September 28, 2005

SkyGolf Commends USGA and R&A Decision to Legalize the Use of Distance Measuring Devices

JACKSON, Miss. – SkyGolf, maker of the SkyCaddie “next-generation” GPS rangefinder, joins the many others to congratulate the USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews on their landmark decision to allow the use of rangefinders for golfers of all skill levels as a condition of competition.

“This is an admirable decision by the guardians of our beloved game because they recognized that for the good of the game it was time to clarify an outdated rule,” said SkyGolf CEO Richard Edmonson. “This ruling paves the way for technology to provide instant access to the vital course information golfers need to play their best golf. Now golfers of all skill levels will have instant access to information otherwise available from other sources, but without slowing down the game pacing and calculating.”

Edmonson believes this ruling not only benefits golfers, but also industry stakeholders who have been looking to grow participation and the business of golf. Golfers - when armed with easy access to the same information professional golfers rely on before every shot - will play better, speed their pace of play, and have more fun. If golfers have more fun, more will play and play more often.

According to RankMark, an independent golf equipment testing company, SkyCaddie improved scores of test participants by on average 5 strokes per round and saved them up to 25 minutes per 9-holes.

Last fall, the SkyCaddie was selected by the Tight Lies Tour as the official yardage-measuring device and was approved for use by players in competition for Tour events during the 2005 season. This marked the first time in the history of competitive golf for an electronic measuring device to be used by professional golfers during competitive tournament play. The results on Tour have been phenomenal. With two events remaining, the Top Eight money winners, and twelve of the Top Fifteen money winners, have been relying on the SkyCaddie for their distances. “I never bothered to walk off any yardages during a single tournament,” said Adam Rubinson, a 2002 Collegiate All-American at TCU and 2003 Walker Cup team member from Fort Worth, Texas. “The information provided by the SkyCaddie was instant and on-the-money, giving me the time to focus on course management and club selection.”

Currently, almost 8,000 courses, including 62 of Golf Digest’s “2005 List of America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses,” are making the benefits of the SkyCaddie available to their members and guests. This database of SkyCourses – golf courses that have been professionally marked and are available for use with the SkyCaddie – is growing at a rate of 50 – 100 per week. SkyGolf estimates that more than 10,000 SkyCourses will be available by spring of 2006 - to include almost 2,000 international courses.