The U.S. Golf Association is conducting a three-month study using GPS trackers to track the movements and habits of golfers in hopes of shortening play.
At the end of the study, the USGA will use the data collected from the GPS trackers to address the four-plus hour average round, which some golfers feel is too long of a commitment and prevents them from regularly golfing. According to the National Golf Foundation, the sport lost 400,000 players last year.
“There is increasing tension between the amount of time people have for recreational activities and the amount of time that it takes to play golf,” said Rand Jerris, Senior Managing Director of Public Services for the USGA.
Eight USGA interns will gather data during 30 to 40 events at a variety of courses during the summer collecting 26,000 rounds of data for analysis.