高尔夫在美国逐渐没落，新技术能拯救这项运动吗？

    但参与高尔夫运动的年轻人也许会被一些创新所吸引。这正是爱尔兰企业家约翰•麦圭尔所希望的。1月份，在奥兰多举行的PGA商品展销会上，麦奎尔推出了Game Golf，用户通过这个产品可以迅速查看他们在各个俱乐部的平均击球距离、每一洞的平均推杆次数、在球道上的准确程度以及其他数据。Game Golf售价249美元，包括一个别在腰带上的“小盒子”，重约一盎司（约28克），以及多个用螺丝固定在球杆上的“扣子”——每只球杆一个。开球前，把这些“扣子”旋进球杆尾部，把“小盒子”打开，然后让二者接触一下。这样就建立了一个GPS数据点。目前，Game Golf已经在全球3.3万座高尔夫球场收集了20亿个这样的数据点提供的信息。

    上市六个月以来，Game Golf记录下了300多万次挥杆，大约相当于4.5万场高尔夫。麦圭尔的公司表示，每星期他们都能从全球55个国家收集约5000场高尔夫的信息。美国高尔夫球协会（USGA）还同意在巡回赛上使用该产品。在加州圣拉蒙市The Bridges高尔夫球场工作的PGA职业教练埃里克•琼斯看到了Game Golf在传授高尔夫技能方面的潜力。他说：“我不再需要去问人们他们打的怎么样。我可以看到，每一洞，每一杆都看得到。我可以评估人们的策略，包括他们把球放在哪里，他们选择哪只球杆以及他们做出什么样的决定。”用了这项新技术后，琼斯的学员“每场球平均能提高1.3杆到10.6杆”。

    打完一场高尔夫后，参与者可以登录到Game Golf网站上查看自己的状态和数据，当然，也可以和朋友们分享。这样，在Game Golf的帮助下，在纽约打高尔夫的人就可以和在加利福尼亚的兄弟比较谁的击球距离远；在佛罗里达的女士也可以和全球排名第32位的李•韦斯特伍德比较谁在球道上更为精准。韦斯特伍德在Game Golf网站公开了自己的击球数据。

    韦斯特伍德是参股Game Golf的三名职业高尔夫选手之一，另外两人是福瑞克和2010年美国公开赛冠军格雷姆•麦克道尔（麦克道尔看来正在积极地多方面发展自己的商业兴趣——《财富》杂志已经报道过，他是和咨询机构Teneo Sports签约的一批运动精英中一员）。这项技术能否吸引更多的人来打高尔夫尚无定论。对此福瑞克不打算进行猜测，他只是说：“高尔夫应该是一项有趣的运动。我觉得这会有助于它变得更有趣。”

    当然，Game Golf只是高尔夫运动引进的许多新技术中的一项，其他新技术还包括高科技推杆（如TaylorMade生产的Spider Si推杆）、球杆（如耐克的VRS Covert 2.0球杆）、高尔夫球（如普利斯通的B330系列）、球鞋（Callaway的X Cage-Pro）甚至球座（Tornado Tee）——每隔几年就会出现新的技术，此外，《高尔夫大师》（Golf Digest）杂志最近提到了在高尔夫球场上越来越多地使用无人机，目的是拍照。这些对高尔夫迷来说都是很棒的东西，但外行人可能不理解这些技术方面的升级有何必要。在试图让高尔夫运动实现现代化的公司中，Game Golf也许不是最出名的，但它看来是最积极地以年轻人和社交媒体名人为目标的公司之一。这能让高尔夫运动复苏吗？

    对此麦奎尔毫不怀疑。不过，如果打高尔夫的人不使用这些新技术，这些希望改善这项运动的产品就不会有什么未来可言。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Young golfers may also be attracted to new innovations. That’s what Irish entrepreneur John McGuire hopes. At the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando in January, McGuire unveiled Game Golf, which allows users to quickly see their average shot distance for each club, average putts per hole, fairway accuracy, and other statistics. For $249, the Game Golf kit comes with a belt clip-on device that weighs about an ounce, and multiple “tags” that screw onto your clubs—one for each club. Before beginning a round, you screw the tags into the appropriate club-shaft, turn the belt-clip on, and tap the two together. This creates a GPS data-point; Game Golf has collected 2 billion of them so far from 33,000 courses around the world.

    In the six months since its release, some three million shots have been recorded using Game Golf, which equates to about 45,000 rounds. According to the company, approximately 5,000 rounds of golf are uploaded per week from 55 countries around the world. It has also earned USGA approval, allowing it to be used in tournament play. Eric Jones, a PGA professional golf instructor at The Bridges in San Ramon, Calif., sees teaching potential in Game Golf. “I no longer have to ask a golfer how they played,” says Jones. “I can see it. Hole by hole and shot by shot. I can evaluate strategy: where they are placing the ball, which clubs they are selecting, and what decisions they are making.” His players are improving by an “average of 1.3 shots to 10.6 shots per round” using the new technology.

    Following a round, golfers can log on to the Game Golf website to view stats and data, and then, naturally, share them with friends. The idea is to help a golfer in New York compete for longest drive with his brother in California, or a woman in Florida attempt to hit more fairways than Lee Westwood, the 32nd ranked golfer in the world, whose statistics are also publicly available on the site.

    Westwood is one of three pro golfers who own equity in Game Golf—the other two are Furyk and 2010 U.S. Open Champion Graeme McDowell (who appears to be aggressively diversifying his business interests—as Fortune reported, he is among an elite group of athletes to have just signed with Teneo Sports.) It’s still up for grabs if this technology can drum up more participation in the sport. Furyk won’t speculate, and only says, “Golf is supposed to be fun. I think that this well help make golf more fun.”

    To be sure, Game Golf is just one of many new technologies hitting the course: high-tech putters (TaylorMade’s Spider Si), drivers (Nike’s VRS Covert 2.0), golf balls (Bridgestone’s B330 series), shoes (Callaway’s X Cage-Pro), and even tees (Tornado Tee) are released every few years. (Meanwhile, Golf Digest recently wrote about the increasing usage of drones in golf, for photography purposes.) These are great for the avid golfer, but an amateur might not understand the need for these upgrades. Game Golf may not be the best known company trying to modernize the green, but it appears to be the one most aggressively targeting the young and social media-savvy. Can that resuscitate the sport?

    McGuire believes it can. But, of course, products that seek to make golf better won’t have much of a future if there aren’t any golfers to use them.