Wouldn’t it be nice to hit a few ranges balls during long airport layovers? One company is making that possible. GOLFZON, the highly touted Korean-bases provider of golf simulators, recently announced the installation of VISION and GDR (Golfzon Driving Range) Systems at Hong Kong International Airport. Airport users can accurately simulate practice using the GDR platform, which shows virtual ball flight while offering data on distance, trajectory and quality of the strike. This is the third indoor driving range simulator the company has installed in Japan.
The popular Discovery Channel show “Myth Busters” went to Pebble Beach Golf Links to test the theory: Video game training can improve real life performance. The show’s hosts, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, neither of whom are golfers, played four holes at Pebble. Hyneman then spent an entire day playing a popular golf video game, while Savage hit the practice range at Pebble Beach Golf Academy with PGA Director of Instruction Laird Small. They then went back out to the play the same four holes. Savage improved his score by 25 percent, while Hyneman only improved by two strokes. Proving that video games are no substitute for practice and instruction when it comes to golf: a message you may want to share with your junior students.
LPGA Tour golfer Sandra Gal has been writing a weekly diary for USA TODAY Sports, sharing her adventures from this season. In her latest entry, she details her practice routine and what she does during range sessions.
Practicing is the only way to improve at golf, but sometimes golf can help others improve people’s life in other ways. That’s the case with 26-year-old Kolby Garrison, who was born legally blind. Garrison is studying to be a stenographer, and uses her love for golf to help her practice. She listens to PGA Tour radio religiously and takes notes on the broadcasts. “They are the reason I love golf because they put everything into such great detail,” she said. “Everything I know about the game is because of (what I hear on PGA Tour Radio).”
