Source: Courier News (Bridgewater, N.J.)
Golf's answer to "Star Wars" is coming to Neshanic Valley Golf Course.
The high-tech Callaway Performance Analysis System, scheduled to open March 5, has the potential to help any golfer become a Jedi knight of the links.
And it could do the same for Somerset County Park Commission attendance and revenues, which depend annually on the success of it's golf operations.
"Once word spreads and people see this, I'm hoping we should fit in 750 to 1,000 people in a year," said Bob Ransome III, manager of golf operations. "It's very ambitious."
The system is the first of its kind in use at a public golf course on the East Coast and uses the same software as Callaway's research and development equipment, Ransome said. Use of the $300,000 system, housed in the Learning Center at Neshanic Valley, has been donated by Callaway Golf, officials said.
The system is designed to help pros and a full-time fitter to fit a golfer with the appropriate Callaway clubs to help them improve their swing.
"If you're in the market for clubs, you'll pay the same whether you buy them off the rack or have them custom fitted," Ransome said. "It is better to come here than buy off the rack."
People have come from as far away as New York and Ohio to use a less sophisticated fitting system in use at the county's Spooky Brook Golf Course, he said.
Park system officials plan to publicize the system in golf magazines, at the New Jersey Golf Show this month and with golf pros from neighboring private clubs.
"We can share a service with their members," Ransome said. "We'll fit them and they can buy clubs from their local club professional."
How it works
The Callaway Performance Analysis System is a network of computers and cameras set up in a 20-by-30 foot room in the learning center. Golfers hit a striped ball off a tee into a virtual 18th hole at the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course displayed on a theater-sized screen.
Two overhead, high-speed cameras record a golfer's swing at 20,000 frames per second. Cameras on the side capture photos of the club head and the golf ball through the point of impact, Ransome said. There is a set of cameras behind the golfer.
"When you're teaching, you want to see several angles," he said. "This is the system the touring pros go to at Callaway's research center."
The system also captures the speed of the club head, the speed of the ball after being struck, its angle of launch and amount of back spin, Ransome said.
Also displayed on a plasma TV screen: whether the ball hooks or slices, the revolutions per minute of side spin and overall efficiency of the shot.
"All that comes off the ball and is picked up off the cameras and fed into the computer," Ransome said.
Information is processed by three computers in a tower containing three screens. On the left screen, one computer displays a virtual animation of the path of the golfer's ball with statistics. On the center screen a computer displays additional statistics, and the righthand screen shows footage of the golfer making the shot, he said.
"As a trained club fitter, we know what the parameters mean and can help that person into a club that fits their swing and game and help make their score better," he said. "We can also help them with their swing."
Let's go to the video tape
Somerset County Freeholder Ken Scherer, who describes himself as "the average golfer", was one of the first Guinea pigs for the Callaway system.
"I'm the kind of person that, if you teach me a lesson, it's good for me to see what you're telling me," Scherer said. "This system can show you instead of describing it, with the video, they pointed out the flaws."
Scherer said he's been in the market for a new set of clubs, but park officials told him to wait until the Callaway system was running.
"So many golfers strive to improve their swing each time, so their score will be better," Scherer said. "It's good for golfers like me, an average golfer who wants to get better."
The value isn't just in fees and selling clubs, Scherer said. The Learning Center will be home to the park commission's junior golf program on the nine-hole Academy Course, and will help bring young players to the sport, he said.
That will help bring a new audience to the game and to the county golf courses said John Kitchen, park commissioner in charge of golf.
There are 800 people in the junior golf program and the facilities at Neshanic Valley and it has the potential to grow to 2,000, Kitchen said.
Construction of the course's Learning Center, which will house the Callaway system is scheduled for a "soft opening" February 12, said Ray Brown, park system director.
"It's under construction and nearly completed," he said. "We've had many inquiries, simply on word of mouth. It's what we'd hoped it would be."
Golfers rave it up
Park commission officials who've taken the performance system for a test drive - even those who've been way from playing golf for a while - gave it rave reviews.
"I'm not a golfer, but I wanted to get back into it," Brown said, during a demonstration of the performance system on Wednesday. "This is fun, but it reminds me of why I quit."
Unlike the frustration of a day hacking away and going home with a bad score, Brown said the Callaway system shows him where he needs work.
"I realize what I'm doing wrong and can see it on the screen," he said. "I can take shots and it gives me the statistics and visuals so I can see what I'm doing wrong."
The proof was in Brown's shot on Wednesday, which yielded a 100 percent efficiency rating from the system.
"Oh yes! It's the first one that didn't go in the ocean," Brown said with a huge smile. "See, it works."
If you go
The Callaway Performance Center is scheduled to open March 5 at the Neshanic Valley Golf Course Learning Center, South Branch Road, Branchburg. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays. Cost is $75 for a 30-minute session. If a set of clubs is purchased there, $50 will go toward that purchase. Reservations will be taken starting Feb. 12. For more information, call (908) 369-8232.