Golf wearables more than just keeping score

Once upon a time about the only reason you wore a thing on your wrist was to tell you what time it was. It didn’t know elevation, wind speed, water depth or the current value of Microsoft stock. I had no idea about measuring heart rate and frankly didn’t care. Counting steps was someone else’s problem.

Times (small pun intended) have certainly changed. Not only can watches, or wearables, keep track of all of the above, they now also specialize in specific sporting endeavors. In this case, we’re talking golf.

You no longer wear a watch to golf, you wear a golf watch. Rest assured this is no ordinary wearable. It’s kind of like having a caddy, a broadcast team and a drone at your disposal except all of them live inside that little thing on your wrist.

At their most basic, these wearables literally give you the lay of the land, allowing you to see detailed information on the topography and distance of the course you’re playing. Tens of thousands of courses from all over the world have been uploaded into the various apps. The more detailed the information available, the fewer excuses you’re going to have to blame your game on.

The highest end technologies available out there – in particular a system called Game Golf – have the ability to track every single one of your shots, from the club you used to the distance of your shot. It does this through a tandem system where each club is outfitted with a specific tag that activates the tracking system clipped to your belt. Just tap the two together prior to your shot and swing away. The real time data is sent back to your app for you and the entire world to see.

This social aspect of the technology seems to be a big part of the attraction where all your stats are now trackable and shareable to the world. On the plus side this means that every aspect of your game is now statistically documented for all the world to see. On the minus side, every aspect of your game is now statistically documented for all the world to see.

Regardless of which gadget you choose, the common thread running through every one of these golf wearables is the overwhelming amount of information available to you instantly on the course. No longer will you have to guess the exact distance to the hole. No more will you have to wrack your brain trying to recall what club you used in this exact same harrowing situation you encountered last time out. The indisputable data is there, right in front of your eyes, ready to solve any problem you might have, except for the one of how to break the news to your caddy that he’s now unemployed.