Arccos Adds Golf Ball Capture and Analysis

With its latest update, Arccos has launched what it’s billing as the first-ever on-course ball data capture system.

Cool.

Also, what does that mean?

The simple explanation is that the Arccos Caddie app’s round settings menu has been expanded to allow the golfer to track the golf ball used during every round.

(Side note: The same menu allows the user to specify a round as casual or tournament. Enabling the latter automatically tweaks the system to what amounts to USGA conforming mode.)

As far as the ball stuff goes, all you need to do is select the ball you’re going to use for each round. It’s that easy. The app will also store your default ball.

The idea is to track performance across golf ball models. The data on the other end should give golfers the ability to compare golf balls based on real on-course data rather than—or at least in addition to—range and simulator data.

Does the ball really make a difference? If so, where (off the driver, on approach, putting) and by how much?

How Arccos Caddie Ball Capture Works

For now, Arccos ball tracking will be an input-only kind of thing. Basically, you input the ball you’re using and, well, that’s pretty much it. Wait a few months (estimates are Q1) and Arccos will give you the ability to filter/compare results across the various metrics it tracks by golf ball. It’s a key piece of the puzzle which will eventually give Arccos users a better understanding of what ball is best for them and perhaps even help Arccos identify what type of balls perform best for a given player set.

This is all roadmap/promise of a better future type stuff but, as a self-professed ball guy, it’s exciting to see increasing recognition of the golf ball as an important piece of equipment. If the Arccos on-course ball data capture system can help golfers make performance-driven decisions about the golf ball they play, all the better.

Maybe you really are better off playing a sh*t two-piece matte-finish golf ball. Maybe, but I doubt it.

Accuracy Depends on You

Of course, as with most things Arccos, responsibility for ensuring accuracy lies with the user. If the actual ball being used isn’t selected at the start of a round, the data collected, as it relates to the ball anyway, is useless.

Also implicit in the Arccos ball data capture system is the suggestion that golfers will only play one model for duration of a round. It’s the right approach, even if it’s perhaps overly optimistic.

Hopefully, it’s a means to start training good habits.

Play the same ball, people. Every round, every shot.

The Arccos update featuring on-course ball data collection and round type selection was rolled out with the latest update. There is no additional charge for the update.

For more information, visit Arccosgolf.com.