Golf-bot sinks hole-in-one at PGA event
But how's its short game?
Dropping a hole-in-one at the 16th hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Arizona apparently isn't that hard. Tiger Woods famously got one back in 1997, Italian pro Francesco Molinari did the same last month and just this Wednesday, LDRIC, the club-swinging robot golfer, sank one as well.
LDRIC (Launch Directional Robot Intelligent Circuitry) is the brainchild of pro golfer Gary McCord and was built by Golf Laboratories. Normally, LDRIC spends its days testing club designs but it's no slouch when it steps -- or rather, rolls) up to the tee. The golf-bot is capable of driving balls at up to 130 mph -- 5 mph faster than Tiger Woods in his prime -- and mimicking any pro's swing, but its aim isn't perfect. It took five tries for it to successfully make that shot on Wednesday. Still, you won't find many human golfers able to do the same unless there's a thunderstorm.