Friday, June 24, 2016

Former Georgia Tech Teammates Stewart Cink, Mikko Rantanen Team up through Golf GameBook

(ESPOO, FINLAND) - When Stewart Cink and Mikko Rantanen were teammates on the Georgia Tech golf team between 1992 and 1994, they enjoyed tremendous success, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title twice and finishing second and fifth in the NCAA national championship in back-to-back seasons.

Over 20 years later they are teammates again, this time in the golf business world at Golf GameBook, developer of the industry's leading live scoring app.

"We are thrilled to have Stewart on our Golf GameBook team," said Rantanen, CEO of GameBook, Inc. "Stewart has been active on Social Media since the beginning, so when we decided to move forward with the Golf GameBook concept, he was a natural to bring on board."

After leaving Georgia Tech in 1995, both players pursued professional golf careers. Rantanen of Finland played on the Challenge Tour in Europe for four seasons before turning to a golf career off the course. Cink enjoyed immediate success, earning Player of the Year honors on the Nike Tour 1996, and has since carved out a successful PGA Tour career that includes six victories, the Open Championship triumph in 2009 and nearly $34 million in earnings.

Cink, remains very active on Social Media, and currently has over 1.1 million followers on Twitter.

"While competing on the PGA Tour I have seen a major increase in the social aspects of our sport," said Cink, who lives in the Atlanta area. "Golfers on and off the course are constantly sharing their experiences through Social Media. I believe Golf GameBook's Social Community and Multi-Group Live Scoring platform is the perfect vehicle for golfers worldwide to do just that."

Golf GameBook was first released in 2010 as one of golf's first proprietary hand-held live scoring devices. As golf scoring began to enter the digital age, and mobile apps became more prevalent, Golf GameBook evolved into an app as well, integrating GPS and social interaction elements through the years.

The 3rd generation of Golf GameBook was introduced in April to rave reviews. It expands the Social Community aspects of the free iPhone app, making it easier for golfers to share their experience with others before, during and after their rounds.

Golf GameBook, available for free on the App Store, offers the most fun, effective and social way to keep score in golf, allowing you to connect with other golfers and share live results, comments, photos and videos - no matter where you are, on and off the golf course. The easy-to-use digital scorecard has now grown into a fully equipped social media platform for golfers. It's like having a clubhouse in your pocket.

"Making golf more fun through new social elements and different game formats as well as fulfilling golfers' dreams has always been - and still is - the core of what we do," said Kalle Väinölä, who co-founded Golf GameBook 10 years ago with Mikko Manerus. "This new version of Golf GameBook is the next logical step in delivering that promise."

Keeping score on Golf GameBook is simple. Golfers enter their gross score on each hole and the app does the rest. It supports 25 different game formats, and provides scoring and live leaderboards for each of the formats being used by the group or tournament.

Golf GameBook's constantly growing database already covers approximately 95 percent of all the golf courses in the world. The majority of these come with GPS coordinates, which allows you to check the distance, plan your next shot and measure your most impressive drives.

Golfers can also make comments as well as post photos and videos throughout the round, elevating "trash talk" to a new level. Even friends who aren't at the course can follow along, sharing their comments as well.

Once the round is over, the information becomes part of each golfer's personal golf history, as it is automatically archived into their Golf GameBook profile. The statistics and other stored information can also be used for game improvement purposes.

With the addition of the brand new GameBook Social Feed, the app now also allows sharing off-course content such as photos and videos as well as web links to interesting golf topics to spark conversation.

For more information, visit www.GolfGameBook.com.

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