Global Finalist in ‘Best Sports Participation Technology’
LONDON, England – Inrange® – creator of the industry’s leading golf ball tracking system that transforms driving ranges into practice and entertainment destinations – was shortlisted in the “Best Sports Participation Technology” category of the 2021 Sports Technology Awards, alongside WWE, GolfNow and others.
A global competition, the 117 shortlisted brands span 30 sports, 19 governing bodies, 10 broadcasters, nine tournaments and a myriad of respected technology companies. Among this year’s honorees are IBM, Formula 1, PGA European Tour, UEFA, Discovery and Eurosport, among others. Find a full list of the finalists and categories here.
The judges, which feature tech visionaries, sports business leaders and current and former international athletes focused their determinations on the innovative efforts of each brand to enable the sports sector to respond to the most challenging year in recent times. The ceremony, traditionally hosted in London, will be held virtually this year on May 6th.
“Most years we see one or two categories needing casting votes to determine the overall winner – this year we had 10 categories that were tied. While unprecedented, this is a testament to the high standard of entries and the caliber of brands participating,” says Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of The STA Group, which owns the awards. “Whilst the initial round of judging has been sufficient to determine the shortlist, we still don’t have all the winners agreed on, which is a great problem to have.”
“Being named among this impressive group of innovators shows our technology has the power to re-shape how the masses engage with the game of golf,” says Inrange CEO, Nick Longley. “The shortlist honor is a testament to the hard work and dedication our team has invested and further validates how Inrange can transform any driving range into a golf entertainment venue.”
Inrange® was founded by a group of highly respected South African engineers who used their expertise in the world of radar and radio telescopes to develop the most advanced, accurate and reliable tracking system in the world. It consists of radar sensors placed in and around a driving range that create a series of interlocking radar fields. Once calibrated, they can determine the origin of each ball (which bay it was hit from), and track its entire flight, no matter how long or short, in real time. The resulting data is relayed either to an in-bay touchscreen or via the cloud to the Inrange® App on the player’s mobile device.
Easily covering a range of 100 bays or more, Inrange’s leading-edge sensors can effortlessly track shots hit from every single bay, and provide detailed real-time data on speed, trajectory, path, landing point and more, to within a yard. Unlike competitor’s systems, they are impervious to all ambient conditions such as darkness, rain, mist and audible noise.
The company offers a variety of unique offerings for facilities and customers to experience the system. A free-to-download app available through the App Store and Google Play lets users track data and play games on their smartphones at Inrange® facilities either solo or with others. Inrange+® is the ultimate multiplayer golf entertainment experience, where bays are equipped with display monitors and seating, ideal for challenging friends and enjoying a fun day at the range.
Currently, Inrange® facilities are thriving in Europe, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, and in the United States, where the technology was recently installed at The Golf Range @ Branchburg, NJ and the famed David Leadbetter Academy outside of Orlando, FL.
To learn more, please visit www.inrangegolf.com or follow social at Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
About Inrange® Golf
The foundations for Inrange® began in the 90’s, when the engineers who would go on to create the company developed FEKO, a computational electromagnetics code for high-frequency engineering applications (such as radar) that remains a global industry standard, used by everyone from BMW to Boeing to NASA. Over the past two decades they have focused on designing antennas and building ultra-sensitive radio receivers for radio astronomy, culminating in the completion of MeerKAT, the most sensitive radio telescope of its kind in the world. Following a passion for golf and sports in general, the team felt that the driving range experience could be much more than what it was and in 2015 they begin initial work on Inrange®. Today, the company’s solutions are featured in ranges around the world, including some of the most popular destinations in London and the famed David Leadbetter Academy outside of Orlando, FL.
About the Sports Technology Awards
The Sports Technology Awards is the leading global celebration of technology-led innovation across the international sports sector. Held annually as a competition to highlight outstanding advances in the industry, the Awards is run by The STA Group, which also owns The Sports Technology Annual Review, The Power List and The STA Startups. First held in 2014, the awards attract hundreds of entries from around the world. The Group is proud to be partnered with Capgemini, lawyers Charles Russell Speechlys, the English Institute of Sport and Ticketmaster Sport. More information about the Awards can be found at www.sportstechgroup.org.
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