An official app and mobile website for next week's PGA Championship are "being developed to offer new digital tools to enhance the experience for fans on the course" at Whistling Straits, according to a front-page piece by Phillip Bock of the SHEBOYGAN PRESS. PGA.com Manager Gary Treater said an expansive Wi-Fi footprint at Whistling Straits “unlocked a lot of possibilities for us to create features within a mobile device." A new feature, called “Binoculars,” will "utilize Bluetooth beacon technology to make it easier for fans to find and identify golfers from a distance on the course." Bluetooth beacons installed on each of the standard bearer poles for each group of golfers "will allow fans with the PGA Championship smartphone app to easily find and identify their favorite players." Treater said, "Let’s say I want to watch Jordan Spieth and I don’t know where he’s at. I can punch his name in and it will tell me (where he is)." Bock noted the PGA Championship apps and PGA.com mobile website also will "offer video, live scoring, news, photos and a new feature called 'Minute-By-Minute,' which will have live updates throughout the event." Similar to a Twitter feed, Minute-By-Minute will have a "live feed of videos, pictures, tweets, and other content curated by PGA digital producers for the fan who wants to sit for a while, but not be out of touch with what’s happening elsewhere on the course." The feature also will be "available on the PGA.com website to allow people watching the tournament at home to follow the feed" (SHEBOYGAN PRESS, 8/5).
