Konami isn’t just a video game maker. The company is also in the business of producing amusement machines (mainly for the Japanese market), and recently showcased its newest model: the aptly named Golf Connection [JP]. “Virtual golf simulators” like this aren’t new, but Konami’s version (which is based on a high-speed camera and two sensors) has a few interesting selling points. → Read More
Mobile Web usage continues to grow by leaps and bounds as smartphones with large touch screens become the new normal. One quick data point comes from the United States Golf Association and IBM, which runs its Websites. During the 2010 U.S. Open golf tournament last week, 1.7 million people visited the U.S. Open’s mobile site, a 518 percent increase from last year. In contrast, the regular site saw only 4.2 million visitors, during the week, up 8 percent.
In other words, nearly 30 percent of traffic to the U.S. Open site was from mobile devices. The fact that golf fans didn’t need to fire up their laptops or turn on their TVs to find the latest scores and keep up with the play was enough to make the mobile site take off. And the mobile site was pretty stripped down—there was an all-text news feed, scores, tee times, and some video. → Read More
When it’s winter outside, you can’t play golf! There’s not even a close substitute. I mean, what are you going to do? Play it as a video game or something? Name me one golf video game! No, for those of us going absolutely bat-shit stir crazy waiting for winter to end, maybe this $13 desktop golf set will help. → Read More
Oh I like this very much. Very much indeed. The Mantys (or “MANTYS” as the company shouts) is a personal motorized golf cart that’s steered simply by shifting your weight. It weighs just 45 pounds, has a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour, and can go for 36 holes before needing to be recharged. At the end of the day, the Mantys folds down for easy transport. → Read More
After Tiger Woods’ personal indiscretions became public, the championship golfer found himself suddenly devoid of most major sponsorship deals. One of the last big holdouts has been Electronic Arts, makers of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of golf games. It’s now been revealed that the company will definitely be standing by Woods, with the next version of the console game to be called “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.” → Read More
EA Sports has been one of the last holdouts to stand by its sponsorship of Tiger Woods, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series being one of the company’s more popular franchises. However, a recent survey seems to indicate that EA may be hedging its Tiger-themed bets a bit. One of the survey questions, in particular, is pretty straightforward: “Has the controversy made you more or less likely to buy a Tiger Woods related video game in the future?” → Read More
Gotta hand it to Bloomberg for this riveting one-sentence article written by two people.
“AT&T Inc. is ending its sponsorship agreement with golfer Tiger Woods, company spokesman Michael Coe said in an e-mailed statement.”
I don’t recall seeing Woods in any TV or print commercials for AT&T but he definitely had a few big, fat AT&T logos on his golf bag. The company still has Luke Wilson and the iPhone, so sleep easy, friends. → Read More
The most rewarding and infuriating aspect of golf is that it takes a LOT of time and patience to get good at it. As Americans, should we continue to let the challenge of golf trample upon our freedom to easily and quickly excel at the sport? NO! → Read More
Putt putt fanatics, start saving up for your own in-home virtual miniature golf arcade game – at $6,900 plus $550 for shipping, you could probably build an actual course in your backyard for far cheaper. → Read More
Pretty interesting behind the scenes article and video over at Sandbox8 about how the seemingly endless stream of statistical data flows around the course at a PGA Tour event. Most of the data is gathered by on-course volunteers armed with various portable survey equipment and wireless devices. → Read More
If you groaned a groaning groan at the announcement that the PC version of Tiger Woods would be online-only, cheer up. I played around with the beta for a while yesterday and came away impressed. → Read More
Amazon’s got a pretty decent deal on a golf yardage GPS unit at $99. I can’t say I care for the $35 yearly fee that enables you to download new courses but if you play the same courses over and over again, you can download them once without the need to renew the service year after year. → Read More
Ah the Golfers Mug: such a simple idea. Drink your coffee and then lay the mug on the floor flat-side down for a little putting practice before you tackle the day ahead. → Read More
Short Version: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with the Wii MotionPlus accessory is the closest you can get to a true golf simulation for $60. The already-great series gets a nice boost this year with true one-to-one motion sensing, addictive online play, and a bevy of other new features that easily justify the purchase. → Read More
Drink-dispensing golf clubs aren’t new, per se, but this one just hit SkyMall’s new arrivals section so here it is for those of you who haven’t seen it before and are looking for a good way to sneak some booze onto your local golf course. → Read More
New to Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the Wii this year is the “Disc Golf” feature, which allows you to play all of the in-game courses as a disc golfer. I figured it’d be gimmicky at best. Well, I was wrong. It’s fun, and it’s a great use of the MotionPlus add-on. If you’ve ever played disc golf before, you’ll probably enjoy playing it in the game. If you’ve never played, it’s not rocket science: throw Frisbee at target, repeat. Check out the above video for a gameplay demo. I get a triple bogey on the 1st hole at St. Andrews, then follow up with a birdie on the famous 17th hole island green at TPC Sawgrass. Like this video? View more here… → Read More
One of the main problems with indoor putting surfaces is that the layout and hole placement never changes. So you get really good at one particular putt and then once you hit the course, your golfing buddies laugh at you and pull down your pants when you miss any putt that’s not ten feet away and dead straight. At least, that’s what my golfing buddies do and I can only assume the same thing happens everywhere. → Read More
EA is going the online-only route this year for the computer version of the Tiger Woods golf franchise, called Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online. That’s good in the sense that it’ll be Mac compatible too, updates should be automatic, and you’ll be able to play from any computer. → Read More
Clearly there’s gotta be some crossover between people who like golf and people who need to prop a door open or this $18 “Golfer’s Doorstop” would cease to exist. → Read More
For ten bucks, Tiger Woods PGA Tour on the iPhone/iPod touch is absolutely, hands-down, the best deal going when it comes to portable golf games. → Read More
