CT Golf News

You look for the 150 marker. Is it that small shrub to the right, or is that dying bush on the left? Or, could it be that sprinkler head? You guess, and then guess some more before choosing a club. Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong.

Meanwhile, the foursome behind you waits and waits and...

Sound typical? At many public courses, it is. But at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield, scenes like that may soon join the caddie as one of golf's endangered species.

Lyman recently installed the first global positioning satellite system in Connecticut and all of New England. The system is like having an electronic caddie aboard your golf cart, spewing forth an endless stream of distances, tips and other information from any point on all of Lyman's 36 holes.

"It's great. It's been really helpful," said Rob Warakowski of Milford, who got his first taste of the system during a recent round on the Robert Trent Jones course. "You don't have to look for the one-fifty marker."

Lyman installed the system not so much to help improve your game, but to combat public enemy No. 1 at every course -- slow play.

"The main thing we're looking to do is get consistency in speed of play," said Jim Lyman, vice president of golf operations at Lyman. "I think eventually this will be the rule rather than the exception."

The system, manufactured by Pro Shot Golf, combines computers, satellites and radio signals to transmit distance and hole information to a small LCD screen built onto the golf cart. A transmitter atop the cart beams a radio signal to a central computer at the clubhouse, which then translates the position based on a satellite-plotting of the 400-acre course.

The result is exact yardage to the back, front and center of the green from any location on the course. It also points out hazards and offers advice on taking them out of play -- information that can help eliminate time-consuming guesswork during a round.

Lyman said the system is actually a throwback to earlier days, when caddies walked courses with players, assisting them with each and every shot. Although carts were seen as a way to speed up play, their main purpose is to generate revenue. As a result, human caddies probably are forever gone as a public-course fixture.

The system was installed around Labor Day, Lyman said, and is being fine-tuned through the fall. Lyman acknowledges that reaction is mixed among the golfing public.

"You've got the purist who doesn't like it. You have the person who doesn't know the course who does like it," Lyman said, adding that the course is encouraging golfers to offer their "honest reaction" to the new system.

Lyman said the onboard computers are part of the club's goal of making golf more enjoyable. "We're trying to offer a country club-type feel in a public setting," he said. "We're trying to manage people's time when they come out here -- five hours for all the amenities."

And if that means nudging the stragglers out there a little, so be it. Another feature of the system allows rangers in the pro shop to track the movement of golfers on the course. If they spot a group that's holding up play, Lyman said they can send a "nice, subtle message" to the cart telling the group they've fallen behind.

"Nine times out of 10," Lyman said, "they don't mind."

Robert Samek is Editor and Publisher of CTGolfer Online.