MAUMEE, OHIO—AboutGolf Limited—the golf industry’s leader in advanced game-improvement technology—announces it is taking its research and development to the next level with the founding of AboutGolf Labs.
AboutGolf Labs is a spin-off subsidiary of AboutGolf Limited—the world’s No. 1 producer of indoor simulators —consisting of what formerly was AboutGolf’s Development Division.
Dr. Frank Engel will provide technical oversight in an advisory capacity to AboutGolf Labs. Dr. Engel is President of AboutGolf’s parent company, Friendly Software, and a co-founder of AboutGolf. He holds a Ph.D in Math from Yale University and was the Founder/CEO of Inter-National Research Corporation, a software technology company he sold to Northrop-Grumman. Dr. Engel has been the USGA Handicap Research Team’s chief mathematician for over 27 years and was the Slope System’s mathematical architect.
AboutGolf Labs will be directed by Chief Technical Officer Kristy Smith, who has been AboutGolf’s Director of Development for 10 years. Derek Smith, Kristy’s husband, is AboutGolf Labs’ Director of Development. Both hold B.S. degrees from the University of Michigan and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
"Our R&D for golf technology has quadrupled in the last three years, and it has spread out around the country and the world," says AboutGolf CEO Bill Bales. "As serious as we are about golf-technology research, we felt it was time to give AboutGolf Labs a true identity."
AboutGolf Labs’ core staff of 12 engineers is based in its newly expanded, 5,000-square-foot Maumee, Ohio headquarters, which includes a 2,000-square-foot research lab. AboutGolf will open its first permanent field-test lab this spring at The Legacy Golf Club in Ottawa Lake, Mich. This field-test lab will feature four heated indoor/outdoor hitting bays, as well as the usual outdoor practice range facilities. The lab will be shared with the Claire Batista Academy, where daily users will focus-test the latest AboutGolf technology. Claire Batista is a top 50 female instructor.
AboutGolf Labs also has a research office in Beijing, China, with 16 full-time developers. In addition to its two internal development teams, AboutGolf has several of what it calls "ERPs," or Extension Research Projects, around the world. These ERPs form the basis for what will in the future be a series of announcements pertaining to products and initiatives to be categorized as members of "AboutGolf’s Family of Essential Brands."
AboutGolf Labs’ motto is "Technological foundations for the next 500 years." While golf experienced its first 500 years of evolution through the end of the 20th century, AboutGolf is determined to heavily impact golf’s evolution in its second 500 years, Bales says.
In fact, Bales says, other than with equipment, the golf industry has manifested very few true scientific breakthroughs in the area of game-improvement technology. Furthermore, he adds, today’s equipment technology is more promotional than functional. Much of what has been touted as the industry’s current "breakthrough" technology is actually either antiquated or simplistic, which is why AboutGolf Labs looks to make a difference in the industry.
"For 500 years people have been playing golf, and other than beginners, very few ever seem to improve," Bales says. "We think that’s a significant statistical trend worthy of consideration." AboutGolf Labs’ objective is to start with a clean sheet of paper and figure out through technology what can be done to enable golfers to truly improve.
AboutGolf is a 19-year-old Maumee, Ohio-based company that 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, email: mb@mblacy.com
