We were introduced to the SkyTrak+ launch monitor a little over a year ago, and since that time the THP forum has amassed thousands of posts from users all over the world sharing their experiences with the device. While the original SkyTrak was already a market leader, known for its accurate hardware and useful, user-friendly software, the SkyTrak+ brought with it exciting new features. In addition to tangible hardware improvements that boosted usability, speed, and accuracy, it provided club data to help golfers improve their game. However, behind the scenes we continued to get hints that the company had big plans for the future. We saw the occasional teaser and heard a few rumors, but now we know just what those plans were. Course Play is coming to SkyTrak.
What is Course Play?
Those of you familiar with SkyTrak (and really any launch monitor) know that 3rd party software is often a requirement if you wish to play high-quality simulated golf rounds. SkyTrak offered limited access to both E6 Connect and World Golf Tour (iOS) as part of its Play and Improve package, though many users also chose to pay for additional subscriptions. Course Play is SkyTrak’s homespun simulator golf solution, and it offers 30 courses that can be accessed right in the SkyTrak App.
The list of courses includes many well-known and loved ones, including the venerable Pebble Beach. The list includes:
Along with Course Play, SkyTrak worked with GolfTec to create five new upgraded ranges that can be used in addition to the standard range users are already familiar with. Aside from offering fun new visuals, these ranges present unique challenges to users. For example, Accuracy Island is a 30-yard-wide fairway floating on water that will require hyper-focus to hit and hold. The Left to Right and Right to Left command ranges help train starting line and shot shape.
Those of you with existing SkyTrak subscriptions probably have a ton of questions rolling through your head right now. Thankfully, we spoke to the company and hope to get some of them answered here.
First of all, the existing subscription models are changing. Both the Game Improvement and Play & Improve packages are going away, and the free Basic range access will remain in place. We’ll run down how that affects existing users in a moment, but the bottom line is the lowest priced package will now be called the “Essential” plan. It will be priced at $129.95 per year and will include the following:
- Driving Range
- Game Improvement (Wedge Matrix, etc).
- Connect to 3rd party simulation software
- New improvement ranges
- Unlock Add-on Availability
All existing Game Improvement plan members will be converted to the Essential plan. For an additional $220 per year, users can access Course Play. It is very important to note that Course Play is only available for PC users at this time, and there are a set of minimum requirements your machine will need to meet.
Now, how about those existing users that have a Play and Improve plan and free access to 3rd party simulation software? Rest assured that you will retain all the access you paid for until your existing expiration date. Play and Improve plan members will be converted to the Essential plan, along with the E6 and WGT add-on pack.
In all, we think this new plan structure offers a ton of flexibility for users to decide what they want out of their SkyTrak or SkyTrak+. Course Play comes in at a competitive price and simplifies the entire simulation process.
Course Play
We had a chance to work with a beta version of the upgraded SkyTrak software prior to today’s release. All 30 courses were available to download and play, though we didn’t sample all of them. Before we get too deep into the details, here’s a short video showing some real game play. It should be noted that this video was captured using a screen recording application and then uploaded to YouTube, so there was some degradation in the quality of the graphics.
My poor video editing skills aside, it’s easy to see that SkyTrak has an extremely intriguing simulation option for its customers here. We’ll talk about gameplay specifics shortly, but it’s worth first mentioning just how quick and easy it is to get into a round and tee off. Since Course Play is integrated directly into the SkyTrak app, you are just a couple clicks away from playing at any time. After a course is downloaded, you can access it rather quickly after a short loading period. It should be noted that we also felt initial connection times were much quicker than previous versions of the SkyTrak app. In fact, we were often connected before we were even ready to begin navigating the menus.
Like any simulation software, Course Play’s graphic quality will depend on how capable your PC is. It’s possible to adjust graphics manually, or you can let the software determine what will work best on your machine. With a rather mediocre HP gaming laptop, we found the environments sufficiently immersive and detailed to make for an enjoyable experience. It did seem like Course Play was asking for just about every bit of our PC’s performance capabilities, but for the most part all the animations and sounds flowed smoothly. At just over $200, it certainly felt like we were being spoiled with the graphic experience. Elevation changes and the topography of each hole felt very realistic on the screen.
Course Play supports up to four players at a time, and a multitude of options are available to customize gameplay. You can play the entire 18 holes, the front or back nine, or a customized set of holes from a variety of tee boxes. Auto-putting with customizable “gimme” ranges is available, as is manual putting. Wind, wind direction, pin difficulty, and a few other options can make your round easier or more challenging.
We found gameplay to be snappy, accurate, and responsive. Actually, for SkyTrak’s first pass at simulation, it’s a bit shocking how well the software performs. The swing-to-show time is more than acceptable, with ball flight, shot shape, and direction all appearing to have the high level of accuracy we’d expect from SkyTrak. Adjusting the starting line or picking a target is done with a simple mouse click. The map view on the right side of the screen can be expanded for a more detailed look at each hole, and different overviews like Flyover and Drone are available.
We found shot dynamics to be realistic and predictable. For example, the video above shows a shot that rolls onto a very sloped green, only to be funneled off the fringe. Long club shots off the tee showed realistic amounts of roll in the direction we’d expect. Wedge and iron shots into the green either stopped quickly or rolled out, depending on the club used and the amount of spin produced. We will mention a point of future improvement while we’re talking about dynamics. It doesn’t appear, at least outwardly, that shots from the rough or sand are impacted when it comes to distance or spin. In other words, you may not want to take a full hack when you’re in a greenside bunker. Our assumption is that SkyTrak will continue to improve features like this in the future.
Short game and putting are often difficult for launch monitors and simulation software to handle, but we found Course Play and SkyTrak+ did a nice job. It is worth experimenting with your ball placement, especially when hitting short, high launching wedge shots, but for the most part we didn’t have issues with missed shots or unexpected results. Putting to a screen will never feel right, but the ball did behave like we’d expect it to on contoured greens. In total, it seemed like Course Play offered a sufficiently challenging gameplay experience. A 44 on the front nine of Pebble Beach with auto-putting enabled was enough to convince us that Course Play wasn’t going to just hand us pars and birdies.
Ball data is presented after each shot, though we’d like to have the option to select our clubs before taking a swing. This would allow for an even more comprehensive collection of data available for analysis in the SkyTrak app after a round. Again, based off their track record, we expect the company to keep improving small details like this over time.
In terms of course selection, we played just a small sampling in the time we had before this article’s deadline but found much to enjoy with what we did play. There is a solid variety of courses from across the world – parkland tracks that weave through the trees, seaside courses with undulation and elevation changes, PGA Tour stops, and more. One of the most exciting things we found was two par 3 courses – The Aces Club being 18 holes and the Lost Nine consisting of 9 holes. The reason we love this so much is that many indoor users just don’t have the room to swing driver in their space. Having 27 dedicated par 3 holes to play is a blessing for this type of situation, or just when you want to really dial in the iron game.
As mentioned earlier, the introduction of the SkyTrak+ came with some bold promises from the crew at SkyTrak. While we expected expanded range options eventually, the addition of Course Play was somewhat unexpected. Building a self-contained simulation environment is no small task, and it would be easy to just continue with the status quo of offering access to 3rd party software, but the company has committed to becoming a one-stop solution for its customers. While there is still a place for 3rd party options, a big chunk of the market wants a simple, elegant solution that is easy to access and works well. SkyTrak has delivered that with Course Play and we are excited to see where it goes in the coming years. Stay tuned to the THP Forum as our readers share their experiences with Course Play and the new SkyTrak range options. Better yet, join us in the discussion.
