SoFi Center is being built for Tiger Woods’ interactive golf league
The 1,500-seat SoFi Center will host the TGL interactive golf league, founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. The league is scheduled to launch in January.
PALM SPRINGS – TGL’s unique format, with its innovative technology and shot tracking capabilities, has attracted interest from several companies.
The league, founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and owned by the TMRW Sports Group, then evaluated all the candidates and selected the club that claimed to have the “No. 1 range technology in golf.”
Toptracer, whose technology has been tested in TGL’s performance labs for nearly two years, was announced Monday as TGL’s official ball tracking partner. Several of the 24 PGA Tour players who have joined the league have visited the lab outside West Palm Beach to test the technology they will use when the league debuts early next year.
“Toptracer is the technology that allows us to do things at this huge scale,” said Andrew Macaulay, TGL’s chief technology officer. “To see it work at this scale… No one else has really been able to figure out exactly how to make this large version.”
Toptracer boasts of having “tracked more balls at more distances on more driving ranges in more countries than any other range technology on the planet. And that’s not even close.”
“If there is such a cool opportunity to showcase technology in golf, then that is exactly what we are aiming for,” said Ludvig Jansson, CEO of Toptracer. “TGL is a perfect example of this. It enables unparalleled golf experiences through the integration of golf. That is really what we are all about.”
TGL will debut on January 7 at the 250,000-square-foot SoFi Center being built in Palm Beach Gardens on the campus of Palm Beach State College. Toptracer will be used to track the trajectory of balls on tee shots and approach shots.
Toptracer prototype in Stockholm seals TGL deal
If you’ve ever watched the PGA Tour, a major championship tournament, the Ryder Cup, or watched a recording of your own swing at a Topgolf property or driving range, you’ve seen Toptracer.
This blue line, which (hopefully) curves nicely onto the fairway, is the Toptracer technology.
But this project – in an indoor setting – is unlike any other the company has undertaken.
The Toptracer team made its proposal two years ago and built an indoor driving range in Stockholm, Sweden, to simulate TGL’s vision. TGL executives spent 10 days there to see Toptracer’s technology.
“When we first heard about it, we thought, ‘Hey, this is super cool. Let’s set up a presentation to show people what our technology can do (for them),'” Jansson said.
“It was a great challenge. We worked together great to find the best solutions: where and how to place the sensors, what the data flow should look like, where the optimal hitting positions are and whether the technology can work from multiple positions in the outfield on different surfaces.”
Jansson admitted that his feelings at the premiere will be partly excitement and partly nervous.
“With any big show, especially live, there are nerves,” he said. “That’s life. You don’t have the luxury of fixing things offline and having them ready the next day. It’s a fixed window of time.”
How to play TGL
Each TGL match begins with world-class golfers like Woods, McIlroy, Xander Shauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and others hitting their tee shots from a platform onto a giant screen 32 yards away. Approach shots are hit from an area 20 yards from the screen. This front platform is used once the ball is 125 yards from the green on the simulator.
The screen will be located at one end of the venue, which seats 1,500 spectators and is 64 x 53 feet, nearly 24 times the size of a standard golf simulator. The original 64 x 46 foot design was enlarged after the SoFi Center was redesigned from a dome roof to a traditional box building.
The platforms are made of real fairway grass and sand. Each tee box is 23 x 11 feet and contains three tee areas of fairway grass, rough grass and sand, each 7 x 7 feet.
Once the ball reaches the green, a spotlight illuminates the spot where the ball must be placed. Players then chip and putt as if they were playing on a regular course. Under the green are 600 actuators that change the bumps for each hole and a rotating table that changes the position of the green and the three real bunkers that surround the green.
The green area is located behind the tee box and approach shot platforms, at the opposite end of the arena from the screen.
TGL will feature 30 different holes designed by renowned golf course designers from the US and Mexico. The holes are inspired by various authentic landscapes, such as links, canyon holes, holes surrounded by water, desert holes and tropical locations.
Each team takes turns playing a shot. While one team is hitting, the three members of the other team gather around a simulator or “digital caddy” to check distance, hazards, slopes and other features and plan the next shot. The players are equipped with microphones for these conversations.
More: Phil Mickelson talks about retirement, one year before his LIV Golf contract expires
Each shot is tracked by eight sensors mounted on four rods, two on each side. The number of sensors allows for the most accurate trajectory and precise shot from the fairway, rough and sand.
“Thanks to Toptracer, we were able to place the tee box wherever we wanted. So we could choose different locations, real sand, real fairway grass, real rough,” said Macaulay.
“Thanks to the flexibility, accuracy and reliability of Toptracer’s ball tracking technology, we capture a comprehensive amount of data on every shot, allowing us to precisely transition into the virtual landscapes of our custom-designed holes.”
The league consists of six teams, each made up of four PGA Tour stars. During the regular season, two teams compete each week in 15-hole, two-hour, three-player matches. Primetime matches are televised by ESPN.
Tom D’Angelo is senior sports columnist and golf reporter for The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected].
