Sometime next year, golf fans will be able to tee off on the famed Ocean Course any time, from anywhere.
World Golf Tour Inc., a year-old upstart, said Wednesday it will dispatch a fleet of remote-controlled helicopters and a team of 10 or so photographers to the Lowcountry this fall to document Kiawah Island Resort's 18-hole calling card. The San Francisco-based technology firm will then plug the images into a "physics simulation engine" and create an online version of the storied layout that can be played on the Internet.
The Ocean Course will be available to cyber-duffers sometime next year, along with a number of other marquee links, although Kiawah and a Hawaii resort are the only two to sign up so far.
Alice Keene/AP
Golfers play the 17th hole of the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort on May 16. Images from a team of photographers and remote-controlled helicopters will be used to create an online version of the course.
The Ocean Course, recently named the No. 1 U.S. golf resort by Travel+Leisure Golf, was at the top of World Golf Tour's list, according to Chief Executive YuChiang Cheng.
Cheng said the final product will look much more realistic than most video games.
"It's very difficult to experience the beauty of a course, but with our product we're actually able to convey that pretty accurately," Cheng said. "As soon as (course owners) see the photos and how it works in the game ... it's a pretty easy negotiation."
World Golf Tour plans to generate revenue from the concept by selling advertisements on its site. It hasn't yet decided whether to charge users what would amount to a virtual greens fee.
As for Kiawah, the resort gets some publicity out of the deal and an undisclosed sum for the rights to reproduce its crown jewel, which was the site of the Senior PGA Championship last month.
"It's not a lot of money," said Mike Vegis, the resort's golf publicist. "It's very minimal, but with the exposure it gives us, we figure it's worth it."
World Golf Tour garnered its first round of venture capital in April. It has also signed up a host of sponsors, including the Professional Golfer's Association of America and Golfnow.com, an online tee-time reservation business.
World Golf Tour's production team will scout Kiawah next month and return in October to photograph the course. The firm eventually hopes to build an online virtual golf community where players can create virtual personas and compete with other players in tournaments.
The Ocean Course is already featured in EA Sports Tiger Woods 2007 game, although it is not an option in Golden Tee, an arcade-style game that is a fixture in most sports bars.
Vegis noted there is a big difference between swinging a golf club and clicking a mouse. His score at the computer is typically much better than his results on the links.
"When I'm Tiger Woods, it's amazing what I can do," he said.
