Foresight Sports co-president and co-founder Jon Watters believes that technology-driven indoor golf is the future of the sport.

"When you look at the global landscape of golf - resources, land availability, etc - there isn't going to be a lot of room left to develop green-grass golf courses. And when you look at stadium golf, which is popular and an important part of golf, there's only so many stadiums that can be built," said Watters.

"Having a tech-infused experience that can be plugged into existing locations is how we are going to grow golf globally," he added.

Founded in 2009 by Watters, Scott Werbelow and Scott Wilson, Foresight Sports has grown into a world leader in performance analysis and game enhancement technology. The San Diego-headquartered company has thousands of its cutting-edge launch monitors and simulation solutions in use worldwide, from retail stores and driving ranges to indoor golf centres and homes.  

Watters stressed that Foresight Sports aims to help drive golf's growth by developing technology that is accessible and affordable. "t's very important that we continue to develop technology that is more accessible for all levels of golfers. It's important that we are good stewards of our technology, and that we continue to innovate so that it can be more affordable.

"I believe that Foresight Sports will be the leader in this tech-infused revolution, because we're going to continue to make it more accessible through manufacturing efficiences and cost reduction," he noted.

Getting such technology into the hands of the young, Watters added, is crucial. "If you try to learn another language late in life, it's very difficult to do so. But when you pick it up early, it's almost intuitive.

"If we're going to continue to grow, we've got to figure out a way for chidren to get access to golf. Making it more affordable, having more indoor golf locations with technology that really gives you a benchmark or feedback - that's the way we'll grow. As the young generation grows up with golf, they'll take that and expand upon it, and we'll have massive growth worldwide."

Looking back to the company's formation in 2009, Watters noted that they had little inkling of the exponential growth that Foresight Sports would experience. "We had big ideas and big visions, but I don't think we saw them quite as big as they became. It's been very gratifying."

Watter singled out the revoutionary four-camera GCQuad launch monitor, unveiled in 2017, as the product that propelled Foresight Sports into "hypergrowth".

"The GCQuad was the first product that we were able to engineer from the ground up. After that, it led to much stronger brand presence in the world ... and that was only the beginning," he shared.

The new, three-camera GC3 launch monitor, meanwhile, marks the first step in making Foresight Sports' technology more affordable.

"The GC3 represents the next generation of products that uses our patented methods and imagery, but in a package that is more affordable. This was an attempt for us to make a product that had the best of the professional grade features, but priced so that average golfers can use it to improve their games," said Watters.

Watters was speaking to Golf Matters during a visit to the 40,000-square foot MST Golf Arena at The Gardens Mall in Mid-Valley City, the region's largest indoor golf centre with 20 tech bays equipped with Foresight Sports' GCHawk technology, along with food, entertainment and retail.

"This facility is truly spectacular ... I've never really seen anything like it before! I think the people of Malaysia should feel very fortunate because this is the pinnacle of an indoor golf facility across the globe," enthused Watters.

"It's truly remarkable what MST Golf has done and I think this will be the one from which others will copy."