Integrating The Power of Pi (Peripheral Integration) In All iS Performance Practice Bays
MAUMEE, OHIO—AboutGolf’s iS Performance Practice Bays and Kudu Power simulator upgrade option will be added at PGA Tour Superstores’ two new Dallas-area stores—which both open March 1—and the retailer’s other six locations, announced AboutGolf.
PGA Tour Superstore will place six pioneering iS Performance Practice Bays in each of the Dallas stores, and eventually add 10 bays in its two Myrtle Beach, S.C., locations and 16 bays in its four Atlanta sites. The AboutGolf iS Performance Practice Bays are hitting areas featuring nets and the company’s integrated systems, including a WeightTrac force plate, VideoTrac video software and camera system, DataTrac online data tracking ASP, Kudu II and/or Sim Sensor launch-monitor technology, and WorldPlay, an online event ASP for entertainment and creative practice.
The technology in the iS Performance Practice Bays is unprecedented. In fact, the multiple data inputs (club, ball and weight) gathered from the iS Performance Practice Bays and the ability to correlate and combine this data is what AboutGolf calls "The Power of Pi," or peripheral integration. AboutGolf has currently integrated its Sim Sensor, Kudu, WeightTrac and VideoTrac technology and leads the golf industry in the concept of integrating multiple sources of data that can be correlated. This correlation and integration, or "The Power of Pi," is very powerful and greatly benefits golfers.
"The iS operating system enables you to correlate data collected simultaneously from multiple sources, such as weight transfer data, ball data, club data, and overall shot result. Via iS, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," said Bill Bales, AboutGolf CEO.
For instance, the WeightTrac system is an invaluable standalone training device comprised of a steel force plate to which are mounted four load-bearing sensor cells, connected to the software program. Using software that records a student’s body patterns while swinging, WeightTrac allows students to practice a prescribed center of gravity movement. VideoTrac is integrated video control software with swing analysis tools. DataTrac is an online database facility to track all Kudu II activity to a private website for each golfer. The Kudu II launch monitor, among its countless features, provides very accurate clubhead data, and can measure spin in an indoor setting with as little as 12 feet of ball flight. And the "higher-than-high-def" 3D/E graphics engine used in WorldPlay is a major upgrade to AboutGolf’s proprietary graphics software, allowing the company to expand its lead in the simulator market.
In addition to the 12 iS Performance Practice Bays in Dallas, AboutGolf’s iS software will also be applied to the eight teaching simulators in the new Dallas locations. PGA Tour Superstores’ locations embraces technology that further enhances the number of lessons they do in the stores around the country each month.
Also, PGA Tour Superstore is adding Kudu Power—or the integration of AboutGolf’s new Kudu II launch monitor with an AboutGolf Simulator—to all its simulators, which includes 16 in Dallas, 32 in Atlanta and four in Myrtle Beach. Adding Kudu Power to the AboutGolf Simulator delivers the Holy Grail of simulators—Directly Measured Spin. AboutGolf has given PGA Tour Superstore an exclusive for Kudu Power for big-box retailers until Sept. 1, 2007.
The addition of AboutGolf’s game-improvement technology in all its stores enables customers to identify the optimum clubs and balls for their games, and to alter their existing equipment to fit their specifications.
"In our continuous efforts to stay at the forefront of technology, the added benefits from using Kudu-powered simulators became an easy choice," says Bill Baraban, PGA Master Professional and PGA TOUR Superstores’ director of teaching. "With the customer experience being a huge part of our mission, Kudus and the powerful tools added to our simulators keep our stores on the cutting edge of this technology."
The new Dallas stores offer more state-of-the-art technology—and a more interactive, entertaining experience—than any other golf store in the Southwest. In fact, the new Dallas locations—the Plano location is 70,000 square feet and the Frisco store is 65,000 square feet—will be the model for all future PGA Tour Superstores, whose expansion plans include potential locations in Houston, Orlando, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego.
"We’re thrilled that PGA Tour Superstores believes so much in our technology," says Bill Bales, AboutGolf’s CEO. "We’re working extremely hard on improving our products for clubfitting, teaching and self-analysis so golfers can improve and, most of all, have fun."
PGA Tour Superstore was formed in 2003 when the PGA Tour and Atlanta-based Golf & Tennis Pro Shop, Inc., joined forces. In early 2004, Golf & Tennis Pro Shop, Inc., purchased Martin’s Golf & Tennis of Myrtle Beach. By 2005, Golf Digest had named PGA Tour Superstore the "Best Off-Course Golf Shop" in Myrtle Beach, a town with nearly 100 golf shops.
AboutGolf is a 19-year-old Maumee, Ohio-based company which has been dedicated to golf for its entire history. AboutGolf has produced Microsoft Golf, Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf and World Tours, which is the world’s most widely-distributed golf simulation, and now is the world leader in indoor golf simulator technology. AboutGolf® is a registered trademark of AboutGolf Limited, Maumee, Ohio.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lacy at: 760-346-6942, e-mail: mb@mblacy.com