It reminds me of this scene from the popular 90s American sitcom ‘SEINFELD’ where Cosmo Kramer, a huge golf enthusiast, goes for golf practice at Manhattan Beach near Brooklyn, and he swings his golf club, and the golf ball is nowhere to be seen. Long story short, it landed on the blowhole of a whale, blocking the nostrils.
Lost golf balls are a big issue in this already expensive sport, which people like as a hobby or play professionally (Aditi Ashok, an Indian professional golfer, is one to watch out for). According to research by the Danish Golf Union, around 300 million golf balls are discarded or lost by golfers every year in the USA alone. If taking into account the golf balls' prices, let’s say $2 per ball for average ones (Titleist Pro V1 golf balls cost around $4 each), the simple math tells us that approximately 600 million USD worth of golf balls are lost every year in the USA. How’s that for an expensive sport?
If you further consider the environmental impacts of this simple phenomenon, lost golf balls throw us off the course (I’m not talking golf course here!) in our cumulative efforts to meet sustainability targets.
The simple solution to this problem is RFID-based golf ball tracking in the form of RFID golf balls.
RFID is a wireless technology that uses radio waves for communication between an RFID tag and an RFID reader (handheld or fixed). The RFID tag is used to make RFID golf balls.
Here, I explain what an RFID golf ball is, how it is designed using a passive UHF RFID tag or active RFID tag, and how it can benefit golf players and golf ranges.
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What Are RFID Golf Balls?
RFID golf balls are golf balls designed with an RFID chip in the core of the ball, to facilitate location tracking of the ball once hit by the golfer. RFID tag/chip inside the ball gives a unique ID to each ball, which is used to identify and locate balls on the golf course.
An RFID reader, probably with a display (Zebra RFD40 with TC22), is used to track the ball by moving in the direction of the ball after it is hit. These readers can offer a precise and accurate location of the ball, within 1m.
As it happens, a lost golf ball not only frustrates a golfer on the field, but it’s another plastic out there in the lake, ocean, or park that will most likely decompose in 100 to 1000 years. The environmental impacts are huge, considering the popularity of the sport and the number of golf balls lost, as mentioned above, in the USA alone.
Typically, golfers try to locate their golf balls, but that doesn’t always result in finding the ball. Frustrated, they bring in another ball and take a penalty on their score, and that’s not good.
TopGolf and RF-golf are such companies that have come up with a solution that uses RFID (radio frequency identification) to identify and track the location of a golf ball, hit by a golfer. By locating the golf ball quickly, it improves the score of the golfer significantly, reducing penalties.
RFID chip golf ball designed by TopGolf, a top player in Golf balls, clubs, merchandise, etc., comes with a Rain RFID chip embedded in the core that is associated with the player and activated for play, as mentioned in their patent filed in the USA.
They employ this solution on their driving ranges to improve the golf playing experience of the visitors. Speedway readers are installed to monitor the ball and the score of each individual player.
If you want to know about RFID chips, RFID tags, and RFID readers, contact our RFID experts at EnCstore.com to help you understand what RFID is and how these tags and readers work.
RF-golf balls use an active RFID system to track and identify golf balls during play, saving you time while you have a good swing. RF golf ball locator can work for 100 hours at a time and can detect up to 50 meters with 1m accuracy. RF-golf balls, with battery-supported RFID tags, also have a 30-minute shutdown timer built in to save the power of the tag. Moreover, these balls fit the USGA golf ball specification, size, weight, symmetry, etc.
Another player in this field, Prazza, a Dutch company, also sells RFID golf balls that can be tracked by a smartphone-sized device.
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RFID Golf Balls for Golf Practice
While RFID golf balls are not yet being used for official matches, these smart golf balls with an RFID chip in the core are used for golf game practice by many golf game organisers. Various firms with practice golf ranges allow players to practice and improve their swing using these RFID golf balls and a golf ball tracking system.
The Future of RFID Chip Golf Balls
The USGA says you can’t use information like spin, strokes, speed, etc., using RFID golf balls while you play. Anyone in the business of selling golf balls probably wouldn’t want you to find every golf ball, would they?
But it can be said with certainty that RFID will be used in golf matches sooner or later.
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Frequently Asked Questions on RFID Golf Balls
Q1. What are RFID Golf Balls?
Ans. RFID golf balls are designed by embedding an RFID chip in the core of the golf ball. These are durable enough to withstand multiple hits without fail.
Q2. How to Track RFID Golf Balls?
Ans. To track an RFID golf ball, an RFID reader and a golf ball tracking system are used. Using an Android app on an RFID reader with a screen, players can quickly locate golf balls after each hit, which saves crucial time during practice.
Q3. Are RFID golf balls legal to use in official golf tours?
Ans. No, not yet. RFID golf balls are not yet officially sanctioned for use in official games, but in the near future, we can see that happening.
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