Game Golf is here

[PlaidJacket]

What I'd really love to have is a sensor that notices when I pull a club out of the bag rather than having to tag it. I know myself well enough that I will forget to tag all the time, I'm just really absent minded like that.

 

Very nice looking product though, wishing you guys the best.

 

Edit: Or maybe something you have to remove from a club before your shot. Really anything to "force" tagging.

You're not thinking big my friend. What I'm hoping for is a ball that I can exert mind control over. That would pretty much solve everything for me. How about you? Ha!

[PlaidJacket]

If you click "Compare" you can view some averages. But the only two clubs available are for the driver and putter. Hmm? Surely somewhere we're missing it. I know you have to be able to see specific clubs and how far you hit them.

Maybe It would be a good idea if Jacob would ask a Support Member of GG to join MGS as well. I'll be back on the course Saturday for another round. Supposed to be 80* here. Ahhhh

[SeeRed]

I did see the club distances and averages for each club while I was editing the round, but once I signed the card the info was gone. Or moved to a place where I cannot find it. I will also be back out on Saturday so we'll see how it goes. It won't be 80 (65 maybe) and is supposed to be raining a little, but it's the first men's club tourney of the year so I can't miss that!

[PlaidJacket]

My club is having our first tournament of the season too this weekend but I decided not to compete. Our course is not in very good condition right now and my game is kinda sucky. Excuses, excuses.

 Fairways & greens my friend.

Good luck.

[MarcKilgore]

Sounds like the hardware seems to be reliable, but the software is still not ready for prime time. It will be interesting to see if they address these software issues and make it simpler to use in a timely factor. Will they be updating software as problems are fixed, or will they be waiting for longer between patches? Word is going to spread fast if the UI is as bad as it sounds so far. I know that if I have to spend 15-20 minutes editing a round, I would not use it anymore.

[wbealsd]

FYI, just so you know, you guys that are lucky enough to have playable courses have about 5-6 weeks to fix the bugs so it will be ready for me to use when the snow & ice is off the courses up here in "sunny" South Dakota!

[PlaidJacket]

I think I'm going to email Game Golf Support this morning and invite someone there to join MGS. I appreciate Jacob joining but I don't really think his position or duty with GG is support. I do welcome him just the same and look forward to seeing him here often.

 

I also think for those of us here that have GG and especially those who have now actually used the device we should start posting/listing specific questions or requests. I'll start with a few...

 

1. GG needs to be able to track Sand Saves like it does for FWYs hit, and GIR.

2. Users need to be able to recall "signed" score cards and be able to edit or make adjustments.

3. How do users view stats on individual club distances?

4. The program needs a method to define full shots versus non-full shots. Ex.. chipping an 8 foot shot with a 6l,  running a shot onto the green with a hybrid, etc. Otherwise your club distances will become distorted or useless.

5. Can GG provide an updated view of a golf course? For example: my home course satellite view is old and dated.The image was taken sometime during the winter and it's brown/ugly. Many of the greens have a white tarp covering them.

6. GG needs to be able to zoom down to the green level so a reasonable measure of where your ball initially came to rest in relation to that days hole position. A user should be a able to drag the "cup" and ball position around, etc. This might require a different mapping system of greens. Perhaps like SkyCaddie?

 

That's a few to get started with. Anyone have answers? Any new questions or requests?

[Jacob - Game Golf]

Poking around on the site this morning and still can't figure out how to access my club data- average distance, specifically.

 

 

Me either. I only have one round so far. But I watched that video yesterday that Jacob with GG posted and I thought I saw something slide up from the bottom of the screen showing that stuff. I can't find it.

 

If you login and click on your profile pic at the top right of the screen, you'll be able to select "Profile" to view all of your distances.  You can view individual shot distances during each of your rounds and also averages for each of your clubs in the profile.

[Jacob - Game Golf]

Sounds like the hardware seems to be reliable, but the software is still not ready for prime time. It will be interesting to see if they address these software issues and make it simpler to use in a timely factor. Will they be updating software as problems are fixed, or will they be waiting for longer between patches? Word is going to spread fast if the UI is as bad as it sounds so far. I know that if I have to spend 15-20 minutes editing a round, I would not use it anymore.

 

We make weekly and daily programming pushes for needed issues.  Just a heads up, the round editing UI issue you mentioned is our #1 priority issue right now and should be fixed in the next week or two.  I uploaded a test round yesterday and the editing process worked fine, so you may have read comments from from a customer with a negative response, which we take very seriously

[Jacob - Game Golf]

I think I'm going to email Game Golf Support this morning and invite someone there to join MGS. I appreciate Jacob joining but I don't really think his position or duty with GG is support. I do welcome him just the same and look forward to seeing him here often.

 

I also think for those of us here that have GG and especially those who have now actually used the device we should start posting/listing specific questions or requests. I'll start with a few...

 

1. GG needs to be able to track Sand Saves like it does for FWYs hit, and GIR.

2. Users need to be able to recall "signed" score cards and be able to edit or make adjustments.

3. How do users view stats on individual club distances?

4. The program needs a method to define full shots versus non-full shots. Ex.. chipping an 8 foot shot with a 6l,  running a shot onto the green with a hybrid, etc. Otherwise your club distances will become distorted or useless.

5. Can GG provide an updated view of a golf course? For example: my home course satellite view is old and dated.The image was taken sometime during the winter and it's brown/ugly. Many of the greens have a white tarp covering them.

6. GG needs to be able to zoom down to the green level so a reasonable measure of where your ball initially came to rest in relation to that days hole position. A user should be a able to drag the "cup" and ball position around, etc. This might require a different mapping system of greens. Perhaps like SkyCaddie?

 

That's a few to get started with. Anyone have answers? Any new questions or requests?

 

 

- Feel free to visit our user forums to give feature requests at myexperience.gamegolf.com/ our product team takes all product feedback in these forums and prioritizes which features should be built next.  This is the best place to get ideas across to the right members of our team!

 

- We also have numerous articles and videos to learn on our system at support.gamegolf.com/

 

1. GG needs to be able to track Sand Saves like it does for FWYs hit, and GIR.

This is on our list of future features/stats.  Don't have a specific date for release, but its in the queue.

 

2. Users need to be able to recall "signed" score cards and be able to edit or make adjustments.

I agree, very important.  Our product managers are aware of this and are making plans on when to put this in place. 

 

3. How do users view stats on individual club distances?

Refer to http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/10541-game-golf-is-here/page-7?do=findComment&comment=128895 to view distance and club performance.

 

4. The program needs a method to define full shots versus non-full shots. Ex.. chipping an 8 foot shot with a 6l,  running a shot onto the green with a hybrid, etc. Otherwise your club distances will become distorted or useless.

Also on top of mind, this has been a popular feature request in our user forums

 

5. Can GG provide an updated view of a golf course? For example: my home course satellite view is old and dated.The image was taken sometime during the winter and it's brown/ugly. Many of the greens have a white tarp covering them.

You can request a new course at http://www.gamegolf.com/find-a-course, and to update your course please visit http://support.gamegolf.com/ and send us an email with your course and any relevant info on the old course map view compared to now.  Also, if you can send over your course's website link, it will help our team understand the course and put an updated map in place faster.

 

Note:  We have 33,000+ golf courses mapped worldwide.  Your course must be mapped by our team before you play with Game Golf.  We use a system called geofencing which helps us know your exact location on the golf course for each shot and create stats based on if you are in the fairway, green, hazard, etc.  To see if your course is mapped please visit http://gamegolf.com/find-a-course

 

6. GG needs to be able to zoom down to the green level so a reasonable measure of where your ball initially came to rest in relation to that days hole position. A user should be a able to drag the "cup" and ball position around, etc. This might require a different mapping system of greens. Perhaps like SkyCaddie?

You can change the hole location if needed, you can also zoom fairly close to the green level to determine ball location.  See image example. 

[PlaidJacket]

Nice response Jacob. It just so happened at lunch today I wanted to show a friend about my rounds and GG. So, I opened the App on my iphone. I discovered how to view my club/shot performance. And now you've responded to that as well and I see it here on my PC too.

I get the idea you showed about Zooming on the green. I've done that. What I was talking about is a more detailed view where the green is 'mapped' such that you can actually gauge where the hole is in addition to tapping and measuring your putt. Perhaps later on in development.

 

One thing that really shocked me was the iphone App has a completely different view-photo of my home course than what I see on the PC. On the iphone app my course is green and beautiful but on the PC it's an entirely different photo. Winter time brown with tarps on some greens. I'm going to request that ASAP. They should at least be the same. Green that is.

Thanks Jacob.

[SeeRed]

Jacob- thanks again for your responses. I could swear I tried looking at my profile to find the club info, but I must not have because there it is. PJ, and everyone else who has mentioned it, is correct though- the average distances are seriously skewed by less-than-full shots for many clubs. I have not had any trouble with the drag-and-drop feature to move shots and tee and hole locations around. Something I mentioned in an earlier post is that as I was editing my rounds I really had no idea whether or not the changes were taking until I signed the card. It turns out the changes did take, but were not showing up on the summary or score card as I was editing.

 

I will say that using GG on the course is becoming a non-issue. I have only played two rounds with it and I suspect that in another month or so the tagging will just be second nature, so to speak. I do find it less disruptive to my routine to tag after the shot, but that is just a matter of preference.

[mikemcnally]

Hi Guys,

Just joined mygolfspy, as I was researching gamegolf... Great Forum and glad to be part of it.  I wanted to share some of my interactions with the system as I pulled the trigger and bought one.  I received it last week and by a miraculous event, it was 56 on Saturday that next day.  Haven't seen green grass in months here in Ohio so it was beautiful and a chance to get out and play a very wet nine (but beautiful).  I'm guessing I won't get to use it again for a bit, but here is what I have seen so far.

 

The process was easy and worked just as advertised on the course.  The system is as easy as clipping it on and tagged every shot I remembered to tag.  The pre-shot routine will be huge, but as with any time I've changed my pre-shot routine I figure this is just getting use to it and should be automatic at some point.  That is all there really is to say about using it on the course.  Really only issue is remembering to tag.  The real use is obviously when you get back home and download, edit, and sign the card. 

 

I will say that setting up the clubs on "my bag" was pretty painless.  I did notice, and you will see this will be a recurring theme, that sometimes what I set and saved would not take right away.  I'm not the most patient man in the world and to be honest was excited to get things set up correctly, so several times I just did it again.  The problem was that it would show up twice then but not for 5 or so minutes.  This was the same issue I had editing the round.  Uploading was no problem, but the site would freeze and not save information I had changed to a frustrating level.  I forgot to tag a shot on hole 7, so I added it but it didn't take.  So I did it again and again (each time the system just seemed to not save it).  Eventually it took and 30 minutes later, with some other editing (that was my fault for lack of tagging) I was set.  I signed the card and all three added shots (the one that should of and the two that "didn't take) were there also.  Needless to say that my round showed a few shots higher than it needed to be.  Of course with it being February it was already higher than it needed to be but game golf can't fix that .

 

Even though the card was wrong, I was still excited to see how the stats were given in the system, as that is what I really bought it for.  This took some figuring out, as some of you have seen.  Finding the club distances is listed under profile on the drop down menu under my name.  I searched forever for these, as I assumed profile meant name, age, sex ie... but there they were.  The data is great, I've seen some people talk about chipping with an 8 iron (I do that to) and ruining the average, but what I've seen is that it is laid out visually so you can see the range of shots but the cluster of where the yardage is mainly per club.  This will definitely help as more rounds are accumulated.  I also love that I can see each hole on the course and where I got into trouble.  This is great as my league plays near my house, so to see which holes are giving me trouble will be easier to analyze and hopefully correct with a lot of rounds at the same course.  All the other statistics are useful and for me will be goal setting information, such as reducing my putts per hole by .5 by the end of the year. 

 

So what do I think of the system, it will be great and worth every penny as the issues get fixed and I believe they will shortly.  My reasoning is this, customer service (although all by email) has been great at fixing issues and corresponding.  I knew in the back of my mind that buying the unit right out of the gate might have some growing pains that go about it, but they seem to be very in tuned with their customers and realize that if these issues don't get fixed the bad publicity will kill the product.  One of the things that they and I have figured out is that Internet Explorer does not work nearly as well as Chrome and Safari.  The issues seem to be with there server and programming and they have fixed every issue that has come my way.  By the way, they say that you cannot un-sign a card, but I emailed them explaining the problem and they unsigned it and let me reedit it with an apology, so this can be done.  I figure that there will be more issues that arise, but I couldn't be happier at what I'll get out of the system when working perfectly.

 

One last thing, the app for the ipad is in my opinion, a better set up to see your rounds and stats than the web version.  It was much easier and user friendly.  Unfortunately you can not upload to it, but for viewing its an A+

 

I hope this adds to the discussion and look forward to using the sight for many things.  I'm happy to answer and question for golfers interested in buying and want to know specifics of what it does.  I'm envious of all of you that live in warm weather states as it is 13 degrees here in Loveland, Ohio and not warming up again for the foreseeable future...

[HighFade]

For all the guys who bought one, how would you rate it overall, on a scale of 1 to 10?

I really want one, but I'm wondering is it still buggy, and should I wait til 2.0?

[mikemcnally]

I'd give it a 7 overall now and a 10 if I hadn't of had the issues editing and saving the first round.  In theory if you tag every shot like you are suppose to, than the editing would not be a big deal and just take minutes to upload.  The actual  system you buy I do not believe is going to change as it is solid.  The issues seem to be with the web interface and using the editing function, but when they reloaded my game to edit, It was much smoother the second time.  Just a quick add to my post above, the systems just went out and with the nice weather on the 23rd I believe that many many golfers finally got a chance to use it, so that many people on the site all on the same day for the first time could account for some of the issues.  The gamegolf forum is a great place to look for info as well and bugs.  You will notice that a lot of the complaints were from that day.

Mike

[Mr_Theoo]

For all the guys who bought one, how would you rate it overall, on a scale of 1 to 10?

I really want one, but I'm wondering is it still buggy, and should I wait til 2.0?

I would give it a solid 8. It's not perfect but it works very well. It has made the two rounds I've used it go much smoother.

[SeeRed]

For all the guys who bought one, how would you rate it overall, on a scale of 1 to 10?

I really want one, but I'm wondering is it still buggy, and should I wait til 2.0?

I'd say 9 out of 10 for on course use (1 point deducted because I couldn't tag thru my pullover, had to lift it up), and 7 out of 10 for the UI and software. I believe it has the potential to get to a solid 9/10 or better, though.

[PlaidJacket]

For all the guys who bought one, how would you rate it overall, on a scale of 1 to 10?

I really want one, but I'm wondering is it still buggy, and should I wait til 2.0?

Today I'm giving the GG a 6. The reason is because of the editing bugs and the stats side of things. It seems everyone has experienced the problem with the program not adding a shots. I do not like that fact that there is no way to differentiate between say, a full shot with a 7i and a green-side chip and run shot with a 7i for example. I'm looking for as much accurate data as I can get out of the thing. Admittedly I have only played one round with GG so far. I'll be back tomorrow (Saturday 3/1/14) and use it again. Hopefully my after round experience will be better than the last. I'll let you know.

 

One thing I discovered yesterday which I've already commented on was the different view/photo of my home course. On the PC I see a brown wintertime view with a few tarps covering greens. Ugly. But on the iphone/ipad app I see a beautiful green golf course. What's up with that?

 

There many issues with GG concerning lacking features and functionally. I'm a little disappointed that with at least 1 year (perhaps more) of beta testing and refinement before public release that the device is barely ready for prime-time. That may sound harsh to the GG folks but they know it's true. Like I've said before; I knew when I purchased the product it was cutting edge and improvements and upgrades would have to happen over time. I don't regret buying it and I'm willing to stick with GG for an extended period of time to see how they perform. Most of my golfing buddies that I've talked to about GG are taking a wait and see attitude. I'm their guinea pig. Ha!

 

Oh by the way... welcome to MGS Mike.

[PlaidJacket]

I've been home and at my PC now for about 20 minutes or so. Uploaded my newest round and then 'clicked' View. A blank web page opened and then I waited...and waited and waited. Nothing but a blank page. Then I closed it and logged directly to GG; well I tried to. Nothing! Can't even logon to GG. I guess their system is down. Great. Now I'm worried that I'm going to lose my round since it's been uploaded and it appears their system is not working properly. How is everyone else doing today?

[SeeRed]

I have a round from yesterday that I have not uploaded yet. It was the first tourney of the year, so the focus was not on GG. The result was LOTS of untagged shots. So, we'll see how the editing goes later today. I'll update then.

[PlaidJacket]

Finally got logged in this morning and my round was there and ready to review/edit. I've got to tell ya... editing is a really slow process and cumbersome. I'll concede that I had a lot to do this time. During my round yesterday I was also recording all my shot and club data in a booklet for my club fitter. I used my SkyCaddie on the course to measure shots. Comparing the distances between my GG and the SkyCaddie I'll have to say they seemed pretty close. Perhaps within +- 2-3 yards. Yesterday while playing, trying to remember tapping, and recording data for my fitter I had a lot on my hands. I missed tapping many times and didn't even tap/record 3 holes on the back nine with my GG.

 

This morning I'd estimate I spent about 1.5 hours sitting here at my PC messing with editing my round. The interface is not a smooth thing to drag around, enter data, make edits, etc. Cumbersome I think. Anyway as with my first round I found the program has dificulty at times adding a shot. It first happened on #8 and then again on #10. I moved on and continued editing my round eventually coming back to those holes and sucessfully adding shots. I did notice a new feature I think and that was with the putter. I see that you can now record a putt made off the green. There was a green 'slider' to select move/click telling the program you used the putter off the green. Perhaps the program should offer that feature for most other clubs. Especially perhaps 8i's on down through wedges. There were a couple of times I needed to add a tee shot but the Add Tee Shot button did nothing. As a work around I clicked to Add a Shot and that worked. I think that being able to actually input a distance manually might be useful. I would have done this today if I could have.

 

Finally after much editing and adjusting I was about ready to Sign my scorecard. But wait! My Scorecard didn't match my actual score. Six holes had score errors. Screen shot below. The GG scorecard had me at even par 70!! I wish. I actually shot an 81 after having a train wreck on the back. But when I went back and reviewed each hole I had the correct strokes recorded. I was tired of trying to figure out their problems (or mine) and Signed the card.

 

At this time the shot/distance numbers are pretty much worthless because there's is no difference between a 100 yd wedge and an 8' wedge chip. It just messes up your averages. Driver seems pretty accurate and perhaps longer irons not used around the green. The rest of them? Neh.

 

[SeeRed]

Having the same "Add a tee shot" issue mentioned above. 16 minutes and still waiting for the "Please Wait" message to go away. Have only made it to the 4th hole in almost 30 minutes. I'm about to give up for now. PJ- if it took you 1.5 hours to upload and edit your round, that is really not good. If that keeps up GG really has problems on their hands. I'll try your work-around for adding the tee shot, but we shouldn't have to. My fault, but I didn't realize we are still in the "Beta testing" (according to the website) phase. Lucky us. So far I'd say it's not going all that well.

[SeeRed]

OK, I'm giving up. The "Add a Shot" work-around is not working either. Nothing happens at all...just "Please Wait". 48 minutes into the process and I did not make it through 4 holes. And the real editing hasn't even started. I figure I'd better step away before someone gets hurt. May try again later, and I've sent an email to GG support, so we'll see what they have to say. This is very frustrating. Maybe this is what is to be expected during the Beta testing phase of something, but I thought we were past that.

[PlaidJacket]

Beta eh? Then why did we have to pay full retail. Or any thing for that matter. Hmmm? If I wanted someone to test my product I think I'd give it to them for free. I might even pay them for their time if they'd help me. Ya know?

[SeeRed]

Beta eh? Then why did we have to pay full retail. Or any thing for that matter. Hmmm? If I wanted someone to test my product I think I'd give it to them for free. I might even pay them for their time if they'd help me. Ya know?

Yep- I had similar thoughts.

[mikemcnally]

Hi Guys,

The one conversation I had with a rep from Gamegolf said that internet explorer is giving them some issues and to try to use safari or chrome.  It's cold as crap here in Ohio, but will try this next time I get a chance to go out.  If anyone else gets another round in and you try a different browser, let us know how it goes.  Just passing on the info.

Thanks

Mike

[PlaidJacket]

Sad News I suppose. I've decided to pull the plug on Game Golf. There is a 30 day return/refund policy and I decided I'd better get out now while the getting is good. I've been on the support site and started the refund process. I printed a RMA and I'm waiting for an email from them. Either way... it's going back and I'll have my money refunded.

 

The product seemed like a great idea. And it is... but it's not ready for the public. It's not ready for me that's for sure.

Final thoughts....

 

The hardware seems pretty good. Good design I think and it works in the most simple way. You turn it on, it finds a GPS signal and you go. The Tags that screw into the butt end of the shaft/grip don't bother me.

 

The issues I have with GG has been doccumented by me and others so I won't rehash it all. The "Deal Killer" for me is the web interface is sorely lacking. I'm quite surprised frankly that with all the time, years; they've put into developing the product that it's so buggy and not very well throught out from a golfer's experience. The real world of actually playing golf doesn't jibe with what they've come up with. It just doesn't.

 

Perhaps a year or two from now if they are still around I'll take another look at it. But for now I'm done.

[PlaidJacket]

Since this is still a review of Game Golf I thought I'd let everyone that's interested know that today I've shipped my GG back by FedEx. It's being return to:

 

Product Returns

DR globalTech, Inc.

Minnetonka, MN

 

I guess that's the fulfillment company they use for sales/returns etc. I'm informing of this not to jab a stick in Game Golf's eye. Just to continue documenting my total experience. I hope they succeed. I'll let you know when I get my refund.

[SeeRed]

I've decided to stick it out with their customer service experience a bit longer. We'll see whether or not that produces satisfactory results. One more round this weekend, and if that doesn't work out then I will likely return mine as well. I don't buy the line that the issues are solely platform/browser related. I have used the site with a Mac and PC, on Firefox and chrome, and had issues regardless. I think they have serious systemic problems that I hope can be resolved soon. I would really like to help be part of the solution, but my feeling is that they should have resolved these seemingly basic issues before the device's mass release. After all of the hype and anticipation, it has been a very disappointing experience so far.

[HighFade]

Thats too bad its not working........Never thought the main issue would be the website and editing data, instead of the GPS and hardware, which is suprising.

 

I think I'll wait til its ready fro prime time before I get one.