So what the %^&* is GolfTraxx?
Tuesday July 8, 2008 9:42pm
GolfTraxx is a SW Application that is downloadable to a GPS enabled smart phone or PDA (like a BlackBerry, Treo, Moto Q, iPAQ, etc., that allows you to turn your device into a golf GPS. In short, forget about buying a dedicated golf GPS like a SkyCaddie, GolfLogix, etc. Not that these are not great products (they are), but why have another device when the basic functionality/technology is already there!
A smartphone running GolfTraxx will give the user on a mapped course the hole information (#, Yardage & HC) as well as the distance to the center, front and back of the green from wherever the golfer is. On a course that has been mapped in detail, GolfTraxx will provide the above info AND the distance to layup and carry over any number of extras on each hole. Hazards and targets like 50y, 100y, etc., lay ups, reach and carry for bunkers, streams, lakes, etc. GolfTraxx is a user community supported product, where our users map their favorite courses using local knowledge to build in proper course management. We currently have over 2,000 courses world-wide provided by over 1,500 users in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, France, Germany, China, Brazil, South Africa and probably one or more other countries that I have forgotten. GolfTraxx works in yards and meters and can be accessed wherever a device is capable of accessing the internet (over the air or Wi-Fi. Our earlier versions (Windows Mobile, Pocket PC, Palm OS) have some really cool scoring, shot tracking and stats modes that are not yet in our BlackBerry version. This is due to the RIM UI, and won't change until we get some serious VC funding to support a big pile of development work to be done.
To get a FREE copy of GolfTraxx, all you have to do is map a course that we don't already have in our database. It takes about an hour the first time around using Google Earth. Once we get it we will send you a URL to download the software based on your device, and URLs to search our course listings for other courses in your area or anywhere in the world. If you simply can not spend an hour to map a course, we will reluctantly accept $30 payment for the software. If you decide to map a course within 30 days of buying GolfTraxx, guess what, we will gladly refund the purchase price! We REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would prefer that users map a course because we know how addicting it can be to do it! Many of our users have sent in more than one coursem and we have a rewards program that includes up to a weeks lodging in Palm Springs (high season) for 100 courses, and that same luxury condo for a week in low (Summer) season for 50 courses. Several of our Canadian users are well on their way to this and are really looking forward to this when it is -20 degrees next winter.
We are adding between 50 - 60 courses per week and will continue to be a free product until we hit about 10K courses world-wide. (Early adopters who provide us courses will keep their free memberships.) We envision to be able to have between 300,000 and 500,000 users world-wide and over 25,000 courses when we are firing on all cylinders. Until then, GolfTraxx will just be a small start-up in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area. To be precise, we are at 37.8 N, -121.9W or http://www.golftraxx.com.
