Leinster Golf goes high tech

Shane Lowry pictured with Kevin McIntyre, Chairman, Leinster Branch, Golfing Union of Ireland (right) and John Ferriter, Hon. Secretary, Leinster Branch, GUI at the launch of the Leinster Branch Elite Website, smartphone app and logos at Carton House. Picture by Pat CashmanShane Lowry might be a purely natural golfer but the European Tour star discovered that Irish amateur golf is at the cutting edge of new technology when he helped launch a new website and smartphone app for Leinster Golf at Carton House. Interestingly, the ILGU was closely involved in helping Leinster get the enterprise off the ground - a sign, perhaps, of a future amalgamation of the men’s and women’s bodies in Ireland?

The new app, which is available for iPhone and Android devices, allows more than 270 boys and youths involved in the Leinster Elite Golf Coaching Programme to interact with their provincial coaches and each other.  

A new web portal - www.leinsterelitegolf.com - will go live soon and provide Leinster panellists with information on technique, practice, fitness, psychology and nutrition and allow players to access coaching manuals, upload video to their coaches and chat on-line.

A screenshot of the Leinster Elite Golf app.“The new website and the new app look great,” said Lowry, who returns to action in next week’s BMW PGA at Wentworth. “I obviously didn’t have this when I was with Leinster Golf but I have very fond memories of those days.

“It’s a big step forward for Leinster Golf and with Gavin Moynihan’s win in the Irish Amateur Open at the weekend, the future looks bright.”

According to Leinster Branch chairman Kevin McIntyre, the new initiatives in technology were made possible thanks to groundwork carried out by the ILGU.

“The ILGU had already created a database and web-portal for high performance which we were allowed to share,” he said. “Their co-operation contributed not alone to a financial saving but also brought the development to a much faster conclusion.”

Pat Finn, General Secretary of the Golfing Union of Ireland said it was “inevitable” that the technology would eventually be made available to players on the national panels.

The Leinster Branch, which celebrates its centenary next year, also unveiled new branding in the form of a new Leinster Golf logo.