A GPS company is using the technology developed by a Reston-based firm to create more advanced devices that can be used by golfers to make their game more accurate.
SkyGolf is incorporating the equipment built by u-blox in its most recent device, called the SkyCaddie. The device allows golfers to rely on the Global Positioning System for distance measurements, hazard locations and even club selection.
“Their equipment allows us to refine our technology and provide more accurate measurements, information that a caddy would normally provide,” said Tony Duran, senior vice president of sales for SkyGolf.
GPS devices have picked up steam and respect in the community since the U.S. Golf Assocation approved them for tournament use in 2006, according to company officials.
“It’s the fastest-growing category of business in golf,” Duran said.
SkyGolf has one major competitor in the industry; GolfLogix, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company whose technology is manufactured by Garmin, a leading GPS company. According to Diana Dicoccio, a GolfLogix spokeswoman, the two companies are different because SkyGolf’s products offer more features, while GolfLogix considers itself more user-friendly.
Dicoccio looks at the market for golf GPS devices to be as large as the number of golfers, who number more than 50 million worldwide. Out of those golfers, a very small percentage, perhaps around 1 percent, already use GPS devices, she said.
“But the growth in the past six months has been explosive,” she said.
