An innovative piece of 3D technology in which golfers can benefit from a birds-eye-view of the course before heading out to play is the latest addition to the golfing facilities at the Vale Resort in Hensol, near Cardiff.
The 3D Flyover technology is used by broadcasters such as Sky Sports HD and Matchroom Sport and top tournaments including the PGA Europro Tour.
Golfers can watch the journey to the green through aerial shots of each hole, offering insight on how the course should be best played, before teeing off. The Flyovers can be watched on the Vale Resort’s website at www.vale-hotel.com/Golf/Wales-National-Course-Flyover or in the Resort’s pro shop.
Players of the Vale Resort’s Wales National Course and Lake Course can also benefit from the 3D-GPS smart phone app with pin-positioning technology. This enables golfers to calculate their distance to the front, middle and back of the green so they know what club to use to match the distance accurately.
The Resort’s GPS app also has a digital guide to playing both of the courses and access to the 3D Golf Flyover of each hole. The app and its GPS technology is also available on fixed screens secured to the resort’s golf buggies.
Clive Coombes, the Vale Resort's golf manager, commented: “This technology revolutionises how golfers can prepare before heading out to play a round on either of our championship-winning courses.
“We are the first club in Wales to have the full system installed - not only the Golf Flyover technology and the GPS app but access to the system in our golf buggies and on screens at the resort.
“Golf Flyovers are used in some of the world’s biggest venues and by the biggest broadcasters in our industry, and it’s a fantastic addition to the facilities we already offer at the Resort. Our golfers can now see hole-by-hole what’s on offer, be it the mixture of wide and narrow fairways, water features or wooded areas – a unique system of technology which sets the stage for anyone coming to visit us.”
The Wales National Course and the Lake Course have been host to a number of PGA golf tournaments, the latest being the Wales Challenge 2009.
