Segway on the Fairway

Watching the Open Championship (aka The British Open to us Yanks), I thought I spotted an unusual mode of transportation being used by one of the roving camera positions. A quick search of the wires found the image above – a television cameraman operating a steadicam rig atop a Segway was in fact following the golfers. Having chased the likes of Tiger, Norman, Els and the rest of them in the past, I know how heavy all that gear can be – seems like a perfect application of Dean Kamen’s technology. In the image above by AP Photographer Alastair Grant), you can see the driver has the rig aimed backwards at the group walking down the fairway – probably a lot easier this way than fast-walking backwards into one of those pot bunkers! I’m pretty sure this is a custom version of the XT model – while they do sell a version of the scooter adapted for the player with more money than sense that also carries their golf bag (the GT), I don’t see a camera-ready version on their site.