This is a pretty neat idea that counts up there with viral internet ideas that capture a mix of common sense and innovation. Explicitly this setup helps with swing plane, although could also apply to the short game. Check it out:

Here’s a nutty product that is sold by Latest Buy in Australia. These golf balls will in theory help you find your golf ball regardless of lighting. There are of course instances in which a flashing ball will have zero impact upon your ability to retrieve it. Deep water and out of bounds fences come to mind. Here’s a quote from Latest Buy:

With Twilight Tracer Golf Balls you’ll never lose a golf ball again! When you hit them, they’ll flash for around 5 minutes, so you’ve got time to get up there and find it.

This is no novelty golf ball to give you a quick giggle. The breakthrough technology in the Twilight Tracer means it has all the features of a professional golf ball including the feel, accuracy and distance. It’s regulation size and weight, so you can use it in any competition!

Want to get in a quick nine holes after work? You don’t have to worry about beating the fading light any more - in fact the darker it is, the easier your Twilight Tracer will be to see! Hours past sundown, you can still be playing (and no longer just because of your lack of prowess!).

The 5V lithium battery has approximately 80 hours of battery life, so each ball will last for over 900 hits – even for the worst hacker (not you of course), that’s got to be 8 or 9 games (if it’s any less than that, we suggest you take up cross stitch) and of course, you won’t be losing the ball any more!

Twilight Tracer Golf Balls are sold in packs of three, official size and weight and will flash brightly upon impact for five minutes (approx. 7 flashes per second). The golf balls are an 80 compression multi-layer ball and have a Surlyn cover.

Nerds and transportation buffs will both know about the Segway Personal Transporter, the funky single person vehicle that looks like a cross beween a step ladder, a unicycle, and a horse-less chariot. While this futuristic device has yet to make it into mainstream use and acceptance, the company has recently decided to target the golf market and is offering a modded version that acts as a mix of caddy and golf cart, taking up a little more space than the former, yet allowing greater movement than the latter. Here’s a quote from their site:

Special low-pressure tires barely disturb the turf and provide a smooth ride over a variety of terrain. Based upon the Segway x2, it features new LeanSteer technology, a wireless InfoKey controller, long-lasting Saphion® lithium-ion batteries and includes the following components:

* Golf Bag Carrier Attachment secures your golf bag to the Segway x2 Golf and allows for easy dismount and club access while playing. Removes easily for storage and transport

* Scorecard Holder keeps your scorecard, golf balls, and tees readily accessible

I know I’d like to try one. I would guess that some golf resorts will buy a fleet of these and offer them as an alternative to riding in the cart…

I recently stumbled upon an analysis of the retailer Golf Galaxy that also provided a window onto the golf industry in general. Here’s a quote:

Golf Galaxy is still a rather small retailer, with only about $200 million in fiscal 2006 sales, yet it grew sales by 50% last year and predicts 52%-57% growth this year. What really impresses us about Golf Galaxy is that it was founded by two former Best Buy(Nasdaq: BBY) executives and that the rest of the management team includes players from Select Comfort(Nasdaq: SCSS), Calloway(NYSE: ELY), and Target(NYSE: TGT).

The number of golfers in the USA has been fairly stagnant for a few years now, and according to the National Golf Foundation, the number of rounds of golf played in 2005 was down slightly from 2004, which was also the first year in the previous three years that the number had actually increased. Even so, it looks like 2006 might be a good year, as the number of rounds played has risen just less than 2% year-to-date.

In the recent CIBC World Markets report covering the sporting goods sector, Golf Galaxy is rated as a sector performer. While they face formidable competition from the large operators, they have the opportunity to gain market share from on-course pro shops and smaller retail chains. Weak sales trends are expected to be offset by continued margin upside which will help the company meet estimates for FY06.

With Golf Galaxy’s shares having fallen 30% year-to-date, we believe the current level has limited downside.

We all know that golf equipment can at times border on the absurd, but this putter is clearly the next step. One imagines Rodney Dangerfield or Jackie Mason pulling one of these out of their bags.

Personally, I’m all for embedded computers, and would love a golf bag with an integrated laptop and solar panel. The logical extension therefore would be to have some kind of wireless connectivity. The bag itself could have WiMax, and then bluetooth to communicate with the putter. Wouldn’t that be excessive!

First appearing on Digital World Tokyo, word of this putter has spread across the web. To quote:

South Korea’s Infinics promises that its new golf putter — the DiXX Blu Digital Instructor — will improve your short game thanks to a set of sophisticated sensors that measure your stance and swing.

The DiXX Blu has a small LCD screen that is used to aim. Users adjust their stance and the position of the putter so that a small red dot is centered in cross hairs displayed on the screen. When the user’s stance is correct and the dot is centered, it turns green, signalling that the user is ready to hit the ball.

The putter, which goes on sale later this month, will be priced at ¥98,000 (US$832) in Japan.

Using an intertial navigation system that tracks the putter’s position and a MEMS (micro electromechanical system) motion sensor, the DiXX Blu is able to collect detailed information about a golfer’s swing, including the path of the swing, swing speed, impact position and the angle of the putter’s face.

Based on this data, the putter is able to analyze the swing, presenting a detailed report immediately after the golfer swings. This helps golfers to identify the areas where they need improvement, Infinics said.

Once a golfer has perfected their swing with the DiXX Blu, they can swap the terminal mounted on the putter, which includes the display and sensors, for a dummy weight designed to be used on the golf course.

I recently went for my semi-annual appointment with my eye care professional, Dr. Mike Rotholz. I asked him about the new Nike MaxSight contact lenses by Bausch and Lomb. He gave me a free trial pair, and I’ve been using them for my golf rounds the last two weeks.

They’re awesome! The golf version enhances the green and red portions of the visual spectrum to make it easier to read the putting surface and see the ball. They also reduce glare from the sun and contrast between shade and non-shade.

Obviously they don’t actually make the shot on your behalf, but being able to easily read the green definitely helps with visualizing the putt so that it will actually go in! Since wearing these I’ve made some long putts that seemed easy because I could actually see the path to take. Given that I play a lot of golf these lenses are cheaper than good sunglasses and worth the investment in terms of being able to see better and shoot lower scores!

The new tools of the game: $50,000 simulators and $4,500 sensor vests. How technology is driving a wedge between haves and have-nots… by Reed Albergotti, Wall Street Journal

On the fairway of the 17th hole, S. Hubert Humphrey swings his five-iron and hits a straight shot to the green with the help of a 20-mph tailwind. He’s not actually at the fabled Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii — he’s in his house, practicing for an upcoming match with colleagues on his $50,000 simulator. “It certainly gives me an advantage,” says the 64-year-old entrepreneur.

Golf already has an elitist reputation, but a new generation of expensive high-tech tools is stoking a costly arms race among players looking for an edge. Pricey golf simulators can now be rigged to play matches over the Internet, while an increasing number of weekend duffers are investing in $3,000 “launch monitors” that use infrared beams to measure a ball’s angle, speed and backspin. At the renowned David Leadbetter Golf Academy near Orlando, two-day courses in a new biometrics lab, where sensors attached to various muscles detect swing flaws, will cost $7,500 — compared with the $3,000 tab for three days of old-fashioned instruction. And gearing up for tournaments from this weekend’s Masters in Augusta, Ga., to the U.S. Amateur Championship, players are turning to laptop computers and digital video cameras to help hone their swings.

The result is a widening digital divide that’s drawing new lines in the golf world. Traditional equipment makers are squaring off against upstart high-tech companies that hail from the world of Hollywood special effects. Courses are split on whether to take the high-tech route to woo new golfers or hew to more time-honored ways. And golfers who say the sport is founded on basics like practice and focus worry that turning golf into a kind of rocket science could ruin it. (more…)