ShotLink Tracks Golf at the Speed of Light - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

ShotLink Tracks Golf at the Speed of Light

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By Douglas Fritz - email

Believe it or not, there is a lot of high tech gadgetry that goes into broadcasting the Greenbrier Classic on national television.

A lot of people view golf as an old school, classy game, but they may be surprised at all of the equipment that travels with the tour. Millions of dollars in electronic gadgets move from town-to-town every week.

One system that is essential in making sure information is the most up to date is the ShotLink tractor trailer.  It gathers information from nearly 40 surveyor cameras, as well as the live scorers and posts it to not only the Jumbotron spread across the course, but to the national television audience.

"This is a graphical illustration of how a golf ball and golf player plays the golf course," said PGA Tour Operation Director , Donnie Wallace. "Never before have we had a distance variable, so the laser allows us to capture that."

ShotLink is run by a team of producers and engineers, but most of their help comes from the volunteers and Wallace says they couldn't do it without them.

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