Artificial Intelligence helps analyze golf fans’ swings at U.S. Open

OAKMONT, Pa. — Aside from watching the U.S. Open tournament itself, there’s so much for fans to do at Oakmont Country Club this weekend.

“It was a Pebble Beach simulator. It was really cool,” said Matt Hillebrand of McMurray, who attended the U.S. Open practice round on Wednesday.

The Pebble Beach simulator is part of the Fan Central area in the “Drive By Lexus” tent.

Full Swing, a virtual golf company, has the simulator set up where you can hit a ball against a screen, and then technology does the rest!

They also partnered with Sportsbox AI to analyze your swing.

They let Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek try it out. All you have to do is step up to the tee, swing, and the artificial intelligence takes over.

“We’re taking a swing video of every fan that comes by, it processes it in about 15 seconds, and then what it’s doing is it’s converting their golf swing into 3D data, which is basically a fancy way of saying we’re quantifying how much of certain movements they’re doing,” said Nick Vecellio of Sportsbox AI.

Those different movements show things like pelvis rotation, chest rotation, and more.

“In two minutes, we can give these guys enough impactful data that they want to use our software and come back to see us again in the future,” Vecellio said.

There is also a putting green that employees can alter to give steeper slopes and angles in the tent.

Aside from these types of fan experiences, golf fans will be able to go up to the American Express tent starting Thursday to get a free radio. That will allow fans to listen to the golf broadcast while out on the course watching the golfers to get real-time updates around the course and from different groups.

Fans we spoke to on Wednesday had some tips for anyone coming out to Oakmont in the next few days.

“Leave extra time because if you leave later in the morning to get here, you’re going to run into a lot of traffic,” Hillebrand said. “So leave extra time and just enjoy the experience. Don’t have too many expectations because there’s a lot to see here and it’s a great time.”

The U.S. Open Trophy is on display for fans to take pictures with throughout the week at the Driven By Lexus tent. It will be taken away a little early on Sunday so that the winner of the U.S. Open will get their chance to hoist it.

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