The same high-tech training technology that virtually every professional golfer uses in practice at home and on the range at PGA and LPGA tour stops is now available to amateur golfers – but at no cost – and only at Carl’s Golfland.
Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills became the first location in North America to offer TrackMan Range, a system that provides golfers with instant feedback on eight performance numbers, allowing them to review and compare their shots in real time with a free iPhone app.
“I’m pretty impressed. It’s pretty simple to use,” said Leigh Dushane, age 67, who has been playing golf since he was a teenager. “I downloaded the app while I was standing here and five minutes later I’m hitting balls.
“My goal is to get a more accurate idea of how far I hit each club. I think this will help me learn to practice with a little bit more focus, a little bit better understanding of what the impact of a certain move has on the golf ball. Not just the distance but where the golf ball is going.”
TrackMan, which most people recognize as the little orange box sitting behind pros when they practice or test clubs, is the global technology often utilized for detailed club fittings. TrackMan Range uses five radar to precisely record eight performance numbers, including ball speed, launch angle, direction, height, carry through the air, total yards on run out and exact distance from hitting the pin – all to within one-yard accuracy.
TrackMan Range technology made its public TV debut in April at the first PGA Tour major of 2017, allowing viewers to watch distance and ball flight of individual pros on the practice range.
Matt Frelich, Michigan resident and VP of Sales for TrackMan, said PGA Tour pro Dustin Johnson originally resisted using TrackMan a few years ago, when he was outside the top 150 players in proximity to the pin. Once Johnson was convinced to try using TrackMan he became No. 1 in the world in proximity to the pin.
Frelich added that Johnson wasn’t as interested in all the advanced technology readings, he simply wanted to track the distances of his various wedges.
“His purpose for TrackMan was not to spin rate down a little bit, or spin rate up a little bit,” Frelich said. “It was all about hitting his wedges closer.”
Now the average golfer can do the same at Carl’s without their own huge financial investment.
Chad Gorski, age 40, is a 6-handicap player who drove from Canton to Bloomfield Hills to be one of the first to try the TrackMan Range.
“I love it,” he said. “I came here to demo a couple different clubs and to see the numbers and compare them against each other and I was really impressed. I got the information I wanted.
“I think it’s really revolutionary. Whether you want to play games, or hit targets or just get your gaps in between your irons more consistent, I think it’s been incredible. And it’s a really cool way to make the range more fun than just banging balls.”
Five strategically-placed radars identify your ball individually when the bay number you are hitting from is typed into the phone app.
Another user said after testing the technology, he knew his 5-hybrid would carry over the 150-yard marker he was aiming at – but due to the limited human eye ability to see precise landing points from that distance, TrackMan was outstanding at giving information the naked eye could not discern with very much accuracy from almost two football fields away.
The owners of TrackMan, based in Denmark, said they picked Carl’s Golfland to debut the new range technology because of its proven track record of serving the avid golfer. A second TrackMan Range was later added at the exclusive, private Dallas National Golf Club.
