Arccos Golf Launches Caddie 2.0 platform

Arccos Golf has released it’s ‘next-generation’ artificial intelligence (A.I) platform, which now provides players with real-time strategies for every shot, on any hole in the world.

The Arccos Caddie 2.0 is powered by Microsoft Azure and has also been made a free feature for all users of the Arccos 360 system. 

More than one million rounds of golf have been played using Arccos since its introduction on over 40,000 courses worldwide. This makes it golf’s richest data set, having registered 418 million GPS course mapping data points, as well as collating 26 billion time-stamped, geotagged data points on golfer behaviours.

By using the pioneering on-course data, Arccos engineers and Microsoft’s world class A.I. scientists have been able to make a significant expansion of Arccos Caddie’s capabilities.

“The entire sports landscape is being revolutionised by advanced analytics, and golf is the most ideal sport for the application of these concepts,” said Andrew Turner, Senior Director of Global Sales at Arccos Golf. “Working with Microsoft, we’re plugging into a very traditional framework – the caddie/player relationship – and taking it to the next level through the power of A.I.

“Considering only 3% of golfers today have access to advice from a human caddie, we’re also helping adjust the caddie experience by making it available to anyone,” he added.

Arccos Caddie 2.0 uses a wide variety of inputs to provide golfers with real-time insights into optimal and alternative strategies, as well as outcome predictions, for every shot played. The factors considered include but are not limited to:

A user’s shot history

The historical performance of other Arccos users

Wind speed/direction and other weather conditions

Elevation changes

Hole geometry

Hazard locations

“The PGA TOUR has done a great job of using advanced analytics to help its players practice and perform their best,” said Mike Downey, Director, Principal Evangelist – Sports at Microsoft.

“At other levels of the game, capturing the necessary on-course data has been a real challenge. Arccos Golf has cracked that code and built a robust data set which is being deployed via the Microsoft Azure cloud to the benefit of golfers worldwide,” he added.

Winner of an Editor’s Choice award on both sides of the Atlantic, having been recognised by Golf Digest and Golf Monthly, the Arccos Golf platform helps golfers of all skill levels play smarter to shoot lower scores. In 2017, Arccos users improved their handicap by an average of 3.55 strokes – a rate that’s 46.7x faster than the average player with a USGA handicap.

“Arccos Caddie 2.0 demonstrates A.I. complementing human capability,” added Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President – A.I. Business at Microsoft. “Through the power of Microsoft Azure, amateur golfers have information at their fingertips, that was not easily available before. A.I. will have a huge effect on the golf industry and it’s an exciting time to be in this space as we help Arccos Golf lead the charge.”

For more information, please visit: www.arccosgolf.com.

Related:

Issue 3 of GolfPunk digital magazine out now. Read here.