Company Profile: AboutGolf, by Jeffrey Reed
Copyright 2006 London Ontario Golf

Maumee, Ohio-based AboutGolf has two things in common with Tiger Woods. Like Woods, AboutGolf – offering the latest in high-tech golf simulators – can track a 300-yard drive. And just like Woods, AboutGolf is taking the game by storm, thanks to its realistic and beneficial simulators.

“We’ve come out with a better mousetrap in the high-end simulator market, and we’ve experienced a very compelling growth cycle,” says AboutGolf CEO Bill Bales. He says, “The goal of AboutGolf, in addition to having fun, is to apply simulator technology in ways that will help golfers improve their games.”

AboutGolf formally commenced deployment of its simulators in 2003, but Bales boasts two decades experience in working on golf software. That’s about how long golf simulators have been available to those looking for a fun indoor version of the game. Today, with AboutGolf playing a major role in revolutionizing the simulator market, these high-tech devices are about much more than fun and games. Yet, they keep the fun in the game.

About 40 per cent of AboutGolf simulators are located in retail locations, while another 40 per cent are being used by indoor golf centres, and the remainder available as rentals for special events, or purchased privately. Imagine having one of these babies in your rec room! Housed in a 15 ft. x 22 ft. booth, an AboutGolf simulator, complete with hitting bay, screen, netting and electronics, costs approximately $40,000 US installed.

This September, Golf Galaxy – one of the world’s largest golf retailers – chose AboutGolf as its indoor golf simulator. And in October, PGA professional trick-shot artist Ben Witter signed an agreement with AboutGolf. He’ll represent the company at his golf shows and at appearances, and will assist with the growth and development of AboutGolf Performance Training Centres.

“My eyes were open to our potential, based on the fact we had the ideal software,” explains Bales of AboutGolf’s founding. In just a few short years, the company has evolved from industry newcomer to the Tiger Woods of golf simulators. Golf Town’s London, Ontario outlet uses the AboutGolf simulator. In Montreal, which Bales calls the “epicentre of indoor golf,” there are about 20 AboutGolf indoor centres.

With a world-wide presence, and continual growth, AboutGolf is entirely devoted to golf technology. A team of full-time software developers continue to advance the company’s simulation software – the most advanced in the industry. AboutGolf’s ball tracking sensor technology applies advanced applications of phased array microwave ballistic tracking technology. That’s impressive. Its technology partner, EDH Sport, has more than 30 dedicated scientists making continual breakthroughs in this field. The military-derived Flightscope Slim Sensor can track balls in flight for up to 300 yards, making it an ideal and highly-sophisticated golf club analyzer.

AboutGolf’s sensor provides accurate data, and plenty of it, including ball speed, vertical launch angle, horizontal launch angle, sidespin and backspin. It also directly measures the club, providing club head speed, horizontal strike angle, vertical strike angle and club face angle. Witter, creator of the award-winning instructional DVD series, Rip It 300 Yards: The Power Golf Training System, says the AboutGolf technology will allow him to “open an entirely new frontier in the field of instruction, club fitting and entertainment.”

“Ben is to AboutGolf what Tiger Woods is to Nike,” says Bales. AboutGolf is the key component of Witter’s learning centre, Ben’s Power Golf Learning Center, recently opened in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. 

The AboutGolf ball and club tracking system is solid state with no consumable parts, very easy to calibrate and maintenance free. Course play is at the most realistic level achieved in indoor golf, from normal full shots, to shanks and topped shots, to every type of chip or pitch, and for putting from 100 ft.-plus down to tap-ins. Says Bales, “It must be as realistic as possible.”

AboutGolf offers DataTrac, an online tracking system. Golfers can access their simulator data online in order to perfect their practice routines and swings. VideoTrac allows up to four cameras to be used by the simulator software.

AboutGolf also now offers, the Infamous 18. From the mind of renowned artist Loyal H. Chapman, this course ranges from holes atop the buildings of New York City, to the Grand Canyon, and within the Redwood Forest.

There’s nothing like a stroll down the fairway after a great tee shot with the sun beating on your face. But when howling winds sweep snow-covered greens, or when it’s time to get fitted for clubs – or even just play a friendly game of indoor golf – nothing beats AboutGolf simulators, like Tiger, taking the game of golf by storm.