The Golf Channel will use Doppler radar technology the TrackMan Tour System on two holes during its live airing of the Mercedes Benz Championship beginning Jan. 3.
TrackMan measures a golfer’s exact, 3-D club movement and ball flight and provides precise data on ball launch, ball flight and ball landing.
The network said the technology was previously only available to PGA Tour pros and has been used sparingly for television.
Data that can be collected by TrackMan include club-head speed, club-head angle of attack, club-head path, ball-launch speed, ball-launch direction (both vertical and horizontal), ball-launch spin, carry distance and dispersion and full trajectory information.
Golf Channel will also use TrackMan in other programming, including Golf Central and Sprint Post Game, and on its Web site.
“The technology allows for some pretty amazing statistical information, but how that translates to television will be the important part,” Golf Channel vice president of production and executive producer Tony Tortorici said in a statement.
“We will be able show a 3-D representation of a player’s tee shot, and then fly around it during flight to show different angles of its trajectory,” he added. “Different shots from different players also can be compared simultaneously, which can provide some pretty cool visuals and reveal player tendencies.”
