What I learned using Arccos’ next generation game-tracking hardware

Arccos Golf released new hardware this year with the introduction of the Arccos Air tracking device, as well as the official launch of the Arccos Smart Laser that connects to the Arccos app to give you real-time distances to pin locations on greens. Both devices work in tandem to give you a seamless game-tracking experience while offering insights for your game.

I’ve used both devices for three rounds of play now. Here’s what you need to know.

1. The laser is way cooler than I imagined

The Smart Laser shocked me. I had zero knowledge of the product going into my first round playing with it, and I was prepared to just go with the flow and sort of discover the features of the laser naturally. Now, I’m hooked.

In cooperation with the app, the Smart Laser is probably the coolest piece of golf gear that I have used in quite some time. The way it works with the app is by getting weather, GPS and smart distance information that the app has gathered and then displaying that inside the rangefinder as a “Smart Distance” to the pin. When you lock onto the pin it also uses that GPS information to mark where the pin is on the green. This can be super helpful when playing new courses, or if you’re approaching a blind shot or tricky green complex. 

Combining the Smart Distance with the pin location in the app, it can then approximate your best odds of success by using a scatter plot to show you where your normal miss and the “correct” miss for that shot line up. All of this information together helps you pick a confident target. 

I haven’t played a round without the Smart Laser and the app since I got it, and I’m not sure I ever want to again. 

2. Big improvements

I was an early Arccos adapter but could never get through an entire round without having to worry about the tracking. The club sensors would either get damaged, dirty or just not connect properly, and I would spend too much time on my phone during the round checking the app to make sure it was tracking.

Arccos wasn’t shy about this, and they knew things needed to get better. If they were going to introduce a sensorless tracking unit they had to make sure that it was going to work consistently. The good news? So far so good. The only shot my Air has missed was my very first one — and that’s because I accidentally left the unit in my golf cart. I’ll take the blame for that.

That being said, the one thing you do want to keep tabs on in your first couple of rounds with the new hardware is the club tracking. Since there are no dedicated club trackers anymore, you have to let Arccos know what clubs you’re hitting for the first couple of rounds.

Keep in mind, strokes gained data is not measured by club, it’s measured by distance. Making sure that you track every shot attached to a club will help the app build smart distances and allow the Arccos Ai to more accurately guess which club you’re hitting. This isn’t critical for full shots — Arccos was guessing those clubs based on my distance off the tee in the first round — but if you’re somebody who likes to flight the ball, play with windows or are frequently using a different club for the distance you’re at, the club tracking will be useful down the road so Arccos can learn. It does not affect your stats at all, but lots of players like to have the club information. 

Arccos Air

Arccos Air is a compact AI wearable, smaller than an Airpods case, that clips to your belt or slides in your pocket. Built-in motion sensors and GPS detect every shot automatically, powered by AI trained on 1.5 billion real golf shots. No need for sensors on your clubs. No phone required. Just play your round while Arccos captures everything in the background.

3. It’s actually helping

I’m struggling right now pretty badly off the tee, and I’ve got some equipment things to figure out as well, so I didn’t have high hopes to really learn anything from this, especially after just three rounds. But boy was I wrong.

I think the biggest awakening for me is that my driver really isn’t all that bad, at least not compared to the rest of my game at the moment. I really wanted to blame my current driver issues for all my problems, but with Arccos, I simply can’t. Off the tee and on the greens I am losing about 2 strokes compared to a scratch golfer. On my approach and in the short game I am losing about 3 strokes to a scratch golfer. It’s extremely valuable to have the Arccos data to provide this feedback.

Arccos lists my No. 1 opportunity (a nice way of saying what you’re bad at) as getting rid of driver penalties. (OK, now I can go back to blaming the driver.) I’m losing two strokes to a scratch golfer simply because of penalties off the tee. Easy fix, don’t hit the ball out of bounds. My second and third opportunities? Losing 2 strokes from shots out of the rough (a.k.a. driving accuracy) and 25-50 yard chip shots (which was surprising to me). Arccos lists my No. 1 strength as distance off the tee, gaining half a shot, and my No. 2 strength as shots from the fairway.

Looking forward

So far so good with the new Arccos hardware. The Smart Laser is super impressive, and the Air works really well, having not missed a shot since I started using the device. You do want to make sure you keep tabs on the app for the first couple of rounds you play while Arccos is helping learn your game, especially if club-distance tracking is important to you, but the app is learning very quickly. 

The goal now is to continue using Arccos when I play so I can really dive into my game and figure out the key areas in which I need to improve. I’ll probably make those improvements through equipment but you never know — I may just take a lesson too. 

If you’re interested in purchasing some Arccos hardware for yourself, visit arccosgolf.com and use the code GOLFMAG15 at checkout for a nice discount.