Golfdom, October 2012

When the Department of Defense began developing the Global Positioning System GPS of satellite navigation in the early 70s its thoughts were limited to military use The Cold War was still burning hot and the threat of nuclear war was used to justify the billions of dollars it would require to develop accurate satellite based navigation for defense Little did they know the general public would be using this constellation of satellites 40 years later to map the fastest route to a Starbucks find where the bass are biting or aid in deciding between a 7 iron and an 8 iron For many years GPS use was reserved primarily for government operations offering only a degraded signal to civilians behind a curtain called selective availability But in 1996 President Bill Clinton signed an executive order declaring GPS to be a dual use system The order became official in the spring of 2000 when selective availability was discontinued allowing civilians to receive the nondegraded GPS signal globally and opening a floodgate of public use GPS products and software The golf industry was quick to adopt this newly available technology Soon bulky and expensive GPS receivers were appearing in golf carts and golf bags throughout the world During these early years satellite acquisition often was slow and could be hindered by clouds and trees Consequently users questioned the accuracy of the new devices But as the technology continued to improve the uses and application of GPS for golfers and golf course managers has PINPOINT ACCURACY broadened From pin sheets to course mapping to satellite control of individual sprayer tips forward thinking entrepreneurs and superintendents are developing systems and uses for GPS technology to manage golf courses more efficiently economically and ecologically Pin rotations It came to be out of frustration says Jon Schultz president of ezLocator when asked for the spark that ignited the concept for his GPS based pin management system Frustrated as a player we were seeing the same pin locations every week Schultz an avid golfer and 30 year veteran of the technology industry set out to develop a system that would allow superintendents to rotate their pin positions more efficiently while Continued on page 28 GPS technology helps superintendents manage golf courses more efficiently economically and ecologically B Y S T E V E N T I N G L E w w w g o l f d o m c o m Golfdom 27 ILLUSTRATIONS BY ISTOCK INTERNATIONAL INC TALKING TURF TECH PART 3 IN A 3 PART SERIES