What is Toptracer?

Toptracer is ball-tracking technology used on golf TV broadcasts and at driving ranges around the world. At a Toptracer range, cameras above each bay follow your ball the moment it leaves the club, and a screen in your bay draws the shot trace and shows the numbers: ball speed, carry, curve and distance to the pin.

It tracks the ball, not the club. Results are adjusted for range balls, so the numbers are close to what a premium ball would do.

The games

• Virtual Golf: play famous courses hole by hole on the screen.
• Closest to the Pin: hit at a single hole and see how close you finish, with local and worldwide leaderboards.
• Longest Drive, Points target games and a launch-monitor practice mode.

Pebble Beach Hole 7

Hole 7 at Pebble Beach Golf Links is one of the most famous short holes in golf: a little par 3 played downhill toward the ocean. On Toptracer it plays at 87 yards. Every AlanGolf ace is on this hole, with a 60° Vokey wedge. A hole-in-one shows up on the screen as ホールインワン and counts as HIO on the leaderboard.

How to play it yourself

1. Find a Toptracer range. Lots of driving ranges have it. Check the range finder on toptracer.com or ask your local range.
2. Get the free Toptracer Range app. It links your shots to your profile so they count on the leaderboards and you can keep your stats.
3. Scan the QR code on the bay screen to log in to the bay.
4. Pick Closest to the Pin and choose Pebble Beach Golf Links, Hole 7. Menus vary a little from range to range.
5. Film the screen. If you hole one, you'll want the video. Start recording before you hit.

Then come and check how you compare on the AlanGolf ace calendar.