Just eight days after the new integrated Zen Green Stage / PuttView product made its debut at Hanse Golf in Hamburg, Germany, queues formed at the 2017 Irish Golf Expo at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin on February 25th and 26th as golfers tested themselves on the adjustable Green Stage putting platform, guided by overhead visual ads from the PuttView.
“With queues all day, the Zen Green Stage with integrated PuttView was a major attraction at this year’s show” said Paul Shaw, Director of Irish Golf Expo. “People were amazed by the experience, and it was an unquestionable star of the week!”
At the touch of an icon in an app, the Zen Green Stage takes just seconds to recreate virtually any putt on the planet under 20ft (6.1m), including double-breaking putts, while PuttView shows you how to hole it with a host of visual aids. The combined system can also create a series of putting games of varying degrees of difficulty featuring animated targets.
The Hamburg and Dublin shows also enabled many golf coaches and club owners to try the Zen Green Stage with PuttView for themselves.
Zen Green Stage with PuttView in action at the Irish Golf Expo
Richard Kavanagh, General Manager at Lisheen Springs GC in Dublin, said: “The Zen Green Stage with PuttView builds participation in golf by doing what no other product does – it makes game more accessible to people who have preconceived ideas about golf. As it is so realistic, it allows them to get past any fears they may have about putting on a real golf course, because when they get to the green they have already experienced it.”
“From the golf coach’s point of view, I believe that this system can enhance virtually any indoor putting lesson” said Paul Dyer, Director Europe: David Leadbetter Golf Academy. “It helps you to teach both pace and green reading – two vital keys to successful putting – and its instant adjustability means that your flow is not interrupted while teaching. The addition of the PuttView visual aids to the adjustable Zen Green Stage has made this one of the world’s most desirable examples of new golf technology, especially for golf coaches and academies.”
Peter Merck, Founder of Golf Lounge in Hamburg, said: “As founder of one of Europe’s most complete urban golf experiences, making golf accessible for the maximum number of people is my passion. The Zen Green Stage with PuttView is exciting for the whole family to use, whether they are beginners or advanced golfers, so it delivers on that score. It teaches you how to putt better, for sure, but it also creates laughter and entertainment – and that’s exactly the atmosphere we are trying to create here. It would definitely be a popular attraction for my customers.”
Zen Green Stage co-designer Nick Middleton said: “People’s reactions to Green Stage have been even more remarkable since the addition of PuttView. For the first time golfers can see the perfect line into the hole, exactly like chart topping-video games and TV coverage. This orchestrates real drama, and creates the adrenaline of live play. Anyone can learn to putt – and with our new technology, the results are fast!”
Speaking at the Irish Golf Expo, parent Paul Burke said: “My six-year-old daughter Emily has been having weekly golf lessons for about 12 months. The animated PuttView lines really caught her attention, and she loved the way the Zen Green Stage can change its slope. In her own words, she thought it was “awesome”!”
Hanse Golf Project Manager Nicole Fischer said: “As golf gets more high-tech, its appeal becomes younger and the old clichés become less valid. PuttView has created a stunning experience by introducing golfers to Augmented Reality technology, and their indoor system combined with Zen’s Green Stage was truly the highlight of this year’s Hanse Golf show!”
PuttView co-founder Lukas Posniak summarised feedback from the two exhibitions: “Kids love it, adults love it, and nobody wants to leave until they’ve holed a putt on it. Absolute beginners improve astonishingly quickly on it, and golf coaches enthuse about the visualisation. The Green Stage and PuttView work superbly together: this is game-changing technology.”
The Zen Green Stage with PuttView is now on show at Zen’s studios in Sheffield, England, and the team will also exhibit at this year’s Scottish Golf Show at the SEC in Glasgow from March 24th to 26th.
Trade enquiries should be directed to Nick Middleton nickm@zenoracle.com and Lukas Posniak, posniak@puttview.com
Zen Green Stage www.ZenGreenStage.com
PuttView www.puttview.com