yards, and so I might replicate my 90- yard process with those shorter shots. Golfers who took the time to capture data in the past (remember the days of pacing off yardages?) and who were willing to do their own maths and analysis might have uncovered simi- lar insights, but AI can recommend strategies for the laziest among us in seconds. There’s cognitive bias in all of us, says Arccos CEO and founder Sal Syed, in the way most people believe they are above average drivers of a vehicle. “We are trying to have people make shot selections based on their average shot, not their one-in-a-million shot.” Both Matthew Fitzpatrick and Edo- ardo Molinari are Arccos ambassadors who use its product to plot out course strategies based on probabilities, so there’s an argument to be made that AI helped the Euros win the Ryder Cup at Bethpage. As with most tech, it gets easier the more you use it, and as with many AI products, the more you use it, the more it “learns” about you. This happens through a twin-track machine-learning process of analysing your individual results while also clus- tering you with other golfers who have similar results so that it can make in- creasingly informed recommendations about what you and your level of player ought to do in any given situation. Golfshot, which is owned by Golf Genius, gathers your shot data through the Apple watch. John Hawley, the chief technology officer of Golfshot, says that the collection and interpre- tation of data might seem impressive now, but where AI is going to shine in the future will be when refinements al- low for verbal dialogue between player and app. “One day there will be a true on-course caddie AI app,” says Hawley, “an app that assesses all the data and then literally has a strategic conversa- tion with you.” That feature isn’t here yet. LLMs or SLMs can have conversations, but it’s taking the golf industry time to “create the right experience,” says Hawley. In other words, yes, there is sufficient tech right now to create an app that could
COURSE MANAGEMENT While in the Bay Area, I also played Lake Merced Golf Club, which has been restored, and there was a certain cognitive dissonance in talking about AI in such natural surroundings. I mentioned to my playing partner, David Lee-Tolley, the VP of Product for Arccos, how it all felt a bit mechanistic, a little cold. Where, I wondered, do feel, intuition and experience fit into all this? “To me, the relationship between AI and feel is complemen- tary,” Lee-Tolley said. His opinion was that AI might help me discover, for instance, that I’m better from 90 yards than 50
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 81
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator