Game-raising gadgets and golf balls for 2019

One of the great things about golf is the perennial unveiling of exciting new technologies, allowing golfers to continually raise their game and knock a couple of strokes off their scorecards. This year is no exception. Here are some of the new gadgets and equipment you’re likely to encounter on the links this season.

New golf balls
Golf balls may look simple but, in reality, the little white spheres are technological marvels. Take the new Chrome Soft balls from Callaway, which use Nobel Prize technology to improve driver distance and short-game spin. These balls feature graphene nanoparticles in the outer core. (Graphene was discovered only in 2004 and is the thinnest and strongest compound known to man.)

Then there’s the forthcoming Genius Ball, made by OnCore (launching this Father’s Day). This is a golf ball equipped with a tiny microchip that pairs with the users mobile phone and provides them with a bunch of useful data in real time, including distance, ball velocity, spin rate and amount of draw or fade. It also has GPS, allowing you to instantly locate your ball, whether it’s been hooked, sliced or flat-out ripped into the bush.

New rangefinders
It used to be only PGA tour players who could get precise yardages to the flag while out on the course. Now, with rangefinders, the average golfer can enjoy this same advantage. There are two types of rangefinders: laser and GPS.

Laser rangefinders measure distances with laser beams users manually aim at targets while looking through a view port, whereas GPS rangefinders come pre-programmed with all the yardages golfers need (yards to the pin, to bunkers, to water), provided that the course they’re playing has been mapped.

The latest big stride in rangefinder technology came with the Bushnell Hybrid, launched last year. This is the first rangefinder that integrates both laser and GPS into one LCD screen. The Hybrid provides extremely precise yardages and comes pre-loaded with 36,000 courses spanning 30 countries.

If you’re looking to get a leg up on your golf buddies this season, there are a number of other advancements in golf equipment worthy of attention (check out, for instance, the formidable Taylormade M3 driver or the “spikeless” golf shoes models from Footjoy, Callaway and Adidas). Drop into your pro shop or local golf shop to check it all out.