A modest tee shot away from Boeing’s airplane assembly factory in Renton, Wash., golf balls are taking flight at a sprawling new Topgolf sports and entertainment venue that opened on Friday. Topgolf Renton-Seattle is the company’s 78th location and first in Washington state, and golfers of all skill levels streamed into the place in the midst of a heat wave to smack golf balls, play games, eat, drink and take in the atmosphere. Topgolf uses Toptracer, a ball-tracing technology which powers the tech-enabled driving range experience. Each ball hit from 102 different bays on three levels is tracked by cameras… Read More
Topgolf is ready to swing into action south of Seattle at its latest tech-enabled golf facility, with an opening planned for Friday in Renton, Wash. The sports and entertainment company’s 78th venue is its first in Washington state and it will feature three levels and 102 open-air hitting bays. Topgolf is also bringing Toptracer, its ball-tracing technology which powers the high-tech driving range experience so golfers can play such games as “Angry Birds” and “Jewel Jam.” Along with a mix of food, drink and music, the location will also have indoor Swing Suite simulator bays powered by Full Swing technology,… Read More
Before you take yet another mulligan, consider that the tool to improving your golf game might not be found in your bag of clubs. The makers of an app that employs artificial intelligence and 3D motion analysis say they’ve created a revolutionary way to improve your golf swing through a video shot on your phone. Sportsbox AI is a startup that launched in 2021 out of AI Thinktank, a Bellevue, Wash.-based incubator for AI ideas founded by tech veterans Mike Kennewick and Rich Kennewick. They’re the brothers who founded Voicebox Technologies, an early leader in speech recognition and natural language tech that sold… Read More
It started with a veteran tech executive trying to improve his golf game. Now Brett Campbell has turned his sports interest into a new venture firm. Campbell, co-founder of workplace automation software vendor Nintex, is the executive chairman of Overload Golf Ventures, a new group based in Kirkland, Wash. that is seeking to make investments in tech-focused golf companies. Campbell was taking golf lessons when he met Randall Henry, CEO of aboutGolf, a leading indoor golf simulator developer. They discussed how technology can be used to improve golf and get more people into the game. That eventually led to Campbell creating… Read More
Watching the world’s top golfers at The Open Championship at Carnoustie this week, I was struck by a juxtaposition of old and new. As the guys practiced on the 176-year-old driving range, a huge video screen behind them displayed graphical, complex statistical representations of their drives — the same screen I had just seen at my local indoor fitting studio. Whether a tour pro or a total hack, we’re all looking for any way to improve our performance. And thanks to huge advances in technology and lowered costs for everything from club fitting to body movement, a number of top… Read More
