In my day, there was some actual work involved before you could swing a club.

Need a reservation? Better call the golf course.

Need a yardage? Better find a sprinkler head.

Want to know how Tiger is doing at Pebble Beach? Better wait till the 19th puka.

Maybe it’s just because I’m 28 but man, times sure have changed…

So much attention is paid towards the advancing technologies of golf equipment. With good reason. It’s exciting! I remember saying “yup, that’s much more stable” after hitting the newest Nike driver. But often lost in the discussion is the tremendous impact the Internet has played on our golfing experience.

For example, most courses these days now operate on a digital tee sheet. And nearly all the golf courses in Hawaii use their digital tee sheets with their website. This enables golfers to book, and even pay for, tee times online.

But that kind of technology is already old news.

There is a smart phone in nearly every cart now. A world of information right there at your fingertips, accessible between the hook you just hit on #10 and the miracle recovery shot you’re about to hit that you’ll talk about for the rest of the week. Seriously. That gap in the trees you’re about to thread your ball through? Mickelson-esque.

These phones create a new breed of tech-savvy golfer. One who scrolls through their PGA Tour updates while waiting for the green to clear. To help these new link patrons, top golf courses are now designing their own custom smartphone apps full of conveniences for those with enough battery life. Our “Ewa Beach Golf Club” app, for example, provides information on specials and events, a portal to online booking, and even GPS yardages throughout your round. Gone are the days of walking off yardages or, my dad’s favorite strategy, guessing.

Gone also are the days of simply throwing on a collared shirt and heading to the course. You need to make sure your phone has enough charge, your GPS app has fully downloaded, and that you checked Facebook and Twitter for any last minute green fee specials. Technology is constantly developing. So are the golfers.

So must the golf courses.

In the end, the game of golf will always come down to you, the ball, and the course. These new technologies just help to eliminate the time and stress between those moments. Golf tech needs to be as fluid as any other industry. It is our job as a golf course to help it keep up.

Yet even as we merge our centuries old game with this new development, a fancy watch has come out that will surely provide a new way to enhance the golf experience.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what that is.