Driving Innovation

A streamlined version of ShotLink will bring fans and players the data they’ve been waiting for.

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IN RECENT YEARS, DATA ANALYTICS IN GOLF HAS CHANGED the game. The PGA TOUR’s ShotLink platform powered by CDW is one innovation that has enabled unprecedented access to information. By providing scoring and statistical data on every shot by every player in real time, ShotLink has transformed how golf fans and players, as well as the media, interact with the sport. It’s also enabled immersive interactive elements like TOURCast, a video game-like mobile application that depicts courses through 3D renderings and allows users to track the action of PGA TOUR players in realtime and view any shot from any perspective.

What many don’t see, however, is the massive infrastructure behind the revolutionary technology delivering these insights.

The ShotLink system is made up of five trucks, 15 to 20 miles of composite fiber, sensors galore, lasers on the side of each fairway, two radars per hole, three cameras around each green, 300 volunteers, and fiber, Wi-Fi, and private LTE networks.

Thus far, this expansive—and expensive—setup has made ShotLink unfeasible for use at the PGA TOUR’s smaller events, such as the Korn Ferry Tour, a developmental competition that features professional golfers who have not yet reached the PGA TOUR. Fans wishing to follow the Korn Ferry Tour, when it’s not available on television, can only view the leader board and rudimentary play-by-play information— leaving many wanting the same access to data that ShotLink provides for the TOUR’s larger tournaments.