The Masters' AI explains every shot with a veteran Augusta caddy's know-how
180,000+According to IBM: insights for every shot on every hole, based on nine years of Tournament data including more than 180,000 shots, fine-tuned with insights from golf experts including past Masters caddies, with AI Narration in English and Spanish. No audience or engagement figures for Hole Insights were published.
“IBM Consulting fine-tuned Granite and other LLMs on a wealth of sources including historic shot locations, insights from golf experts including past Masters Tournament caddies, and Tournament data spanning nine years and more than 180,000 shots.”
IBM and the Masters release, Apr 2025 (also IBM Think, Apr 2025), 4 Apr 2025
- Who
- The Masters Tournament, run by Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, and IBM, its technology partner for nearly 30 years. Hole Insights 2.0 built by IBM Consulting on IBM watsonx (watsonx.data, watsonx.ai, watsonx.governance) with IBM Granite and an open-source LLM.
- Problem
- Every shot at the Masters is tracked, but raw coordinates mean little to most fans. Turning years of shot data into short, accurate explanations for every shot on every hole, in the language of golf and of Augusta, is beyond what an editorial team can write by hand during the tournament.
- Agent
- Hole Insights sits in the Track Shots experience. When a shot comes to rest, it uses the ball's exact position and new landing 'zone sectors' (for example 'right fairway 100 to 150 yards from the hole') to show recaps of how the hole is playing, projections and historical odds. An IBM Granite model and an open-source LLM turn the statistics into natural language fine-tuned to golf vernacular, such as 'second cut' instead of 'rough'.
We'll build it for you
Book a callView the prompt
Try it yourself with IBM watsonx
You help run a tennis, padel or golf club or tournament. Goal: short, accurate insights for fans or members built from our own match or round history and our coaches' knowledge, reviewed by my team before publishing. My input: [past results and stats export], [notes or a transcript from our head coach or a veteran member on each court, hole or key situation], [our tone and words we use], [what we must never claim]. Give me: 1) the 10 most interesting patterns in my data, each with the numbers behind it; 2) a one-sentence fan-friendly insight per pattern, in our vocabulary; 3) which insights use the expert's knowledge, quoted from my notes; 4) a check table so my team can verify every number before anything goes live. Never invent stats or quotes.What we can do for your club or brand
Clubs and tournaments sit on years of results and on coaches or long-time members who know every court or hole by heart, but that knowledge rarely reaches players and fans. The Court can set up an AI workflow that turns your own data and your experts' insights into short, checked explanations for your app, website or social channels, with your team approving what goes out, so your experts' knowledge reaches everyone instead of staying in their heads.
Source:
IBM and the Masters release, Apr 2025 (also IBM Think, Apr 2025), 4 Apr 2025 · first-party source
What they did
Hole Insights returned for its second year in 2025 as part of Track Shots on Masters.com and the Masters app. IBM Consulting fine-tuned Granite and other LLMs on historic shot locations, nine years of tournament data and expert input. IBM recorded hours of interviews with a caddy who has served almost 30 years at Augusta National, walking through every hole with his insights and anecdotes, and used the transcript to make the language more human. AI Narration in English and Spanish also returned.
How it went
IBM says Hole Insights 2.0 offers data-driven insights around every shot taken on every hole at Augusta National, based on nine years of tournament data and more than 180,000 shots. Corey Shelton, IBM Technology Program Director: "We're also drawing on hours of interviews with an expert caddy who has served almost 30 years at the Augusta National Golf Club." The caddy's knowledge shapes what fans read: the AI scales a human expert's voice rather than replacing it. Limits: IBM is the Masters' technology partner and the only source; no audience, engagement or accuracy figures were published for Hole Insights.