SkyTrak and The Golf Club (TGC) Simulation Software

[davray666]

@Bubba22,
For all of the above. Do they take data like ball speed, direction and spin and then calculate their own trajectory or do they get the trajectory from ST?
Another way of asking could be have you noticed any trajectory shape and distance differences?
For the chipping / putting on PG vs. TGC. Do you use TGC + ST only or TGC +ST + Protee sensor?

[Bubba22]

Each are using their own algorithms. The curvature for each is close. E6 ball flight seems slightly long, PP seems slightly short. TGC is about right. I know TGC models their ball flight after Optimal Flight and Flightscope. No sure about E6 or PP.

Chipping and putting for now is ST only.

[davray666]

Interesting, thanks! Means there's more to this than just who has the best looking graphics.

[Brettster]

Chipping and putting is huge for me... after playing at my local sim (GC2/Foresight system) for the last few weeks and then going to the course I realize how you're missing more than half of real golf in the simulator. You can't chip, you can't putt because the accuracy and alignment on the short game sucks - so you turn on auto-putt, and when chipping comes around, you do your best to just get it on the green, it's maddening.

How is chipping/putting with the ST Bubba? Are you happy with it? Is it better than others?

[Hoosierdaddy]

Funny you should say that Brett. We (protee user's ) felt the GC2 users had an advantage on us because the chipping was a touch much more, predictable? Not sure that is the right choice of words there but you get my drift. Golf is a funny game. I myself had a couple of those "what happened there?" moments this weekend on real grass. But when they happen on the simulator it leaves doubt in your mind. What's your Handicap Brett? Are you sure your accuracy and alignment are good enough to be posting comments like above? I know a lot of very good golfers (scratch golfers) who are GC2 users that would challenge your comments. I know everyone is entitled to their opinion. I do know that the weak spot of any unit such as the SkyTrak or GC2 is the azimuth. I know that when the interface was written to run TGC using the GC2 hardware, there had to be some tweaking to get the putting correct. But at the end the users were happy. So they must have figured out something. When I played the GC2 boys online they seemed to be able to have good pace and alignment. Most of them made just as many putts as I did. I consider myself a fairly decent putter and my unit is spot on (or at least as good as my skill level will allow me to determine) when I watch my putter strike the ball just off center you can see the effects on the screen. My SkyTrak just got here today so as soon as I am able to compare the units side by side I will post my results. But I don't expect there to be anything not already posted. All the comments from users I know and trust have been great.

[Js1010]

Cory from par2pro demo testing skytrack with TGC video

http://youtu.be/lOSYog8gRqk

[JohnMeyer]

Cory from par2pro demo testing skytrack with TGC video

http://youtu.be/lOSYog8gRqk

Wow.. looks fantastic.. delay looks a bit annoying but if thats the only negative for saving a whole lot of money compared to other options then think this will be the setup of choice for a vast array of players.. guess it now comes down to price point for the software

[Spudly]

Cory from par2pro demo testing skytrack with TGC video

http://youtu.be/lOSYog8gRqk

That is awesome! I am definitley in and will purchase as soon as it is available, going to be great this winter!

Thanks JS1010 for posting this.

[luv2golf]

My 2 Cents......... Don't jump on the first train. Wait for E6 Cloud and Perfect Golf to come out before deciding on which train to take.

[GSF_Admin]

No cross posting please. Your other post has been deleted.

[mthunt]

TGC with the GC2 is epic. I imagine that as long as you can live with the delay, Skytrak with TGC will make a lot of people happy.

[jonjay]

I have a a GC2. Is it worth waiting to see if TGC offer a standalone option or just go for Protee 2.0 with TGC....?

[MrHogan]

Anyone know whether foam balls can be used? Obviously ball speed and launch angle are down in regular ST use and I'm wondering if that's handled in the game or whether all shots will be short.

Trying to work out if I need to upgrade my hitting area to handle real balls, but costs will be high on top of sim software and I'm not sure I value it that much. I probably played 10-20 sim rounds last year and that's a lot of $$$/round.

[ProTee United]

We have added several parameters to the TGC SDK specially for the Skytrak to adjust the horizontal angle (azimuth/balldirection) for normal shots and putting, and to boost distances upto 10%. Not sure if this will be enough for foam balls, but if it is not we can make an adjustment in a next release to allow for more boost..

[SFR]

Anyone know whether foam balls can be used? Obviously ball speed and launch angle are down in regular ST use and I'm wondering if that's handled in the game or whether all shots will be short.

Trying to work out if I need to upgrade my hitting area to handle real balls, but costs will be high on top of sim software and I'm not sure I value it that much. I probably played 10-20 sim rounds last year and that's a lot of $$$/round.

The problem with most foam balls or almost balls is that LA and distance are both off. Lower LA and less distance. If distance was off by a % for all clubs you could just boost but what I found was that with almost balls the wedges were close to the right distance but as you worked your way to the longer clubs the distance was worse. You almost need to set a separate boost for each club to be accurate for carry but the shape of the shot would still be off.

It can work if you just want to get close but also can work against your game if you want accuracy. However hitting real balls does take a more $$ to get set up to protect everything.

[kevin1889]

Just ordered my SkyTrak yesterday. Been waiting to pull the trigger for a while but decided that I'll take the risk on the "coming soon" functionality and still get in on the discounted hardware with the blemishes from the manufacturer. Even with just the range I think it would be worth it. I have two questions...

1) If I have TGC working on my PC running with detail almost to the max (not sure the exact parameters while I'm away from my PC), would it be safe to assume my PC could handle the sim version with the same quality/performance?

2) I saw the post above from ProTee United that they were involved in the SDK. Just for my curiosity, what is the interplay between ProTee/Skytrak/TGC? I thought Skytrak and ProTee were competing manufacturers? (Apologize for my ignorance here, it's really just curiosity)

Looking forward to building out my sim room over the next year. This forum has been great. Thanks to everyone for your candor and contributions!