Could This be This Years Must-Have Golfing Present?

Golf's must-have product, Foresight Sports' GC2 ball-flight monitor, was part of the success of a golf challenge on Channel 5's The Gadget Show on the 28th November, being hailed as "one of the most accurate golf simulators in the world".

Pointing out how the simulator could display immediate progress, presenter Woodward explained: "The real ball is instantly transformed into the virtual ball with pinpoint accuracy."

Many top coaches and teaching professionals have hailed the GC2's quality and flexibility, including PGA master professional Luther Blacklock, the head pro at Woburn GC, inventor of the world-famous Explanar training aid, and a Golf International teaching panellist.

He said: "As soon as I saw the unit's immediacy and ease of use I was sold. I bought one on the spot and it's already paid for itself in terms of benefits for my pupils. It's more accurate than other products on the market; it's truly portable - so tuition is not affected by adverse weather conditions; it takes a fraction of the time other products take to set up and it's around a fifth of the cost of some of its rivals.

"It's made a massive difference to the pupil analysis I can offer as a golf coach as the information is more accurate and easily demonstrable."

The unit weighs just 1.7kg and takes just 40 seconds to set up, which make this portable device an essential for a club pro, who can use the unit for coaching and club-fitting. The GC2 directly measures ball flight and spin at club impact and launch, and calculates carry and total distance in a second. The fact that the GC2 is around 80 per cent cheaper than existing competitors with comparable data is another big benefit.

The system has also been adopted by many of the world's leading club manufacturers including PING, Cobra, TaylorMade, Srixon and Titleist. Connected to a PC, real-time ball flight and statistics are available immediately and the data can be recorded to a spreadsheet and emailed to a customer in an instant. There is even the ability to instantly deliver data, via Bluetooth, to an Android-based mobile or hand-held device.

The flexibility and test proven accuracy of the GC2 also allows it to be upgraded to provide a simulator experience, whether with a simple net and PC or as a full-size, bespoke studio experience. 

Thomson Perrett Have an Olympic Win

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games organisers have chosen Thomas Perrett Golf Course Architects to become the designer of the Rio de Janeiro golf course, which will host the Olympic golf event.

In October 2011, the Rio 2016 Olympic Committee launched a worldwide competition to find the architectural design of the golf course to host the 2016 Olympic Golf Event.

Requirements for the winner - applicants has to show prior course design experience, and have an office established in Rio. The golf course should serve youth sports and education and events after the games.

The applicants were whittled down to eight, with the winner Thomson Perrett being paid $300,000 for the design.

Thomson Perrett's team for the Olympic course is led by Managing Director Ross Perrett and his partner Peter Thomson a five time British Open winner, whose names are linked with created world class golf courses.

The course will be built in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, which will host most of the Olympic venues.

At the R&A Open Championship Press Conference Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of the R&A and also President of the International Golf Federation (IGF), was able to update the media about the state of the arrangements for golf to return to The Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

"The format of the event remains as per the Olympic bid for golf, which was 60 men in one competition, 60 women in another, 72 hole stroke play event. And whilst we do have perhaps an opportunity to revisit that, there really isn't an opportunity to do so until after the London games."

When the world's top players were asked about the format for Olympic Golf they thought the format used for major championships should be the same format used in the Olympic Games, there is still a possibility of a team competition being added to the event.