In addition to the 80 wireless handhelds used by walking scorers, leaderboard operators and USGA VIPs, Unisys installs and maintains about 175 wired PCs to deliver real-time scoring information to on-site media (50 laptops and 20 desktops), sponsor hospitality tents and USGA officials who don't rate high enough for a handheld. The wired devices run a browser application called Inquiry App, which is wrapped in a custom C++ application that Schroeder wrote.
The application's hallmark is its extreme user-friendliness. which saves the on-site technical staff from having to conduct extensive user training. The Inquiry App's point-and-click interface is a no-brainer. The Inquiry App delivers up-to-the-minute, hole-by-hole scores and detailed stats about each golfer, such as fairways hit, greens in regulations and sand saves for the current round and for the tournament. It also displays stats about each hole, including average score for the day and for the tournament. If you're lucky enough to have access to one of the corporate hospitality tents, you can use the Inquiry App to find out where your favorite golfer is on the course before you venture into the great outdoors.
Real-time updates are sent out to the world via an external Web site hosted by AT&T and its ICDS (Intelligent Content Distribution Service) network for the USGA over a dedicated dial-up line. Yes, you read that right--dial-up. When you've condensed the game of golf to its bare essence, a few strokes here, a few putts there, dial-up and an 802.11b network constrained to 2 Mbps throughput are all you really need. The pros cooperate by keeping their scores ridiculously low--no double digits in that bunch.
The Unisys personnel involved at any one event are an international cast of characters. That's because Unisys also provides scoring services for the British Open, the PGA European Tour, the Canadian PGA and the PGA Tour of Australia. At this year's U.S. Open, Unisys representatives from the U.K. and Australia joined the permanent U.S. team along with representatives from Chicago-area Unisys branch offices. Members of the U.S. team help with large overseas tournaments such as the British Open.
So, the next time you're watching the U.S. Open, the British Open or the PGA Club Championship on TV and you see the Unisys logo above the scores, think of Schroeder, Steve Becker, Michael Leone, Colin Cousins, Rob Menegon and the rest of the crew from Unisys and Intermec. They make sure you know how your favorite golfer is doing with reliable, predictable precision.
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