Grouchy Golf Blog

Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 11:42 AM

BallFinder Scout: Titleist Pro V1 Finder

Now that the RadarGolf system has made it to retail, I wonder just how successful it will become. The company has certainly been successful garnering media attention and forging alliances with major retail partners such as Golfsmith and The Sharper Image. However, the product itself still seems a bit too gimmicky because it only finds its own proprietary golf balls. Once the novelty wears, will it have a viable market? I remain dubious. Golfers just won't give up their Titleist Pro V1s!

Well, there is another golf ball finding system called the BallFinder Scout that finds all (white-colored) golf balls, not just special ones. Remember those cool fictional robots from the movies, The Terminator and Robocop? They possessed advanced optical recognition technology to scan an area and highlight objects of interest. This is kinda how the BallFinder Scout works. The system utilizes digital video camera and color recognition technology to identify white golf balls.

According to the website, the device:

• is similar in size and weight to a mobile phone
• utilizes a 3.2 mega-pixel imager to locate balls within a range of up to 35-feet
• searches up to 600 square feet in one second
• can locate balls with just 3 dimples on the ball visible

But how do you use it? According to the website:

Just point the SCOUT™ in the direction where you think the golf ball may be hidden press the button and slowly move the SCOUT™ in a side to side scanning motion, once the SCOUT™ "locks" onto a ball you will see small red brackets appear on the LCD screen highlighting the area where a golf ball is located, the golfer then walks towards the area shown on the LCD screen to pick up the ball - its that simple!

Aside from the grammatical landmines, it sounds great. But like most things, I'm a bit skeptical. While it is endorsed by the great Han Faldo, I'm curious about the real world effectiveness of this device in practice. Even if it works as advertised, is it a solution to a problem that needs solving? Sure, it'd be nice to have a device that finds lost golf balls, but at what price? According to the website, you can order a BallFinder Scout for £148.00. At the current exchange rate of $1.8259 per £, that amounts to a tad over $270. Assuming that a slightly used Pro V1 is worth about $2, it would take about 135 found Pro V1s to recover your investment! I don't know about you, but I can't imagine that I'll lose that many balls in my lifetime. Regardless, I'm a gadget freak, so I may just have to procure one of these babies! Maybe I can hack it to find other stuff like lost money...

Labels: Equipment

 Don said...

So, would I have to walk all over the green to find the balls with the little gadget? They should really invent some balls that can find their owners, now that I would spend the money to buy!  

~

 Anonymous said...

Great gadget in principal, but if you need something that finds lost golf balls on any kind of a regular basis then maybe it's time to accept the PRO V1 is probably not the golf ball for you.
Why not just go and purchase a cheaper make you don't mind losing? Having said that, I still determine just how badly you have to lose a ball before even the machine gives up. I bet it has a lot more patience than I do...  

~

 Anonymous said...

I have one of these ball scouts on test at the moment. I can catergorically say, its rubbish. It couldn't even spot a ball in plain view in the fairway 10ft in front of me. The old Mark I eyeball remains the device of choice.  

~

 woundedduck said...

There's rarely any doubt about where my golf ball has gone--it's either in or near the fairway or has bounded off the Bridge of Death and rolled into the Pit of Eternal Peril. Either way, I don't play Pro V1s, so my retirement plan doesn't depend on me finding my ball at all costs.  

~

 Anonymous said...

It's not about the cost of the ball, it's having to take an extra shot that counts. I'd gladly pay $$$ (or £££) for something that can REALLY find my golf ball, but this isn't it. I tried it and even with 10% of the ball you need to very slowly wave the camera back and forth over the ball before it recognizes it. And with 10% visible the naked eye would spot it instantaneously. Even worse when it's overcast, and if it's sunny then it sees white pixels on every reflecting surface, even wet grass. Good present for a golfer with failing eyesight but otherwise, forget it. Why can't they invent something which uses sonar to pick out a golf ball by it's specific density? I'd buy that. - RickB  

~

 Anonymous said...

I have one of these Ballfinders and I love it! You can order it in the US for 179.00. It takes a little time to get the feel of, because it will vibrate at many things, BUT it will 'lock' on white. I play faster and save strokes!  

~

 Anonymous said...

speaking from real experience with one of these things, I can safely say that they don't work in the slightest. Couldn't even find a shiny, new pro V1 in the middle of the fairway, let alone the rough. It still somehow managed to vibrate and blink at all the wrong times. Complete waste of money, Faldo's integrity is now in question in my mind. The previous poster must work for the company.  

~

 noz said...

I have just sent my Scout back for a refund. They are absolute rubbish. They will not find a ball on the fairway, let alone in rough. I should like to stick one so far up Faldo that he would need a 1 iron to recover it!!!

NOZ  

~

Post a Comment

© Golf Grouch 2006