The days of counting sprinkler heads and eyeballing distances may soon be coming to an end at Veenker Memorial Golf Course, thanks to Global Positioning System technology.

The innovation, which has been put to use in airplanes and cars, was recently installed in golf carts, and Veenker golf course is trying out the new technology.

“Right now we have 10 units that were installed by a company in Carroll,” said John Newton, Veenker course manager and superintendent. “We have them on a trial basis right now; we don’t own them yet, but it’s definitely an exciting thing.”

The carts, which would cost the course $350 each, can help golfers decide which club to use when approaching the green.

“It’s a nice thing to have,” Newton said. “They’ll tell you how far you are from the middle of the green no matter where you’re at on the hole. It’s very convenient.”

Describing exactly how GPS works is a complicated matter, but it boils down to a golfer’s position being measured by three satellites using radio waves. Using the time it takes the radio waves to communicate with the receiver and get back to the satellites, the player’s position can be determined.

“This is something golf courses have started doing,” said ISU men’s golf coach Jay Horton. “It helps promote curiosity with casual golfers.”

Although the carts and their GPS devices are safely stowed away for the winter, Newton said he believes they will be in demand once spring rolls around.

“I think they’ll be pretty popular, maybe just out of curiosity more than anything,” Newton said. “We’ll probably keep them until they make us give them back, or we can afford them.”

Newton said a cart with the GPS system would probably cost players about $20 to use, and although that may make a little money, Newton said Veenker may explore having businesses sponsor the devices.

“That’s always a possibility, if we wanted to explore that route,” he said. “You can always market things like this to businesses and try to entice them to maybe buy one. It just ends up being advertising for them.”

Newton said he believes golf carts equipped with GPS technology are a great innovation for both players and course owners. Veenker’s GPS systems strictly tell distances to greens, but Newton listed various other GPS uses that have been employed.

“There are some units that will actually communicate with the pro shop and tell you exactly where that cart is at. Some will actually shut the cart off if it travels off the cart path or regulate speed on hills,” Newton said.

GPS technology has a broad variety of uses, including displaying directions on car dashboards and its many uses in the military world. And, Newton said, the innovation holds some of its early roots here in Iowa cornfields.

“I think it came over from the agriculture side with people out there with it on their tractors, and has really become a neat, useful thing for everyone,” Newton said.