It is time to get better at golf – the smart way

Lou Stagner, data insights lead at Arccos, reveals why more players are tapping into the riches of artificial intelligence to improve their games

- ALEX NAREY

Picture the scene: you are out with your regular Saturday morning four-ball when one of your partners ‘flushes’ a 9-iron that takes off and hooks viscously into trees. They fling their arms in the air and throw you one of those looks before screaming – for the benefit of anyone who cares – “I don’t believe it... I haven’t been hitting it left for ages.”

The truth is, they probably have been hitting it left, but their brain is mostly registering their recent good shots and so the bad shots, and the bad habits, are ignored.

This is where GPS shot-tracking is helping golfers maximise their potential, and one of the key exponents in this field is Arccos – a pioneer of big data and artificial intelligence. From plotting every shot in your round to recording the distances that you hit each of your clubs, the Arccos Caddie system has grown into a huge global community. In 2020, the average new Arccos member improved their handicap by 5.02 strokes.

Now Arccos is looking to the future with the appointment of self-proclaimed “golf nut and data nerd” Lou Stagner as the company’s data insights lead.