MAUMEE, OHIO—AboutGolf Simulators has added the venerable Old Course at St. Andrews—as well as St. Andrews’ New Course and Jubilee Course—to the company’s existing line of fully three-dimensional courses.
AboutGolf Labs, the R&D arm of AboutGolf, has replicated the three St. Andrews courses to a far greater degree of accuracy than any prior reproduction. AboutGolf has licensed the rights to the St. Andrews courses from St. Andrews Links Limited, a company incorporated in St. Andrews, Scotland. The St. Andrews Courses are owned by St. Andrews Links Limited.
"A tremendous amount of time and effort was expended by our engineers to develop the incredible detail of three of the courses at St. Andrews, including the Old Course, probably the world’s most famous golf course," says Bill Bales, AboutGolf’s CEO "The net result is an incredibly realistic experience for those who have never been fortunate enough to have actually played the Old Course, as well as for golfers who have played there. Green contours are accurate within two inches, and even the outlying areas of the course are accurate within 6 inches. Every one of the surrounding buildings has been accurately reproduced in full 3D detail."
Created by nature in the 15th century, the Old Course is the world’s oldest golf course, giving St. Andrews the distinction of being the birthplace of the game. The world’s most famous course—where every great golfer in history has played, except for Ben Hogan, whose only Open Championship appearance resulted in a win at Carnoustie in 1953—held its first Open Championship in 1873 and 27th in 2005, giving it more Opens than any other course. St. Andrews’ New Course opened in 1895 and the Jubilee opened in 1897. Both courses are held in high regard by locals and visitors alike.
Each of the golf holes used in the St. Andrews courses’ software was professionally photographed from every angle. AboutGolf re-created every fine detail so the end result is a near-exact replica of the each hole and the surrounding vistas—including stunningly accurate architectural detail of buildings in the Auld Grey Toon, such as the legendary Rusacks Hotel and Old Course Hotel, located alongside the Old Course’s 18th and 17th fairways, respectively.
Making the experience of playing golf at St. Andrews on an AboutGolf simulator so realistic is the company’s new 3D/Etm, higher-than-high-def graphics engine, which enables correct collisions with trees, terrain, rocks and other objects. The only way to ensure every shot’s accurate flight and placement are AboutGolf’s unparalleled 3D-rendered graphics, which enable trees, grass and flags to blow in the wind; for clouds to change shape and move by; birds to fly overhead; terrain to reveal humps and hollows; shadows to be cast on the landscape; tee signs to be read; weather conditions to vary; and reflective waves to roll onto shore.
Earlier this year, golfers got a sneak peek at the debut of a special software version of the Old Course that was created by AboutGolf for the RBS Jack Nicklaus Majors Challenge, which gave average golfers the unique opportunity to try and better some of Nicklaus’ greatest shots in major competition on AboutGolf’s simulators. In London, where the RBS Jack Nicklaus Majors Challenge was held prior to the British Open, competitors tried to best the Golden Bear’s drive on the 18th hole at St. Andrews’ Old Course in the 1970 British Open.
AboutGolf released its groundbreaking indoor golf simulator in 2003, and today the company is the leading software producer for indoor golf launch monitors and swing simulators, both nationally and internationally.
AboutGolf—which has earned a strong reputation for innovation and technology—is an 18-year-old Maumee, Ohio-based company that’s a subsidiary of Friendly Software. AboutGolf ®has produced Greg Normal Ultimate Challenge Golf, Microsoft Golf and World Tours, which is the world’s most widely-distributed golf simulation.
Contact:
Mary Beth Lacy at: 760-346-6942, email: mb@mblacy.com
