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					iPhone App Review: U.S. Open 2009
					by M. Wangerin on June 11, 2009 · 0 comments
				
				

	
	USGA U.S. Open Splash Screen
USGA Learns from the Masters
Like many other iPhone and iPod Touch users, I was glued to my device during the Masters tournament earlier this year. Users actually had two Masters iPhone apps to choose from, and while both were good in different ways, neither one was complete. In preparation for next week’s tournament at Bethpage, the USGA entered the app arena with its launch of U.S. Open Golf Championship which was released yesterday (June 10, 2009) through the iTunes App Store.
The splash screen while the app loads is a beautiful image of the fairway and green on hole number 18–those cluster bunkers are just begging to swallow any tee shot which falls off-line even just a little bit, but I digress…
Once the app loads you have one of five content menus to explore.
VideoUntil the Masters actually began, the Masters iPhone apps didn’t offer much for a person to do. In contrast, the U.S. Open app comes ready to entertain right from the start with four videos from last year’s epic tournament at Torrey Pines. I would look for this section to fill up with even more content as we approach the tournament.Another feature that I really appreciate is the option to choose your connection settings right at the top of the screen. This will adjust your video content to best suit your current connection, allowing wi-fi users to see the highest quality images while letting 3G and EDGE users see faster-loading clips.     

	The video menu already offers something to watch.

 
NewsThe News section is already stuffed with information and articles. There are ten well-written articles at the time of this blog post, ranging from Tiger’s interesting position as “double defending champion” (you’ll have to ask me about that one!) to a really fascinating story outlining how the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage came about, starting with the original announcement in 1996 that the tournament was “going muni”.     
 
ScoresOK, so they don’t have THIS section populated with information yet, but the details which will be offered on this screen are there. Users will have access to a dynamic, real-time leaderboard feature which is directly connected to the official scoring network at the tournament. This is pretty cool–it means that app users will see the leaderboards adjust at the same time that fans actually at the tournament do. (Now you can cheer collectively with thousands of New Yorkers when someone moves up or falls off the leaderboard!)
It also looks to have a rundown of assigned tee times, once those are made available.
     
	Detailed information about each golf hole is available on the course menu.

 
 CourseThis section opens with a birds’ eye view of each hole, including the hole number along with par and playing yardage. We’ve seen that before hundreds of times but what is really unique about this section appears when you dig a little deeper.Clicking on a hole brings you to another screen which shows a larger view of the selected hole, a short description of that hole (complete with interesting tidbits and how it might be set up differently than it was in 2002) and two video options.
The Flyover Video option is a neat helicopter ride over the hole, complete with Mike Davis reading the above-mentioned hole description.
The Walkthrough Video is why every serious golfer needs to download this iPhone app. It basically takes you through each hole on the golf course, offering strategy on how to successfully play the hole–where to attack, where to play safe, what bunkers to avoid, how the green is structured, etc. If you really enjoy watching the elite golfers exercise a course management gameplan, you will absolutely LOVE the details that these walkthroughs offer. This section is absolutely excellent, three cheers for the USGA!     

	The players menu details the contestants and has a bio and performance stats.

 
 PlayersThe final choice is the Players section. At the moment it contains a listing of all of the U.S. Open competitors and a short biography of each. Most of the bios have pictures so if you don’t know what Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson look like, you can find out here! (Actually I didn’t know what David Horsey looked like, so it was a BIT helpful!) I believe that as the tournament gets closer, and when it ultimately starts, we will see this section become updated with much more usable information as well. In the meantime, it is a convenient enough place to run down the entire list of players entered if you don’t want to go searching for those names online.
Bottom line is that I think this app is terrific. I really like the fact that I can get some value out of it now, while we anticipate the tournament’s arrival next week. Moreso, the information that it contains at this point is pretty good, not just a bunch of fluffy “stuff” included simply for the sake of having fluffy “stuff”. And of course those hole-by-hole Walkthrough Videos are worth the price of admission by themselves. (And for those readers without iPhones who may be screaming at me through their monitors, the Walkthrough Videos and Flyover Videos are available at the official U.S. Open website.)
If you’re a golf fan and have an iPhone or iPod Touch, this is a must-download app. It measures in at 4.2 MB, so its not too bulky. You can find it via the iTunes App Store or through the USGA U.S. Open website that I linked to above. It probably won’t stay on my phone after the tournament is complete (unless we have another tournament like last year’s–THAT telecast is LOCKED on my DVR!) but leading into the tournament, and certainly during the four(?) days, I’ll be using it an awful lot.


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					Look What I Found!
					by M. Wangerin on June 9, 2009 · 0 comments
				
				

I found this video while doing some site research. The video title–“No Gimmies”–caught my attention and I spent the next few minutes watching Craig & Caddie (think Penn & Teller minus the magic) encourage me to “get it in the hole”. Seemed appropriate to share with you all as we get closer to the blog’s official launch! Enjoy, and check out more clips from The Craig Show. Funny stuff.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.


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					by M. Wangerin on June 5, 2009
				
				
A golf blog for serious golfers (and not-so-serious golfers).
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