Protracer: tracing the golf ball trajectory

January 29th, 2008 · 2 Comments

Protracer Image I watched the Buick Invitation golf tournament on CBS Sports last weekend. They introduced a new broadcast technology called ProTracer. It’s a video system that tracks the ball flight so we can see how well the golfer work their shots off the tee. The system makes it interesting (and useful) to see the ball flight when the wind is influencing the trajectory. The winds were especially a factor on Torrey Pines Golf Course.

This Swedish technology was first introduced in a professional tournament during Open De España, back in April 2007. When it hit America, that’s when we’ll see this technology gain popularity. CBS is also the broadcaster for The Masters this year, so we’ll most likely see this technology debut in that American major tournament.

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Posted in Golf

2 responses so far ↓

1 London Swede // Apr 15, 2008 at 2:36 pm

You were right - they did use it at the Masters. Twice on Saturday (Mickelson terrible hook into the back bunker on 16 that effectively killed his charge) and 6-7 times on Sunday. On Sunday they had 3 cameras, on 10, 13 and 16. I really liked 10 and 13, on TV you can’t normally see how much these guys can bend the ball of they want.
2 rudyamid // Apr 15, 2008 at 7:00 pm

I didn’t watch the entire telecast on saturday and sunday, but I did notice they the use of Protracer for Trevor Immelman’s shot on the par-3 16th where he put his ball into the water. The ball did a draw and then went straight down. Amazing, even with a double bogey he still managed to win The Masters. It wasn’t an exciting finish. Even Trevor wasn’t excited.

Oh well, maybe next year Tiger will be in his top form during The Masters.