FIELDREPORT
SkyTrak– The UK market has its say
Launched by SkyCaddie in the UK in late 2015, the SkyTrak offers professional launch monitor capabilities, plus high-resolution golf simulator entertainment, for just £1,695. Does this unprecedented price point signal a new era of affordable launch monitors? And will we all soon be playing indoor golf on the club TV? SGB Golf speaks to the first UK SkyTrak users…
achievements in the GPS world – but what do the actual users think of the new SkyTrak? The £1,695 SkyTrak first surfaced at the 2015
I
PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, immediately creating a strong buzz. A photometric launch monitor claiming to be as accurate as far more expensive competition, combined with the abilities of a golf simulator worth tens of thousands of dollars? Surely it wouldn’t be any good? In the UK, we had a few months to wait to find out. When it finally arrived aſter European CE
testing, in November 2015, SkyCaddie already had a bulging order book for SkyTrak – aſter almost a year of anticipation, and a show- stealing appearance in October at The Golf Show in Harrogate. Units leſt the Haddenham, Bucks warehouse almost as fast as they arrived on the lorry. An announcement soon followed about
integrating with the world’s leading golf simulator soſtware companies, with golf clubs soon realising that SkyTrak’s relative affordability meant state-of-the-art indoor golf on their own TVs was now possible. In bad weather and at night, golf club bars and function rooms began to fill up with SkyTrak golfers patiently waiting their turn. And then in December 2015, SkyCaddie
scooped a major award for SkyTrak, Best Consumer Golf Tech in the influential MyGolfSpy Awards, voted for by writers at one of America’s most influential golf websites. With early reports from the USA hailing
SkyTrak as a true breakthrough – effectively making launch monitors affordable at last, with the simulator functions also a huge bonus – UK customers finally began to unpack their own SkyTraks towards the end of November 2015. We spoke to a few of the UK’s SkyTrak pioneers, to hear their early thoughts.
t arrived from the United States with the usual fanfare, and on the back of a decade’s worth of market-leading SkyCaddie
John King, Lindrick Golf Club SkyTrak’s arrival persuaded Lindrick’s head
PGA professional John King to buy the club’s first-ever professional-standard launch monitor. “I had looked at them before but had been deterred by cost. Although I focus mainly on coaching, we also do custom-fitting and retailing, but the high price of other systems didn’t make sense for us as regards cash outlay versus sales margin coming back again. “SkyTrak’s price finally made it possible, and
my early impression is that I would most definitely recommend it to other golf pros. Looking at the comparisons I have made, SkyTrak’s statistics are very good. It gives great credibility when you are custom-fitting, and my customers no longer need to go elsewhere for the full launch-monitor experience. “In use, it is fantastically portable. The
protective case is very useful, and on the range you’re set up and ready to hit balls in under a minute. I link our SkyTrak to my iPad, and customers can see their shot data more or less instantly. It’s easy to use too – just place your ball on the red dot. “We haven’t used it indoors yet at Lindrick, but
that’s where SkyTrak will really impress and entertain as a golf simulator I think, especially
on a bigger screen. “SkyCaddie has a great reputation for quality,
which reassured me when considering the purchase, and they have lived up to that reputation with SkyTrak. “I can see us using the SkyTrak on a daily basis, with great confidence, this season.”
Andrew Smith, York Driving Range Andrew Smith is part of the Foremost buying
group at York Driving Range. A full-time golf coach, he had a unique approach to SkyTrak. “A lot of pros will look at SkyTrak as a fitting tool,” he said, “but as soon as I saw it I thought that my junior pupils would love it – and I was right. “Today’s children are very comfortable
interacting with screens, and as I teach 100 kids a week the SkyTrak has quickly become one of the most popular attractions here at York Driving Range among our young golfers. They love interacting with the screen, and we’ve even had the local newspaper come to do an article about the SkyTrak. “A key factor for me is the price. If I’d bought
one of SkyTrak’s far more expensive rivals such as GC2 or Trackman, I would have had to raise my tuition prices to recoup the cost. But SkyTrak’s low price means that I can invest in my business, and offer a great launch-monitor and simulator experience – including fun and
22 SGBGOLF
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