TaylorMade is known as a leading golf manufacturer of equipment and balls used on the PGA Tour by big names like Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Justin Rose. Now TaylorMade takes the game of golf a step further into the technology side of things.
TaylorMade and tech-leader Samsung have joined forces to help all golfers, not just Tour pros, improve their scores. The result is an app called myRoundPro. With shot tracking and stat analysis as the future of the game, myRoundPro is designed to give golfers an inside look at the stats and data that shape their game. MyRoundPro is a round-tracking app designed to help golfers understand, adapt and improve their game with an immersive mobile experience that gives them stats seen on the PGA Tour.
MORE: Xander Schauffele voted 2017 Rookie of the Year
The fact that MyRoundPro is available for free on the iOS and Andriod app stores is another key aspect. With the game of golf looking to be more accessible and reach a larger audience, making this app available for free shoudn't be overlooked. With all of the features and capabilities of the app, TaylorMade could have easily added on a purchase or monthly price to use myRoundPro. It has military-grade GPS technology that allows golfers to enter their information, select a course, track their shots and get a full statistical breakdown of their rounds.
MORE: Tiger Woods swings a golf club, Twitter goes crazy
Arccos and Game Golf led the way with round tracking, but myRoundPro does it better. The big picture behind the Samsung and TaylorMade partnership is the wearable convenience factor. With one of Samsung's Gear wearables like the S3 or Fit2Pro, golfers can leave their phones behind and track an entire round from the smartwatch or smart fitness band. With TaylorMade trying to expand its reach, myRoundPRo also works with iOS phones. The partnership with Samsung does not yet help those looking to connect myRoundPro through other brands of smartwatches like an Apple Watch.
As a user of Apple products for more than six years, I made the switch from Apple to Samsung to test the technology and equipment at Fenway Golf Club in its first stages and it was surprisingly stress-free. In summary for a beginner, myRoundPro was useful to determine average yardages with each club, see an overview layout of an unfamiliar course and collect data that shows where strokes are gained and lost. The app is easy to set up with your data and information and tracking the shots was very user-friendly while using the Gear S3. At the completion of the round, the app syncs back with the phone and it gave me more stats on my own game than I've ever seen before. Even without the experience of a Tour pro, the stats are useful and now necessary for any golfer looking to take the next step in their game no matter if they play competitively or casually.
MyRoundPro does everything you'd need it to do during and after a round, with the goal of helping golfers see lower your scores more consistently. The app is designed to give helpful stats with proximity to the hole and front, middle and back yardages to each green. At the end of a round, a full, in-depth statistical breakdown is provided. It also gives data that that can help golfers learn their club distance gaps, strokes-gained in putting, approach, short and driving, fairways hit and greens in regulation.
By recording scores, users can share stats with a coach or friend. The app also allows users to compare handicaps and strokes gained against the baseline averages for another competitive mark if desired.
The specific stats can enhance practice time by pointing out patterns, tendencies and weaknesses to help golfers decide what area of their game to focus their practice on. Without a caddie and without walking off every shot from a marker, golfers sometimes already use range finders. Using the myRoundPro app would give the same information as a yardage reader, and by adding your shots and club selections, getting significantly more information in return.
If myRoundPro users have the Samsung smartwatch, entering shots is a breeze. However without the wearable option, users will have to get used to the task of entering on a shot-by-shot basis and keep their mobile devices close by during the round until in-club technology breaks through. The detailed stats and information golfers can get from myRoundPro gives them the tools to analyze their game and take it to the next level.