For us average Joes and Jills, having a caddie is something which rarely, if ever, happens during our rounds of golf.
Could we benefit from some expertise during our round? Absolutely, but that is just a pipe dream, right?
Hold on a minute! There is exciting news in this area being delivered by Xonic Golf (pronounced ex-onic), a tech company based in Toronto.
Enter the iTQ app which was born out of frustration experienced by life-long golfer and engineer Eileen Jurczak, the founder and CEO of Xonic Golf.
During a round of golf she started slicing and for the 10-handicap player it was a problem she felt she should be able to figure out on her own. Like most of us, what she tried wasn’t working and the frustration grew.
“I just threw my hands up and said, this is ridiculous. If I just had a caddie right next to me who knew my swing,” she explained. Well guess what? That describes the iTQ app at its very basic level.
In a nutshell the app’s powerful artificial intelligence analyzes your golf swing in order to deliver the most effective quick fixes and tips for you, based on your unique swing.
You start with a one-time setup single video of your overall swing, face on and down the line. This will establish your signature and the iTQ takes over from there.
During your round if you encounter a problem, you just choose your club and the issue you need help with from a list of options. You will then get a short tip written exclusively for the iTQ by one of a long list of PGA professionals. The cool factor of the app doesn’t stop there. The AI keeps learning and gets better at giving you advice the more you use it and the more feedback you give it if the tip helped or not.
She is realistic about what the app can do for your golf game.
“This isn’t a magic pill. You don’t turn the app on and all of a sudden you are Tiger Woods. What it does is it helps alleviate some of the frustration on the course. When you need the help, you can get the help.”
Another great feature of the iTQ is how quickly you can access the tip and not disrupt your game or anyone else’s. It’s as quick as using your range finder, said Jurczak, adding, there are no videos after the initial setup and no lessons or practice drills.
The pros are the ones who can take care of the lessons and drills while the iTQ is there for you in the moment during your round, she said.
Jurczak says the iTQ is a compliment to what your PGA professional can give you out on the range. In fact, you can email your top iTQ tips and iTQ shot tracker data feedback to your pro following your round. When you arrive for a lesson, they could already have a game plan to tackle what ails you, making for more efficient time spent on the range.
“It’s about playing a game and having more fun and making it more enjoyable for everyone,” said Jurczak.
Currently the iTQ focuses on the long game but word is there are more plans for the product coming in the new year so stay tuned.
Jurczak says there is more work to do in educating people what this amazing new tool can do for you.
“People always compare things to something they already know. There is nothing out there like this,” she said.
Now this caddie is not going to carry your bag, select a club for you, read a green or give you timely encouragement. It does have the potential to smooth out some of the rough edges in your game. Now who wouldn’t want that to happen?
For more information about the iTQ you can go to https://xonicgolf.com/