Bushnell Announces Launch Pro Partnership with Foresight Sports

[a98cr125]

Bushnell & Foresight are partnering up for a new consumer level launch monitor.

[Nicolcm]

Did FS tell you what was causing the interference? That is very disappointing. If it makes you any better, I have a friend who is a long-distance competitor and he switched from radar to Quad.

yes. Have an aluminum wrought iron looking fence outback. That was messing with the signal. Noticed it on the driver really, just the launch angle was off.

[GungHoGolf]

What was your ball to screen/net distance? Have seen launch angle problems (mostly too high) with driver with less than 10', especially with higher ball speeds. Have never seen metal behind screen/net be a problem with radar.

[Nicolcm]

It was 8 feet. The launch angle was too low. It was weird because ball speed and everything else made sense.

the flightscope rep was onsite, and he took the data back to the “lab” and they noticed issues and said it was the fence.

the main reason they were out there was due to the power lines I have out back. They didn’t notice an issue with that though.

[Noob20]

Has anyone received actual confirmation of what club data is measured with this device? Looking specifically at club path and face to path.

[Barry Gordon]

Do you think we will have to buy the FS software or use E6?

[Nicolcm]

Do you think we will have to buy the FS software or use E6?

When I spoke with FS last month, still seemed murky - but I understand that if you got from bushnell that they you didn’t have to buy fsx, but if through fs you did.

seems like a dumb idea to me from fs. Think most people will save the 3k and get from
bushnell.

[bubbtubbs]

Depends on if they'll need it later for other features the device offers, though you're almost certainly correct.

[Noob20]

I keep getting emails from Bushnell that give absolutely zero in details, just a lot of adjectives about how great the product is.

[Dubbs]

Hello new to this forum. I was going to purchase a GC2 and had reached out to Foresight and they told me they no longer sell the unit. Looks like this new LM is the reason behind it and also that the GC2 is I believe a 10 yr technology. It makes sense for the partnership and would not be surprised if they provide a limited FSX data version with the ability to "upgrade" for a monthly/yearly subscription. Has anyone noticed that there are a ton of GC2's being sold in the aftermarket. Makes me think those individuals know something that we don't know.

[bubbtubbs]

More likely that people are anticipating the Bushnell is more likely to harm resale value rather than help and are trying to cash in while prices are high.

[Dubbs]

I have also seen talks about only allowing FSX software. What are everyone's thoughts on this? Other than graphics what are the drawbacks of only allowing FSX? Trackman does this but they actually bought a JNP golf and then revamped their software to include more features.

[HappyGilmore102]

HI Dubbs

If Bushnell charge another 1k for few sim courses etc............skytrak/mevo + don't have to do anything.

People will still only have skytrak/mevo+ and Garmin R10 with sim options at the 2K price point.

Again, homeusers are where the sales volume are at, 4K plus not many home users willing to spend that on LM and annual golf membership fees.

[bubbtubbs]

Maybe I'm just out of touch, but I can't imagine that someone who is willing to spend a few thousand for turf, 4K projection, impact screen and software is going to balk at an extra thousand bucks for the launch monitor: you know, the thing that actually makes all that other gear useful for something besides occupying floorspace.

If I were cutting corners anywhere on a sim, it would be on the display and graphics side.

[Dubbs]

exactly bubbtubbs! People need to stop thinking this is a lower-end LM. That is not the intention here. It is for those wanting more data and with that comes an additional cost. If you want a bargain price for an LM, there are plenty of other options for those seeking that price point. I think there are a lot of new people here in the market for the first time that doesn't understand that LM is their own thing and once you start adding screens, turf, hitting mats, projectors, computers, and whatnot it all adds up.

[Bechs]

It's such a shame the clear leader in engineering for indoor golf launch monitors is such a scrimp on the software. This unit looks amazing. It is a mini quad, a GC3, something that isn't $30,000 but will give you real great ball data and some useful club data on top! So amazing. Partner with Bushnell so you can get it into stores and distribute it better world wide -- so smart. Sure it does not pull ALL the possible club data, but when you see them test to tip top launch monitors they never seem to agree on these numbers anyway. Angle of attack etc. On paper this thing is a beast.

Then there is the issue -- FSX vs its competitors like TGC. You pay $500 for a course that looks better on a playstation game. If TGC charged you $500 a course what would it cost? Something like $50 million dollars!! There is talk they are putting it on Unity. May help, but I have my doubts it will meet even get near how good course are on TGC2019 standards. Let along 2k21. But they cant punt FSX now. Imagine the uproar from those who paid all that money for the courses on the Quad. They have to upgrade them. Sad they couldn't start over somehow with a 2k21 port.

My guess is this unit will cost;
- $4999USD (range only)
- $2999USD (FSX2020)

[Noob20]

Bechs, what are you basing your expectation of measured data points on? Do you know what club data they will measure?

[Dubbs]

It's not just about FSX vs any other 3rd party software. It's about features that the unit will provide along with the application that it will use to display that data. And the most obvious is about costs and the revenue streams. All of the LM use their own proprietary software to utilize the data features and they partner with 3rd party sims like TGC/E6. And you better believe that the LM will get a cut on whatever sim software they sell to their customers. Bushnell has no choice to push FSX since Foresight was the one that designed and built this LM. In order for this LM to partner with other sim software companies, they will have to give Bushnell/Foresight a good margin on their software sales.

Full Swing Kit was intended to sell for $4K but keep in mind, that they were intending to roll out an IOS-only application and was going to initially partner with E6 connect because they are one of the few that have an IOS sim software. That LM also did not have putt capabilities so it would not be ideal for SIM usage.

[Bechs]

Noob20 ---- I don't have any inside knowledge, it is just my logical deduction. They listed Club head speed, Club path etc in that other release. If they were to put in something like Impact location - what separates this from a Quad? Don't get me wrong, if this device gives impact location and AoA and such, I will probably buy 2 and be stoked. But it wouldn't really make sense from a business point of view.

Dubbs --- Full swing kit seemed interesting, but how can you trust in apparent radio silence on it. I feel if they were confident on it they would marketing that somehow.

[dinospumoni]

I think people are vastly underestimating how much expendable income people have (or at least are willing to spend).

The decent private courses in my area charge a $3.5k initiation fee for an under 30 membership.

When you look at the unit from that perspective even $4k is an absolute steal.

Unfortunately, golf in the US is a game that costs a lot of money to play.

I dont think foresight and bushnell are targeting your average hacker with this launch monitor. I think they see the way things are trending and how valuable data is to improving ones golf game, and are trying to target the knowledgable enthusiast who really wants to get better, but doesn't have the money to drop on a GCQuad.

A lot of the reason more people don't drop $5k-$10k on an in home set up is the general public just isn't aware of how accurate launch monitors really are these days, and dont think the investment is worth their money.

If bushnell is able to provide a larger marketing budget to really push this thing to the public, I personally think they will fly off the shelves at even $5k.

Also, if they are able to measure club path, club head speed, and AoA, I would have to think between that data and the ball data you will be able to calculate all other clubhead data you would need very accurately.

I'm fairly sure that those three club data points are the only measurements trackman actually captures before combining the clubhead data with ball data to calculate things like face angle, etc., so I don't see why you couldn't do the same with this unit.

I dont think they will openly provide the calculations, but I'm sure someone on here will whip something up just like GungHoGolf did on skytrak.

[HappyGilmore102]

Hi

I can't see people paying 10K for a home setup and 3.5k plus annual fees to their golf clubs.

That market is very small.

In my opinion LM's do not improve your real life game that much because in the real game scoring really is done around the greens.

Everyone I know use LM's at this stage, including my local pros, everyone talks about numbers, D plane etc...........but they are all still pretty useless at the game in real life.

I have not yet met anyone who bought a LM and went from 10 handicap to +1 or +2.

Nothing will improve your game as much as playing more real golf.

INVESTMENT, my goodness the amount of money people have thrown away on LM's is crazy, oh flightscope is the best, no now its trackman 3, no now its trackman 4, no GC2 , no now its Quad, no now its Hawk.

I guess we will do, say and buy anything to justify golf spend..................me included.

[dinospumoni]

I think you are missing the point.

The $3.5k number I quoted is for people who are under 30, but I would assume more than half the people who frequent this form are not under 30. Most places where I live charge closer to $10k for initiation, with dues of at least $6,000 a year if you are a full grown adult not receiving any kind of discount.

There are very few people with the amount of free time needed to play enough rounds in a year to get their money's worth when spending that much.

Most people have lives outside of golf that include working for a living, taking care of kids, etc. and would be lucky to get out and play 30 rounds a year.

Having an accurate simulator at home is money much better spent than paying essentially $150 to $200 a round belonging to a private club.

I'm not saying that it is a substitute for playing real golf, but for many people playing public courses and getting some practice in at night on the simulator is a much more realistic option than playing 80+ rounds a year at their local club.

The word investment wasn't meant to be taken literally. I was more trying to say that if you spend $7k on a launch monitor you will most likely be able to recoup a large portion of that cost if you decide to turn around and sell it.

If you decide to join a club, spend $6.5k in dues for the year, and only end up getting out 25 times, you essentially lit that money on fire and will never see a cent of it again.

To the point of LM's not improving people's games in real life - a tool is only as good as the person using it.

If you have no clue what the data on the LM says about your swing then yeah, I agree, it's gonna be pretty useless.

Most of the useful information for making swing changes is actually the club data which has been out of most people's reach until now, because the data has only been available when using the most expensive launch monitors (GCQuad, GC2 + HMT, Trackman, whatever the top flightscope product is).

If people are able to derive accurate club data from the Launch Pro it will be a big deal for the game of golf.

I have not met anyone in general who has went from a legit 10 to a legit +1 or +2 not counting kids who hadn't fully developed their skills. Launch monitor or no launch monitor.

[Gresh12]

My group of friends contradicts the last few statements on what the market may be. As does the photos I see on Facebook of setups for Mevo+ and SkyTrak.

Most of the people I know that have or are considering personal launch monitors are trying to replace the driving range or play some sim golf accurately but cheaply. I see outdoor setups and garage setups and temporary setups where people are trying to find the cheapest but functional mat etc.

There is absolutely a crowd of building a high end sim room but I think that’s still the minority of users (due to cost or home space in many cities). If I had a permanent space in my house I’d for sure buy a GC4 and maybe eventually add the projector and screen but I’d want accuracy first as playing off my TV is fine. But in practice I don’t have a great space so spending $25k Canadian for all the quad features to set it up for short game practice in the garage, in my back yard when the weather cooperates or take it to the range with me seems crazy but $3-5k USD I can swallow.

If someone is trying to win on volume I think the middle class (definition widely variable) which I don’t think are spending $20k on a full setup and have the space to do it right. In my opinion the folks wanting a top end setup are less likely to balk at $10k for the LM.

[bubbtubbs]

All this assumes that you'll be able to pay to unlock features after purchase rather than it being done at the time of sale, as well.

[Gresh12]

Fair points. I guess most of my data points value accuracy over a fancy hitting spot but that will vary by person.

[bubbtubbs]

I'm with you on that. As long as the ball/club data were accurate, I'd play golf on an Atari or NES hitting into a bedsheet.

[FNBogey]

Or ya just crack the dumb thing, make your own Connection app and play any 3rd party software ya want. Just like we already do for the GC2c Quad, Hawk, etc. Simple really. Any LM company thinking they can keep their unit locked down are fools. Where there’s a will, there’s a way and when this gets released for $3500…..there’s gonna be a hell of a lot of wills.

[bubbtubbs]

Do people jailbreak Quads? I'd be 100% behind having that done.

[HappyGilmore102]

HI FNBogey

I wish that where true, but no one has even been able to crack skytrak so we can connect for sim play without play the yearly fee.

Quad is region blocked as you have to pay foresight extra bucks if you what to take your LM on your travels.

I believe it needs to be connected to the internet once a month as well or locks up or something.

CG2's are loved because they never had these issues.

Foresight bought red chain software years ago and paid big money, they will lock this new unit down to FSX.

Is trackman locked to JNPG or can any 3rd party sim software be use?

[FNBogey]

Skytrak has already been cracked.
Quad too and can be played on anything really.
TM4 has also already been cracked by some.

[FNBogey]

Of course……There’s guys using them to play TGC .

[wbond]

Where is the $3-3.5k numbers coming from? Just guessing or has something been leaked. Don’t see how a device that will report more data than a GC2 does is going to come in about half its price. Even based on age of the Gc2 I would think that may be too low. And if it’s only missing a handful of club measurements compared to a quad, that is a huge gap in pricing between those two.

[FNBogey]

There’s been a couple of very good sources that have us right in the ballpark. A lot can change between now and release but the base model of it is pegged to be in that $3500 range. What that includes is anybody’s guess. But I think it’ll be base model with very little software. Then $5000-$5500 for FSX bundle. One thing I do know…..:if they try to only have this with a FSX Sim option…..it’ll be dead in the water. When Uneekor drops their floor unit for similar price and is open to all sim software…..game over.

[Dubbs]

FNBogey, Uneekor is going to drop their prices?

[ILgolfer]

FNBogey is that the rumor that Uneekor is going to release a floor model? Do you have any information on that or just speculation? I am working on planning a simulator build and I liked the idea of the Uneekor but for my space and price I couldn’t really make it work. So that would be an interesting development. Just didn’t know if you had heard that somewhere.

[FNBogey]

I think you’ll be surprised. Days of us sim golfers getting price gouged are over.