New Software Helps Golfers Go Pin Hunting

Your home club may not be quite as famous as Merion, host for the 2013 U.S. Open, but you can enjoy at least one of the advantages members of that famous course have. It's the innovative ezLocator system that helps the superintendent at Merion and dozens of other top facilities manage pin locations.

Merion's director of grounds Matt Shaffer says, "By looking at our pin sheets and seeing what kind of play we're getting, we can set things up accordingly and avoid making certain mistakes.  And it allows us to water better.  I think it's definitely going to give Merion an opportunity to put itself in the best possible position, and the technology will give the USGA a lot more flexibility.  I think the players may actually see the difference."

ezLocator Pin Sheets

A high-tech solution to an age-old problem, ezLocator eliminates the shortcomings of restrictive systems such as dividing the green into zones or front, middle and back.  After a 3D mapping system locates all the possible placements on each green, the information is entered in a program and with a click of a button the superintendent can get the job done, allowing the members of the club to enjoy tournament quality pin sheets each time they play.

The product was developed by Jon Schultz, CEO of ezLocator, who is also a member of the Dallas Athletic Club. After chats with other members of his weekend golf group in the 19th hole, he saw a need that created an opportunity.  "It seemed they always played the same pin positions and that all the golfers wanted a tournament like experience every time they teed off," Schultz says.  From his experience as a top amateur player, a caddie, a tournament chairman, he began developing a system that was easy to use by the superintendent and would enhance the member’s experience.  A test program was conducted at the Dallas Athletic Club that evolved into the software application that is on the market today.

Kevin Nettles, superintendent at the Dallas Athletic Club, says, "There’s nothing like it on the market. Players absolutely love the system and it has allowed me to manage the greens from a stress point.  I can isolate certain areas of the greens when necessary and save certain locations for special events."  In addition to Merion and the Dallas AC, ezLocator is now being used by many of the top clubs and courses across the U.S. and Canada including Westchester Country Club.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf