TGL is shaking up the world of golf in a big way. TGL, presented by SoFi, combines cutting-edge technology with the skills of top PGA TOUR players, bringing fans a thrilling, two-hour weekly competition in prime time.
With six teams representing major cities and facing off in a season-long battle at the state-of-the-art SoFi Center, built specifically for TGL at Palm Beach State College, this league promises to offer unprecedented access to the action. Matches are broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN+, with every shot captured and players mic’d up, offering golf fans an immersive experience like never before.
Innovation & Tech Today spoke with Andrew Macaulay, the Chief Technology Officer of TMRW Sports, about the integration of tech, the venue’s design, and the possibilities for the future.
Innovation & Tech Today: Can you share your vision for TGL and how the integration of technology is transforming the sport?
Andrew Macaulay: The vision was to create a new and complementary version of professional golf by infusing technology into the actual game being played that allows for a fast-paced, indoor stadium, team-based competition. Up to this point, golf technology has transformed the way players train, the way they analyze their performance, the way fans watch, and the way broadcasters showcase the experience. TGL now brings transformation to the way the game of golf can be played using technology.
I&T Today: How did the venue’s design come about, and what role does technology play in enhancing the fan experience and the players’ performance during competitions?
Macaulay: The SoFi Center was foremost designed around the needs of TGL’s competition technology, the broadcast technology, and the in-person fan experience.
We wanted a large field of play that could be divided roughly in half. So, at one end, the long shots could be played on a massive scale on a huge screen, and at the other end, TGL’s green and short game area could come to life at full scale. For the shots into the screen, we use a hybrid of technologies, including the advanced optical camera-based ball tracking technology from multiple sets of customized Toptracer range system for the 35 yards of ball flight and combine that with spin data from Full Swing’s launch monitors. Once we calculated all the measurements, it was clear a custom-built venue was required as existing buildings in South Florida were not high enough or didn’t have enough unobstructed space to allow full golf shots to be hit indoors.
Then the seating around the field of play was designed for all fans to have an incredibly intimate experience being very close to the players and the action no matter where they happen to be sitting.
TGL technology is indelibly linked to the player’s performance during competition. They have learned how to hit shots at TGL and its tech-infused environment much like how they learn a new golf course they haven’t played before or familiarize themselves with a course’s playing conditions.
I&T Today: The IMAX-sized simulator screen is a standout feature of TGL. Can you explain the technological challenges behind creating a screen of that scale and how it helps recreate a realistic golfing environment for both players and fans?
Macaulay: We spent over a year of R&D on the screen technology itself. Both the structure of the screen and the technology to display the game images on it. The goal was to make it look like a very large window to the world outside. Imagine if we had opened up one end of the stadium and you were seeing the beautiful golf hole laid out in front of you. Making it as big as we possibly could was important for that, which in turn conflicted with finding a structure and fabric at that size that would harmlessly take the impact of a golf ball traveling over 200mph, without bouncing wildly back towards the player, and at the same time display a crisp projected image for all to see.
To achieve the brightness and quality requirements on the screen we ended up utilizing nine high-end laser projectors all perfectly aligned together.
I&T Today: With all players mic’d up and the cameras capturing every shot, there’s a focus on transparency and accessibility. How did you approach balancing the technical demands of the competition with creating an authentic, immersive experience for viewers?
Macaulay: My goal for the TGL technology is for it to be like magic. Magic for me is when something amazing happens, and you don’t know how it was done. So, every technology decision we made combined the necessity to perform with a form factor that blended in with the physical play. Once viewers are immersed in the spectacle of the competition with two teams battling it out for a win and forget that we have blended the real and virtual worlds together, that is when the magic has happened.
I&T Today: What were the challenges of blending real and virtual elements to create a truly immersive experience?
Macaulay: The real and virtual worlds come together in two ways. First, when the real ball, hit by a real player with a real golf club off of real grass, hits the large screen and morphs into a virtual golf ball flying down a virtual golf hole. And then, secondly, when the golfer plays their shot into the green end of a hole, we transition them from the virtual world back into the real world on a physical green that matches exactly the one they are facing in the virtual world.
It was a challenge at first to achieve the perfect screen transition, getting precise alignment between the real and virtual worlds so the virtual golf ball starts exactly where the real golf ball stops.
For the transition to the real green we had to build new technology, SkyMarkTM, that could take the x, y, z coordinates of the ball in the virtual world and direct a lighting system to the same spot in the real world, taking into account obstacles that might be in the way and many other environment challenges.
I&T Today: The TGL experience has been described as something more than just a simulator-based competition. How do you see this evolving the future of golf, both in terms of how it’s played and how fans experience it?
Macaulay: Simulator-based competitions already exist in the world, and TGL is indeed completely different. Stadium golf is perhaps a better description because TGL allows fans to experience live every shot by every player in fast-paced, non-stop action as you would experience watching football, hockey, basketball, baseball and any other team sport played on a field in front of thousands of screaming fans inside their stadium.
For a long while, I’ve thought that technology would become infused into the act of playing sports and not just used around it. TGL is, I believe, the first real implementation of that and at a professional level. Over time, I could see more technology being infused into the act of playing golf on a real outdoor golf course, for amateurs and professionals alike. This digitization of golf, and other sports, will benefit both players and the fans.
I&T Today: Looking ahead, how do you envision technology continuing to evolve within TGL? Are there any upcoming innovations or features that you’re particularly excited about in the future?
Macaulay: I can’t divulge what is coming, but I am certainly excited about it. The list of ideas for future seasons of TGL was long before the first season even started. We are now adding to that list every week based on real first-season experiences. The challenge is going to be choosing which subset of that list to choose for season 2.
