The NumberA rangefinder gives you a number. A caddie gives you the number.
You get to the bag room and there's a caddie waiting with your clubs. And you think: why do I need a caddie? I have a rangefinder.
Then comes your first approach. The rangefinder says 150. The caddie says, “Seven, not eight. Into the wind, up the hill, bunker short. Middle of the green.” And that's the shot.
They do different jobs. The Number is the caddie, on your iPhone or iPad: it measures everything, and what it hands you is a decision.
Where the call matters
The approach you keep leaving short
150 to the middle. Into the breeze, up the hill, a bunker short.
The yardage says
150
The caddie says
7-iron. Plays 161.
Middle of the green; miss it long, not short.
“Your irons have been a few yards short today.”
The call is made for you, today: your carries as you're hitting them this round, with the wind, the slope and the lie counted.
Driver brings the trouble in
A par 4 with bunkers right, where a good drive lands.
The yardage says
238 to reach, 262 to carry
The caddie says
Hybrid, left-center.
Stays short of the bunkers and leaves 150 from the fairway.
“Driver brings them in.”
The lay-up
A par 5 you can't reach in two. 245 to the green.
The yardage says
245
The caddie says
7-iron, down the left.
Leaves 110, plays 102 downhill: a full wedge.
“A 3-wood leaves an awkward half swing.”
The first tee on a cold morning
You told it you're feeling a bit rusty. It's 50 degrees.
The yardage says
The same as July
The caddie says
5-wood, smooth.
Middle of the fairway; the bunker your driver can reach is out of play.
“You don't need to murder it.”
It allows for the cold air and the cold swing, and plays you in gently for the first few holes.
Tell it what you see
160 out, behind a low branch. You hold Talk: “I'm under a branch, can't get it up.”
The yardage says
160
The caddie says
Punch a 6-iron under it.
Toward the front: back in play with a short one in.
“Low and smooth.”
Tell it what you see, by voice or by typing, and it changes the call. Not sure about a call? Tap Second opinion for a second, more careful read.
In the trees off the 18th
Bala's 18th. Your drive has finished in the rough right of the fairway, 111 out, with a stand of trees between you and the green.
The yardage says
111
The caddie says
Punch a 7-iron back to the fairway.
Carries 33; the next shot plays 82.
“Punch low, hold the finish, let it run.”
When the trees take the green away, the caddie calls the way back out and tells you what the next shot plays.
Same spot, different day
The same tee, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday your driver found every fairway; Sunday it's leaking right.
The yardage says
The same, both days
The caddie says
Saturday: driver.
Sunday: 3-wood.
Both left-center; Sunday's call keeps the right side out of play.
“Driver's been leaking right today.”
Every shot is reviewed on its own, from how you're hitting it that day, so the same spot can bring a different call. You also pick your caddie: Del plays it safe, Donna takes the percentage play, Mike goes for it when the miss is safe.
Measured, never guessed
The caddie never makes up a yard: the app measures every one from your ball. Each course is mapped hole by hole from public map data, elevation survey and lidar for the trees, then checked by hand by someone who has played it.
Keep what you use
Plenty of golf apps and devices do their own job very well. Keep the ones you use.
- Handicap apps keep your official Handicap Index. The app doesn't work out or post one.
- GPS and scoring apps put yardages on a great many courses and keep your scores, stats and games with friends.
- Shot-tracking systems with sensors log every shot and build a detailed picture of your game.
- Golf watches put the numbers on your wrist, so the phone can stay in the bag.
- Laser rangefinders give the fastest, surest number to the flag.
Early days
The Number is new, and growing. Where it stands today:
- Two courses so far: Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia, and a nine-hole preview of Philadelphia Cricket Club's St. Martins course. More are coming.
- Invite-only, on iPhone and iPad.
- Casual rounds only. Leave it in the bag for club events and anything played under the Rules of Golf.
- No official handicap, and a simple scorecard.
The request form asks which course to map next. Every answer counts as a vote.
Worth paying for, one day
It's free for now, with no price yet. If it earns one, it will be for the decision: the right call on the shots that cost you strokes, on a course it knows hole by hole, for a game it has learned from every round you've logged.
More questions? See Questions.