Golf GPS software for your PDA

With Spring here in the U.S., many of us turn our thoughts to the golf course. There's already been many different golf scorecard programs for your PDA to keep track of each shot, but now there's a PDA software/hardware program that can tell you how far you are from the hole.

iGolf Technologies recently launched iGolfgps, golf Global Positioning System software that gives you accurate distance measurements from any location on a golf course. The software is designed to provide the distance from the point of the golfer's ball to the front, centor and back of the green. According to iGolf, the device takes three longitude and latitude points for all 18 holes on a golf course. Once these points have been recorded, the program always works on that particular course. As the golfer moves around the courses, distances update on the screen instantly. The software also includes a scorecard for up to four players.

If it's the first time you are playing on a course, the software has a wizard that lets you "map" the course out, so the next time you play you'll have the correct measurements. In addition, iGolf is hoping that golfers out there "share" their golf course data by uploading the information to an iGolf-hosted database. As more courses get added to the Web site, golfers won't have to map out the course first.

The software uses U.S. governerment GPS satellites, along with a Magellan GPS receiver. The hardware attaches to a Palm V or Vx, and a separate receiver is available via Springboard attachment for Handspring Visor devices. The Palm V/Vx package costs $150, and the Handspring attachment costs $175.