Grid View App
The “Grid View” app. Photo via Microsoft.

The fruits of Microsoft’s new partnership with the PGA Tour are starting to show.

In a blog post published today, Windows Marketing General Manger Jeremy Korst detailed how the PGA Tour is starting to utilize Microsoft technology.

In November, Microsoft inked a three-year-deal with the PGA Tour, and the two organizations are already working together in a variety of ways.

Microsoft developed four universal Windows 10 apps that run on more than 800 Surface Pro 4 and Lumia 950 devices for PGA Tour staff and volunteers, with a goal of reaching 1,300 by the end of the summer.

The apps range from “Walking Scorer,” which lets volunteers record data from each playing group at a given tournament, to “Grid View,” which you can see in the photo above and lets volunteers digitally input ball position.

The "Walking Scorer" app. Photo via Microsoft.
The “Walking Scorer” app. Photo via Microsoft.

“With the Microsoft Surface Pro and Lumia devices running Windows 10, the PGA TOUR will have intuitive, secure and easy to use devices that allow our volunteers to track every shot and deliver accurate and timely data to our backend systems,” Steve Evans, PGA Tour CIO, said in a statement.

Then there’s the “Tournament Companion” app, which is geared toward fans “to allow them to get deeper insights whether at the tournament or at home,” Korst noted. There are also tests underway for a golf performance app that runs with Windows 10 and Azure, allowing coaches to record videos of and analyze their student’s swing.

Microsoft is investing big in golf, given the partnership with the PGA Tour and the sponsorship of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship next month in the Seattle region. The tech giant is also working with developers and the PGA Tour to build apps for its HoloLens augmented reality device. In addition, its wearable fitness tracker, the Microsoft Band, has golf shot-tracking features.

There is clearly a crossover between golf and technology, and Microsoft isn’t the only company getting in on the action. IBM has had a key partnership with The Masters over the past several years and showed off its technology at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay last year. Even a company like Boeing is using its technology in the golf world, recently partnering with Callaway to develop new golf clubs.

Microsoft is also investing heavily in sports overall and has partnerships with the NFL, NASCAR, Real Madrid, and other organizations.

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