Consumers always appreciate the rare occasion when a product qualifies as both new and improved, and even better when OEMs clearly incorporate user feedback into new releases. Product evolution is often a case of integration, and that’s exactly the situation with the recently announced partnership between Dick’s Sporting Goods and Arccos.
As a stat-tracking platform, Arccos was the first to successfully leverage artificial intelligence (Arccos Caddie) and partner with several OEMs (Cobra and PING to date) to provide everyday golfers with tour-level analytics and club recommendations. That said, not everyone was wild about the hardware components of Arccos. Some balked at the requirement to carry a phone in your pocket while tracking a round, and others felt that sensors which screwed into the butt end of the grip were slightly clunky and less secure (particularly on mid and jumbo-sized grips). Arccos is in the process of addressing both critiques, with Arccos Link (belt clip instead of a phone) due out soon, and citing the partnerships with PING and Cobra as examples, Arccos is moving forward with OEM grip integration as a clear priority.
What the partnership between Dick’s and Arccos means in the short term is golfers can purchase several Golf Pride or Lamkin grips with Arccos sensors embedded in the cap-end of the grip. With Golf Pride, the two available grips are the Tour Velvet (standard) and MCC Plus4 (standard). For Lamkin, it’s the Crossline 360 (standard and midsize) and UTx (standard). Moving forward, both parties seem to believe this strategic alliance will be beneficial given the retail distribution network of Dick’s/Golf Galaxy, which allows Arccos to explore any number of options with various grip and/or equipment OEMs.
The Arccos sensor-embedded grips will initially be available at twelve select Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy locations, at a retail cost of $5 above the standard retail cost of the non-Arccos version of the grip.
Dr Tee
5 years ago
No way could I play with a cell phone in my pocket–tried it with an Arccos equipped Cobra driver, and immediately returned the club. Similarly I don’t want some screw in solution sticking up out of the butt of the club. I like the idea of a very compact belt clip sensor, that is, only if it’s very compact, so I’ll hold out until this is available before giving Arccos another try.