“OUR MISSION IS TO...- BRING MORE PEOPLE - TO PLAY MORE GOLF - MORE OFTEN

David Taylor meets Ben Sharpe, president of Toptracer and a man with a clear vision for the future of the game

- David Taylor

The last few months have seen something of a mini-boom in golf. Courses and ranges up and down the land have been full to bursting as the country emerged from lockdown with limited leisure options available. But with the shackles being loosened every few weeks, how does the sport capitalise on the current situation and turn some of the new recruits into full-time golfers?

Ben Sharpe, president of Toptracer, thinks he has the answer. You may be familiar with the brand from seeing its ball tracking on TV or visiting a driving range which utilises its technology. Either way, it is a growing presence in golf and Sharpe believes it can help introduce a new generation to the game.

“Golf is faring really well since coming back,” Sharpe says. “It’s a great game to play and it’s a socially distanced sport, but as the world gets back to normal again and we have more competition, the mistake to make is to think what we’ve got today is going to carry us through. We need to innovate.

“We believe the technological gamification of the range experience will be the single biggest contributor to the growth of the game over the next decade. Now’s the time when we have a bigger audience to show we’re forward-thinking, to show we’re embracing technology, to show we’re a game for everyone and not just an exclusive group.”