There are courses out there with no rain, no blustery winds and no Winter breaks. But these courses aren't in the world's most exotic locations. They're in basements, strip malls and country clubs. Golf Simulators are rising to prominence, and the business' top simulators are made right here in Ohio.
You've probably seen them before. Typically, these machines project a video-game-like image on a wall in front of the player. Cheap astro-turf rests below the player's feet as they smack a ball against the wall and watch as the virtual ball floats down the fairway.

Those simulators were the '76 Datsuns of the Golf Simulator business.

The top-of-the-line Mercedes is the aboutGolf machine. You've seen them before - they're the official simulator of the PGA TOUR and the in-studio simulator choice of The Golf Channel. While the company offers a wide-range of set-ups, the most impressive is the three-screen, fully enveloping model which essentially surrounds the golfer on the virtual course.

"Good golfers love us and bad golfers typically don't like us a whole lot," said Vice President of Performance Products Chuck Winger. "Our simulators are too realistic. If you're a scratch golfer outside, you're a scratch golfer inside. If you're shooting in the 'hundreds, well, you'll be there on our simulators, too."

The difference in the aboutGolf simulators lies in their innovation. While many of the dated simulators use Doppler technology (yes, the same as the weather) to track the path of the ball off the club, aboutGolf uses a three-camera, machine vision system. Currently, the ball and the club are marked and the cameras track the movement and patterns of the markings. Soon, the cameras will be able to track a golf ball without marks, using the ball’s logo for tracking instead. The cameras measure many data points, including the initial speed upon impact and three most important movements of the ball - top spin, side spin and rifle spin.

The third of those spins is the most difficult and maybe most controversial among golf pros.

"A lot of people want to talk about topspin and sidespin being the two things that really move the golf ball, but when that ball comes off the club, it's going to have that same spin like a bullet coming out of a gun. We've actually found a way to track and record that motion," said Winger.

That measurement is taken in a number of different ways. In addition to the Maumee headquarters, aboutGolf also keeps a testing facility/development lab just across the border in Michigan. This facility is where computer programmers design the golf course environments and program the complex physics algorithms which both track the ball and project its path into the computer's virtual world.

But occasionally, these programmers take their game outside to the driving range. The company uses an auto-swing robot, which replicates club speed and impact for each swing. With this continuity, the programmers are able to ensure that their computers know a good swing from a poor one based on club angle, impact, etc.

That attention to detail is what made aboutGolf the PGA TOUR and Golf Channel's choice for the official simulator of their companies. When a pro goes to the simulator on air to demonstrate a shot at Harbor Town, they can show the minute details like bunker placement and even, architectural design. Unlike many of the previous simulators, the system aboutGolf produces is a fully playable environment. If your tee shot careens into a neighboring home's backyard, you're stuck playing around the grill and deck. It's THAT good.

Combine all of this with a state-of-the-art, pressure-sensitive mat under your feet and you have the most realistic and amazing golf simulator ever created. If you're even a half an inch too far on your toes, your swing will show it.

But we could go on for hours about the details of how the system works and how it knows you're a bad golfer (for most of our staff). The real impact of the aboutGolf simulator is in the 'wow' factor.

The realistic setting and attention to detail on courses like St. Andrews are breath-taking - so breath-taking, in fact, that Winger has actually heard a Scottish man utter the word, "Lordy" while standing on the virtual course in his home country. A few swings in one of their simulators will have you convinced as well.

While demo versions are typically available for a swing or two at PGA Tour stops and conventions, getting one of these tossed in your basement might be a bit of a reach. Typically used as commercial ventures (as virtual courses) or instructional use in retail and indoor golf center establishments for club fitting and instructional use and installed in many home residences for the golf enthusiast, this Mercedes of the simulator business typically starts around $50,000 installed.

So, when and if you come to that decision of which "Mercedes" to pull the trigger on, I'd vote for aboutGolf. Besides, with one of these you'll never leave the house - what good is a car going to do?