The most riveting items at the PGA Merchandise Show

	The video game Infamous 18 offers many holes from fictional courses, including No. 17 at the Wall Street Golf & Cricket Club. Courtesy of Infamous 18
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The recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando made clear an obvious trend in golf. Computers are changing the game and the way we play it, from simulators and practice ranges to swing analysis and clubfitting.

The most important computer use, as I saw it, was The Optimal Motion Instructor (TOMI, $895, tomi.com). We've had video technology and computer swing analysis for golfers' full swings for some time. Finally, technology has come to the masses for putting, which is arguably the most important part of the game. Golf lessons are common, but when was the last time you saw anyone get a putting lesson?

TOMI is a small launch monitor that is placed on the green adjacent to your ball. It is plugged into a laptop computer that you've loaded with TOMI software. A sensor is attached to your putter. Then you putt and TOMI gives you a graphic readout -- after every stroke if you wish -- about your stroke in nine categories, including alignment at impact, stroke path, velocity at impact, impact spot, stroke tempo and effective loft. These are the parameters that define putting strokes.

It is invaluable information. I know my putter tends to cut across the ball from right-to-left at impact and TOMI reinforced that knowledge and reminded me that I need to seriously work on that. Obviously, the main market for TOMI is for club pros and golf instructors, but it's compact, easy to use and inexpensive enough that you can get your own. It heads up my Most Wanted list of golf items.

Additional accessories

Hail to the vectors: The Accusport Vector Pro (approximately $3,995, accusport.com) is more than just a typical launch monitor, it helps you analyze your swing. The briefcase-sized unit measures ball speed, launch angle, backspin, side spin and side angle -- pretty much everything you need to know when trying to figure out which clubs and balls best suit your game and your swing. This is the kind of technology that only tour pros used to have access to. Now, with units like this, clubfitting is coming to the masses. You can learn important details about your game, such as exactly how far you fly a 5-iron, an important stat every tour player knows precisely but probably only a handful of amateurs can guess within a few yards. You can even use the accessories to create your own simulated practice range at home. You can use the Vector Pro indoors or outdoors, with or without a tee. This item makes my Most Wanted list.

Sim city: Golf simulators are better than ever. You can check out About Golf's simulators (aboutgolf.com) in stores such as Golf Galaxy, PGA Tour Superstore and Edwin Watts. The simulators calculate spin and analyze your shot, then show you where it went on the screen that you hit into -- which may be a practice range or one of 30 courses you can download and pretend to play, including Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. It's perfect for the cold-weather golfer who otherwise finds hitting balls into a net tedious.

Rich and infamous: I'm sure there are a few public golf courses in America that don't have at least one of Loyal (Bud) Chapman's iconic fantasy golf hole paintings hanging in its clubhouse. His early works, like the golf hole on a ledge overlooking the Grand Canyon, were so striking that some people wanted to know where that course was so they could go play it. The holes were all in Chapman's head and his popular series -- featuring a fairway cut through a giant redwood and a hole at Macchu Picchu and other zany locations -- is the stuff of legend.

The only thing better than remembering Chapman's wacky course -- he eventually produced a full 18 -- would be playing it. And now you can. Infamous 18 ($19.99, Aboutgolf.com/games.html) is a golf video game. It was three years in the development and the graphics are impressive. Chapman's infamous holes really do come to life. And they're just as difficult to play as you imagined. I'm still at the novice level and if not for frequent use of the mulligan key (perhaps the game's greatest idea), I might not finish a round. The graphics are so real that when you hit an errant shot into, say, Victoria Falls, it takes a full 15 or 20 seconds for the ball to plummet through the roaring waters and finally come to rest. You're not going to get bored and start shooting 56s anytime soon like with some other golf video games. You have to get good just to survive the round and its myriad of ice shelves, volcanoes and waterfalls. I could spend more time on the details but trust me -- just get it and play it. It's a riot.