genesis Open at Riviera, they rolled it out for the first tests. Intel are behind the introduction of VR in sports and are now working with the PGA TOUR.

 “We think golf is one of the hidden treasures to produce and create experiences in virtual reality,” said David Aufhauser, managing director, strategy and product, Intel Sports Group. “You can create experiences fans just can’t get, even if they’re there. You can bring in stats and data and other visual components that can complement the video part of it.”

How could live golf look?

One of the main ideas is to bring an interactive experience to golf fans. You could have a situation where fans can scroll through stats and the leaderboard as they are watching what’s in front of them.

 “We think golf is one of the hidden treasures to produce and create experiences in virtual reality,” said David Aufhauser, managing director, strategy and product, Intel Sports Group. “You can create experiences fans just can’t get, even if they’re there. You can bring in stats and data and other visual components that can complement the video part of it.”

What is clear is that we are in the very early stages of a potentially revolutionary new golf experience. Are there other things that you would like to see at a golf event? What would make you go to a tournament rather than watch on TV?

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