Bushnell Announces Launch Pro Partnership with Foresight Sports

[a98cr125]

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

[Dubbs]

I also think FSX with BLP may be available as monthly/ yearly subscription instead of your $3K price point that it’s currently.

[six7red]

Definitely appears to be subscription based. First spotted by a user on GolfWRX: https://www.foresightsports.com/fsx-...lation-guide-0

[alexsmith11]

Video posted of GC3

https://youtu.be/js-4s5mle9I

[Gresh12]

I appreciate this video is not Foresight sanctioned but this whole rollout is odd. They have sent teaser emails with very little info, they have theoretically sold some presales in Canada if you believe Facebook and there seems to be a divergent path on US vs everywhere else which feels broken very quickly.

If rumours are true and in Canada you must buy FSX and fully unlocked for $9k but in US you don’t have to buy FSX but instead can go subscription how does this divergent path work next time there is an update. US just keeps on subscription and everywhere else has to pay a flat fee.

I understand price differences and supply/demand etc in different countries but it changes the value proposition fir me entirely unless I can get a US one and just need a VPN to work seamlessly for range and simulation.

[bubbtubbs]

Can you not just refuse to upgrade and continue to use the older version?

[Gresh12]

I guess potentially I could not upgrade but then feel like I’ll be annoyed having spent al this money and not getting current software features (to the extent they are significantly better).

That said if the newly leaked info that the two tiers of subscription are 5 vs 10 courses and you still have to buy any additional courses being the model I’m not seeing nearly as much advantage of subscription except lower initial outlay of cash.

I really want the hardware but more and more the software looks like it may scare me away unless officially or unofficially 3rd party simulation works (and if officially not at a massively inflated Foresight price).

[FGrafton]

Spoke to Foresight rep. Release is mid October, $7,000 fully loaded. Includes FSX 2020, and FSX Pro (club fitting). All ball data. Club data is speed, club angle, club path, attack angle, smash factor. No locaation on club face

[Skedaddle]

Do you mean club path rather than angle? Thanks

[mjmtengu]

Spoke to Foresight rep. Release is mid October, $7,000 fully loaded. Includes FSX 2020, and FSX Pro (club fitting). All ball data. Club data is speed, club angle, attack angle, smash factor. No locaation on club face

Seems quite "cheap" relative to GC2 + HMT + FSX 2020...what's the catch?

[Gresh12]

bubbtubbs totally agree on the hype and expectations. I’ll never know but I am curious on the production costs of these things.

My Mevo+ against TM4 was bang on indoors at 25’ ball flight on basically every shot. The AoA was different but consistently different. So I would say Flightsvope has basically taken a $15k X3 (my pricing may be off) and delivered a good portion of the functionality for $2k. It seems like Bushnell can do somewhat the same thing on hardware if the speculation is they’ll sell hardware at $3k with some unlocks on a good portion of the features of the Quad. The difference is Foresight is trying to extract more revenue from this (which is fine it’s just an observation).

My bigger question is would have it been smarter to drive down a base model of quad to say $4k (higher for extra camera) then unlock fees for extra club data all the way back up. It’s hard to imagine the quad hardware is more than 1/3 more unless the GC3 uses inferior cameras. This would give people an upgrade path and I suspect over time people will want more info and unlock. Whereas once you have a fully unlocked GC3 it’s a big deal to sell and re-purchase a quad.

Lots of rambling and clearly Foresight did their analysis but part of me still thinks they missed the mark a bit here. However they have a huge advantage over the radar units for most home users (space and interference) so maybe it justifies roughly 4x price compared to Mevo+ all told (I’m considering upgrading so obviously they’ll sell a bunch of units, I just don’t think they’ve gone after consumer market as aggressively as they sounded like they would).

[Dubbs]

Agree with you @bubtubbs that people were not being realistic with their expectations. Marketing did hint that this was going to be "an affordable launch monitor" for everyone which can be interpreted in many ways. Gresh12, Keep in mind that this will be the lowest LM has sold to date. We still don't fully know how the BLP will work, we are just going by hints that people have dropped.

bubbtubbs, you can't go wrong with the EYEXO. From the posts that I have seen, people are extremely satisfied with their purchase.

[Dubbs]

Damn it bubbtubbs, now you have me second-guessing myself. I feel like if I go with the GC3, I'm going to eventually wish I had more clubface data and not just club path, attack angle, smash, etc.

If I go with The Kit, I'm going wish I had putting.

With the EYEXO, you have all of the data parameters you had hoped for. My only problem is the actual mounting on the ceiling.

Sigh.

[Virtualadam]

Pure speculation - but since Garmin has 40K+ courses mapped, perhaps this is a way for Forsight to get more into the simulator software space. Perhaps leveraging the Garmin course data to expedite the development of simulated courses....Foresight brings the hardware, Garmin the software/course data and distribution side...

Regardless - I'm looking forward to what this unit has in store....

[bubbtubbs]

The partnership is with Bushnell, unless you were saying they could have future cooperation?

[Virtualadam]

Thanks for the correction - meant Bushnell (must have had the new Garmin on my mind :>), Bushnell has around the same number of courses mapped..

[HappyGilmore102]

Hi Everyone

I wouldn't be so quick to jump on the GC3 unit, at the bushnell price maybe, but

GC2 is old, patents for the GC2 should be running out soon or have run out and i think a company like rapsodo could just sell a GC2 copy under their own name for a fraction of the price.

I see this happening soon, copied GC2, unlocked with TGC2023 for 4K.

Happy Days

[HappyGilmore102]

Hi Dubbs

I use a skytrak, I just don't like Foresights price gouging, especially outside US market.

[HappyGilmore102]

Hi Brettster

Regarding the Garmin R10

This is exactly what i thought would happen once HOME USERS start to use it.

Its accurate enough for the majority of home users, and the added sim options is the bonus people want for winter.

Add access to 40000 courses, and not charging 500 bucks a pop for 1 course like foresight, which really is a joke at this stage.

Next versions will be better, one of the lastest videos on youtube compared it shot for shot to the EYEXO which i thought was pretty good.

Good enough for HOME USE.

[Brettster]

HappyGilmore102 - yes, exactly right. I'm not your typical 'home user' though as I've been in this market for almost 10 years, and watching the market for even longer. But, yes, I think the intent is that the Garmin R10 will at least bring many, many more users into the Sim market that can now afford a LM and that's a good thing.

As those users become more savvy with using their Garmin Approach R10, they will start to look around for software Golf Simulator experiences and want to setup an indoor simulator for play during off-season. Having more people in the market can only create more competition, more demand, and eventually more supply of products to increase competition and drive innovation moving forward and that's got me excited again about Simulator Golf.

I cannot wait to see where this leads in the next year, next 2 years, and the direction the market goes in the next 5-10 years. It's going to be an interesting ride, that's for sure, and little place for companies like those in the past that took as much time as they needed, even claiming they had product before it was ready for market... they will get driven out of the market as golf consumers have more options, and it will create even more options for us golfers.

[John6577]

Bought a brand new GC2 about 2 years ago and just got around to using it (sim room to forever to get done). Question if it is worth selling and upgrading to the GC3 (if it is in the $7k range) but concerned if the GC3 will be able to work on TGC19 or not. Already have FSX2020. If I sell it, wonder how much I can get for it??

[bubbtubbs]

The pandemic showed us the answer is always "as much as somebody is willing to pay", even if that number seems completely unreasonable.

[tlrcash]

https://thegolfwire.com/foresight-sports-bushnell-golf/

To bring the new technology to the largest audience possible, Bushnell Golf’s Launch Pro will be offered at a base price of $2,999. Players will be able to access additional performance data and entertainment features via yearly subscriptions plans. Foresight Sports’ GC3 will include comprehensive ball and club data access out-of-the-box, including the company’s FSX performance and entertainment software and 10-course bundle, for $6,995. The company plans to offer the GC3 with a subscription-based data access model to its international customers starting in 2022.

The GC3 and Launch Pro will both be available for purchase on October 4.

Consumers interested in the Bushnell Golf Launch Pro can purchase exclusively online at www.bushnellgolf.com.

Consumers interested in the GC3 can purchase via Foresight Sports’ US and International sales agents, or online via the company’s website at www.foresightsports.com.

[bubbtubbs]

I'd still rather buy the unit than rent anything, though if an enterprising individual discovers how to jailbreak full functionality into a Bushnell, I'm not above hoisting the black sails.

[CBWag]

Gresh12 - you're comparing this to TM which is 20k? Plus isn't there like 1k a year or something ongoing fee for TM? Agree you get all the courses that are out and released (with some exceptions for licensing like PB) but there is an ongoing cost to TM, isn't there?

[Gresh12]

I’m somewhat comparing it to TM but I did note it’s not a true fair comparison. My point is the $800 fee is a bad deal vs TM for software in my opinion. The question is how much value of the $800 you want to amortizing the hardware which is clearly what they are doing.

[Stetson]

I will say it … they messed up the model big time. They are “targeting” a particular customer with a $3k starting price, yet those particular customers aren’t wanting an $800 subscription, or even a $400 subscription. The entry level pricing of $3k should coincide with no subscription or a maximum of $10/mo ($100/yr).

The price sensitive customer will buy a Mevo+ and get free simulation or SkyTrak and pay $100/yr, while having a lower upfront cost.

The quality driven customer may well be interested in the $7k version of this unit, but it may be cannibolizing CGQ sales, or may not, that’s a tougher market to dissect.

[bubbtubbs]

There's no real advantage in competing with Skytrak and Mevo+ at that price bracket. The space between 2k and 7k is currently unexploited, much better to target that area and grab users that don't want to pay for top of the line but don't want to settle for Skytrak.

[Stetson]

I wasn’t saying they should compete directly with SkyTrak or Mevo+, their purchase price did that for them.

I understand it is a better product (most likely) and in a price that is vacant. I was specifically talking about the subscription cost. The person looking to save money up front (sub $5k) is unlikely to be the person that provides recurring revenue at such high cost. The 5 year cost to own could be $2k for Mevo+ vs $5k for this unit, and you get more courses with M+.

That is a real unique position they put themselves in.

[Nicolcm]

I’m curious on the accuracy of this. It seems that foresight is trying to get an unweary customer because I can’t see people wanting to pay 7k for a product that they can get for 3.4K?

[bubbtubbs]

I suppose it depends on how long you intend to keep the unit. I'd probably use one for nearly a decade without replacement so purchasing outright is potentially more advantageous than a subscription.

[aussiebenny]

So for $2999, you get the $99/year basic subscription (free for 1st year) and it provides less measured data & worse software package than the out of the box Mevo+.

You need to pay $799 a year just to get 1 extra club data over the Mevo+ (club path), while also needing stickers to get the club data.

But yeah, the initial cost upfront isn't that high so I think it will still do well, especially when there really is no other photometric competition in that price bracket for what it can do.

Will it support tgc 2019 eventually?

[Brettster]

Will it support tgc 2019 eventually?

THAT is the question! If any company does not integrate and support TGC 2019, they are losing out on huge potential for purchases.

[Wizard of Coz]

I sure don't miss the $99 annual fee gip with skytrak.
Not a fan a renewable fees to get use of your hardware.

[beagolfer]

My Golf Spy did a great write up on the Foresight - Bushnell product releases. I didn't know they were now owned by the same company.

[bubbtubbs]

"For sure, $3,000 is a big jump from the $500 (give or take) price point of entry-level, radar-based (tiny Doppler) units but, as I’ve been saying for years now, reliable accuracy comes at a cost and that cost is, realistically, quite a bit more than $500. Sorry, that’s just the reality of where the technology is today."

Fork me, I'm glad somebody actually said it out loud.

[Claydog99]

That’s gonna be a no for me dawg.... unless someone can get TGC2019 to run on it. Then I might get one to replace my aging GC2, but probably not.

[John6577]

Same for me except I have a new GC2 I bought a few years ago thinking I was going to use it before now plus was a Black Friday sale deal. Get my sim room finally done, fire up the GC2 about a week ago and then this. GC2 is just fine except I wish it measured club head speed without the HMB so will be a tough decision to sell it and upgrade to the GC3. No idea how much a new GC2 with minimal use would go for in the marketplace with the GC3 being released.

[jhp016s]

Ok can someone clarify this for me. If you are in the US, you can buy either the GC3 option or the Bushnell option. They both do the same thing. The difference is GC3 is one time purchase all features unlocked. The bushnell option is cheaper up front with subscription options to unlock wanted additional features.