Like most golfers in the field Markus Brier used a SkyCaddie to get his yardage numbers in last weekend’s Black Desert NI Legends tournament, on the Legends Tour.
But there can only be one winner, and Brier scored a two-shot victory ahead of Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg in difficult final round conditions at Galgorm, one of Northern Ireland’s most prestigious venues.
Brier, who in 2006 became the first Austrian to win on the main European Tour, used his SkyCaddie on nearly every hole as he returned to the winner’s circle on the Legends Tour after a two-year gap.
As usual the vast majority of competitors used SkyCaddie GPS yardages during the event, including SkyCaddie’s unique service where competitors can download the day’s pin positions before each round, directly onto their rangefinders.
Brier and his experienced caddie Mike Morley explained how a modern Tour pro uses SkyCaddie under the pressurised conditions of a big tournament.
“Winning again means everything to Markus, he has found something in his swing and putted really confidently at Galgorm” said Morley. “The SkyCaddie was with us all the way. Nowadays he and I use it at every tournament, and we wouldn’t be without it.”
Brier said: “I have the PRO 5X and Mike has the SX550 so we both use a SkyCaddie, although Mike also makes his notes on the yardage book.
“For me, the SkyCaddie is so easy to use, so handy, as it gives me the exact number I have to hit it to, including the day’s precise pin position. Now that SkyCaddie also shows the exact pin distances, I know what shot to hit to leave me my favourite layup yardages, for example. It is one less thing to worry about!”
The 57 year old Viennese golfer, an 11-time winner on Tour including two Senior Tour victories, continued: “On long holes the SkyCaddie gives me the exact numbers from where I am standing, with all hazards and bunkers clearly visible, and it also immediately gives me the remaining distances to the pin from each of my shot options.
“So with a SkyCaddie I can really choose my target. It even shows the big contours on the greens, and it gives me every detail I need including where the bailout areas are among all the bunkers, for today’s pin position.
“The SkyCaddie is a great device and I love it – that’s why we use it at every tournament!”
Mike Morley continued: “Initially I wasn’t sure that the SkyCaddie would work for us, and I was sceptical about its accuracy. But, I have to say, it is absolutely spot-on.
“In fact it is so good I began to think it would make me redundant! We play a lot of difficult courses where it is hard to get a line, but the SkyCaddie makes it easy, and the information is delivered very quickly.
“The SkyCaddie is fantastic and is an extremely accurate piece of equipment.”
SkyCaddie’s James Holmes said: “Markus has always swung the club well, as befits a player who has been in the top 100 of the official World Golf Rankings. We could not be happier to see him lift the Black Desert NI trophy last weekend!
“Hearing Markus and Mike talk about how accurate and useful they find the SkyCaddies to be, really validates everything we have been doing here behind the scenes for over 25 years.
“It means everything to us that such a high percentage of players now use SkyCaddies on the Legends Tour, which is the world’s most important Tour to allow the use of distance measurement devices.”
SkyCaddie is the Official Distance Measurement Device for the Legends Tour, and officials use SkyCaddie yardages to produce pin sheets which show the week’s pin positions.
Users can then download each day’s pin placements directly to their SkyCaddie device, giving laser-accurate yardages from anywhere on the hole.
For all SkyCaddie information, including details of the new, compact SkyCaddie PRO 4X and the world-first SkyCaddie SuperTags game & performance tracking system, visit www.skygolf.com or call 01844 296360.
