How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Changing The Game Of Golf

On recent podcast episodes, I have spoken with Real Madrid about becoming the first sporting brand to reach 100m likes on Facebook. Then Umbel the first-party data management platform that empowers sporting clubs to engage better and understand their audience. The Motorsport Network also revealed how they were accelerating the digital transformation of F1 and Motorsport. But, this got me thinking if technology is also directly impacting actual sports by enhancing skills or continuous improvement.

Under most people’s radar, I quickly discovered that the game of golf is being transformed by companies such as Arccos Golf. The Arccos Caddie is golf’s first artificial intelligence (AI) platform, highlighted by real-time “Plays Like” distance calculations that precisely account for the impact wind speed, wind direction and elevation have on how far each shot travels.

The virtual Caddie analyzes over 75 million shots of users on 368 million geotagged data points from more than 40,000 courses. It then gives caddie-like feedback customized to each player, which takes into account wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, temperature, elevation and more with its new update.

Powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, this virtual caddie Caddie has been further enhanced with refined machine learning and AI algorithms, as well as persistent displays of wind and elevation data throughout the round. These combine to ensure users can shoot lower scores by harnessing advanced analytics to make smarter, data-driven decisions on the course.

Released in beta this year, Arccos Caddie is the first AI platform for golf. Through a partnership with Microsoft, Arccos uses the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to give insights that are on par with what PGA tour pros get from their caddies.

I invited Sal Syed, CEO, and Co-Founder of Arccos Golf onto the show to learn more about this golf performance tracking System and how an AI caddie in your pocket is helping golfers improve. Sal enjoys revolutionizing the game of golf through his passion for technology.