Technology and the part it increasingly plays in golf was the focus of the 2016 Annual Meeting and Conference in Belfast last month.
The conference theme, “Technology in Golf”, focused minds on how golf technology is impacting the sport – on the way it is played and the way golf courses are designed, built and maintained.
As well as being the theme of the conference, technology was also put into action to assess the delegates’ performance on the golf course during the President’s Cup Golf Tournament, played earlier in the week at two Royal Clubs, Royal Belfast and Royal County Down, provided contrasting experiences of the best of parkland and links golf.
The GPS tracking results presented by Steve Otto, The R&A’s Director of Research and Testing, identified speed of play of each group, distance travelled by each golfer, and even their direction! Mike Malone provided Trackman data which recorded each drive from the first tee so each golfer could learn more about their swing, striking ability and ball speed, and was backed by a video clip for each player showing the statistical breakdown of their shot.
Tom Mackenzie, EIGCA President, concludes: “I would like to thank the 108 delegates who joined us in Belfast and for making our 2016 annual meeting such an incredible success. This year’s conference on the subject of technology has set a new benchmark and I have been thrilled with the interest and feedback we have received. I am sure I was not the only one to have my eyes opened to the possibilities that exist for golf to reach new heights by embracing modern thinking and applications.
“We were treated to some great golf courses and an illuminating conference and, as always, it was fantastic to be in the company of so many EIGCA friends and colleagues. I would particularly like to thank our long standing Industry Partners for their continued support and I welcome our new Industry Partners, CMF Global Inc and Team Green, and look forward to a long and happy relationship with them. Our annual meeting presents one of the very few opportunities in Europe to meet so many golf course architects and industry figures over three days.”
A full report of the week’s event can be found on the EIGCA website
EIGCA www.eigca.org