With the data produced, Long created the most accurate, detailed Greens Contours books ever. Finally, because the hardware is seamlessly integrated with Leica Cyclone software, the complete system would save him hours back in the office. Also, the Leica ScanStation is highly water resistant, with an IP54 rating, so O’Brien was confident it would not suffer water damage despite the ever-present threat of rain and the sprinkler system. The scanner’s backlit onboard display made it simple for him to check his equipment and make adjustments as necessary. © 2015 GOLFARīecause O’Brien could not scan the greens while golf was in play, he worked at night. This high-resolution mesh (0.15 meters) was down-sampled from the lidar point cloud with manually edited 3D breaklines, artificial color, and lighting: Ballyhack Golf Course, Roanoke, Virginia, 18th green. “That’s because the task not only required accuracy but also high-definition.” “The Leica ScanStation P20 was the best instrument for measuring the subtle shapes and slopes of the golf green,” said O’Brien. This particular scanner uses accurately located ground control targets and captures one million points of data per second while overcoming environmental challenges. Open.įor this illustrious task, O’Brien upgraded to the Leica ScanStation P20 (the newest version is the P30/P40).
#Digital terrain model golf course series#
2 for the creation of a series of Greens Contours books for the U.S.
#Digital terrain model golf course professional#
In 2014, a new challenge came O’Brien’s way when he was contracted by Mark Long, author of the PGA Tour professional yardage books, to scan and model the greens of Pinehurst No. The point cloud it produced included the precise position of each data point, representing the topography of the golfing terrain. In 2009, to provide the highest detail possible of the greens, he starting using a Leica ScanStation 2 laser scanner to record the data.īy sweeping the laser beam over an area and calculating the distance between the scanner and the objects the laser detects, the scanner enabled him to capture 30,000 points of data per second with survey-grade accuracy. O’Brien first started mapping golf courses using survey-grade GPS in 2002 for TerraVea, a professional services firm that provided as-built data for golf course architects. O’Brien recently set out to unlock the mysteries of the greens, first for professionals with topographic maps and then for amateurs, in a new app, PuttAR, designed to help them understand the challenge of putting.
![digital terrain model golf course digital terrain model golf course](https://www.creativegolf3d.com/images/digital-caddie/LegendCourse_j01.png)
“Golf is ultimately a challenge between an individual player and artfully designed terrain,” says Michael O’Brien, a landscape architect who has been studying the shape of golf courses for more than a decade. In addition, the surface friction of the green, known as green speed or stimp, affects how fast the ball rolls and how it breaks. No matter how flat golf greens may appear, each has a curvature to it. Why does this outwardly placid surface behave so unpredictably?Ī number of factors play into the ball’s seemingly erratic behavior. Naturally, golfers wonder about the mysteries of the green. It speeds up, slows down, and takes unexpected breaks. Yet, once the ball is within several yards of the hole, it seems to take on a mind of its own.
![digital terrain model golf course digital terrain model golf course](https://www.golfclubgraphics.com/images/photogrammetry/DEM.png)
Open Men’s and Women’s championship tournaments.
![digital terrain model golf course digital terrain model golf course](https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/images/resource/tutor/fundam/images/dembw.gif)
The black and white checkboard target is precisely located on the georeferenced mark: Pinehurst No.2, Pinehurst, North Carolina, 18th green, site of the 2014 U.S. Point cloud detail from a scan displayed in Leica Cyclone with points colored by intensity.