Platform provides a live simulation of action taking place on at St. Andrews

NTT Data The Open golf ShotView

NTT Data has launched its ShotView platform for The Open. 

Using open-source landscape data, orthorectified drone captured image data, LIDAR mapping and point graphs, NTT Data has created a digital twin of the Old Course at St. Andrews, where fans can follow the action in real time. There is also a realistic simulation of the landscape and surrounding area to reate a more immersive experience.

Accessible via TheOpen.com, viewers at home or at the course can keep up with the action, or use it as a second screen experience, through a a birds-eye view, along with interactive markers that provide fans access to every ball flight of every player and every group on the course.

Fans who wish to follow a particular player or group can transport to a detailed digital twin of the hole, accurate to within 2cm. Through this they can gain statistics such as each player’s shot paths, fairways hit percentage, G.I.R, and average putt per hole. Fans can even see detailed statistics on performance off the tee and on the green and view hazard data. Finally, the ShotView tool gives fans access to analysis of every hole on the course as well as tailored historical information.

Alongside the ShotView platform, NTT Data’s ClipTag functionality is being used for the R&A’s Open live blog. It allows the organisation to view clips from across the field, and then embed them in the blog after they have been rendered by advanced graphics engines.

Laurence Norman, vice president of sports technology at NTT Data, said: “The work we have been doing with The R&A this year has been incredibly rewarding, and it is fantastic to see such great solutions being produced. Our goal is simple: bring fans as close as possible to the action through data. Golf is a game of statistics. Tiny variables can have huge impacts; details matter and the more data fans can access, the richer their experience becomes.”

The first round of The Open got underway today, 14 July, and the winner will be crowned on Sunday, 17 July.