I’ve unlocked my Bushnell Launch Pro which basically makes it a GC3. Now to pay the bill.
I went off on vacation and arrived home at 2am on October 8th. For the 9 days or so that I was away, I made every possible attempt to not access the internet. Obviously I wasn’t playing in my golf cave and in turn wasn’t following Facebook and Discord. But then on October 9th, that all changed. Let me back up.
Discord
Once home from vacation, I signed into Discord and got on SGT SimulatorGolfTour and in the thread gc3-blp-discussion. The thread is a tremendous resource of help for all things GC3 and BLP. Whereas you might see a post every couple or few minutes, there were multiple posts every single minute. Something was going on and it was rumors… or was it? It seems there were either a couple of insiders or folks who had a connection with sales saying October 8th was a deadline to get things done.
Reading through post after post, it came to light that something was in the works with GSPro to possibly allow for full integration without having to use Game Changer and Open AI, the subscription base may lose the different options that were currently available, and the ability to unlock BLP may go away with this deadline. That ability to unlock may never come again. I don’t like the word never but that is what was being said.
That was a lot to take in. Especially with what some were saying was a looming end of day October 8th deadline. But deadline for what exactly? It truly seemed to be anyone’s best guess.
What If
I weighed the options. For me it was a big “what if”. What if I did nothing and they (Foresight) took away the option of continuing with GSPro. What if the only option of continuing with GSPro is to have the highest cost gold subscription. What if Foresight decided to remove the option of unlocking the Bushnell Launch Pro and only offered a yearly or monthly subscription base. I was thinking out loud. I own a BLP and a GC3 is basically an unlocked BLP. Yet the software that Foresight offers in FSX 2020 or especially FSX Play is above the capacity of my laptop and truth be told (listen up Foresight), I wasn’t overly impressed by the number of courses offered in FSX Play or FSX 2020 and sure has heck wasn’t going to lay out $150 or whatever for a single additional course.
To me, it seemed through my Discord reading that you would either need to have a gold subscription or have an unlocked BLP to play GSPro. Yes, I wasn’t that concerned about course play that Foresight offered with FSX 2020 or FSX Play but I didn’t want to give up playing GSPro. GSPro has so many more courses, the quality of nearly every course is fantastic, new courses are being added all the time, and there isn’t a fee to purchase a new course (again… compared to what Foresight has with FSX Play). That being said, with GSPro you can opt-in through Patreon with individual course creators who each have a monthly fee to be able to play member only courses. Either way, winter is fast approaching and I didn’t want to lose the option of not being able to play simulator golf, whether directly through Foresight or GSPro.
Once again I need to back up. If you own a golf simulator, it seems you are never satisfied with your current equipment. Something can always use an upgrade. I have my sights set on eventually getting a 4K projector. I have an impact screen and actually use a photographers background in front of that impact screen but I would like something with a little more quality. Still, what I have gets the job done and anything extra is an outlay of money. But… with all this talk I might just need to push back on my winter project.
Johnny Cash Desktop Computer
My intention this offseason is to build a Johnny Cash desktop computer. That literally means one piece at a time. It might look ugly but I’m looking for good deals, one piece at a time. To have this ready for April 2024. It will most likely be a 4070 TI or higher processor. I’m hoping not to mess around. This desktop computer will be relegated to my golf cave and in my head I’m thinking $2200 to $2400 should do the job for the PC alone. Again, I won’t be buying individual items at retail. By Johnny Cash desktop computer, if you aren’t familiar with what I’m talking about, here’s a video.
I Don’t Like Monthly or Yearly Fees
Side note. I cannot stand monthly payments. I cannot stand yearly payments. I did not have a car note for nearly 20 years. I then paid off a car note on a brand new car in 11 months. It seems more and more companies want a subscription model where they can sell you a product or service and then have a guaranteed monthly or yearly income. Ok, I have my mortgage, insurance, internet, cable, and cell phone. Oh yeah. Sirius XM.
The thought of paying $699 a year for the gold subscription and then $250 a year for GSPro sorta aggravated me. Of course, I’m on a basic subscription which remains free for a year and then will have to pay when that expires. Rumors started to fly on Discord that the basic subscription may no longer be eligible to work with 3rd party integrations such as GSPro. There were those who said they wouldn’t allow their BLP to update, thus bypassing the need for a higher subscription. I’ve come from TGC2019 which I honestly liked very much (mostly due to local courses) but GSPro graphics and play are just tremendous.
This was almost too much to take in and posts were coming fast and furious on the gc3-blp-discussion thread. It was about 6pm with the supposed deadline to take some sort of action in either doing nothing (inaction) or doling out the money was supposed to be at midnight to unlock BLP. As I watched the individuals going back and forth on Discord, you had those set on doing nothing, those who had remarked they had just purchased to unlock BLP and a couple of folks who seemed to be arguing about the inside information they might have which was different from anothers inside information or guess. In my head, I just didn’t want to lose the ability to play GSPro, especially as I signed up to the Simulator Golf Tour only a couple weeks earlier.
Bushnell Launch Pro Unlocked
I bit the bullet. $2941.43 after taxes. Ouch. I purchased the option to allow me to unlock my BLP which for all intents and purposes has made it the equivalent of a GC3. I’m happy about that but again, ouch. It was the money I planned on spending on my soon to be Johnny Cash desktop computer and it was money I didn’t have on hand. Put it on a card. That is unless I decide to hurry up and cash in some Bitcoin. So yeah, the money is there but just in a digital form.
What Changed?
So did anything change on October 9th? Yes.
Foresight removed the option to unlock a Bushnell Launch Pro. Supposedly this option to unlock will not open again. If you have your mind set on having an unlocked BLP, you will either have to buy it from someone who already has their unit unlocked (and pay the transfer fee) or I suppose you could purchase a GC3.
The basic subscription is going away but Foresight was kind enough to grandfather certain features for those who currently have the basic subscription.
The silver subscription was previously discontinued only a little while back and there are options depending on whether you were on the $399 silver plan or $499 silver plan. If you are at $499 you will be moved to gold and if at $399 you will stay at silver until you will have to upgrade.
The gold subscription will now be $499 a year.
In order to play GSPro or 3rd party integrations, you will need to either be at the gold subscription or have an unlocked BLP.
Which reminds me about another yearly fee. I am paying $80 a year to be part of the Simulator Golf Tour where you can play tournaments against others.
A new Bushnell Launch Pro is coming out with ball data only. At the present time it is said this version of BLP will be priced at $1999 or thereabouts. I personally think this is a fantastic option for those who are looking for a top notch consumer launch monitor and either are a beginner to launch monitors and don’t need the club data or flat out for those who don’t want to spend the money required for club data. Of course, you can pay extra for club data and for the ability to play simulation golf.
My Thoughts
Was my move to unlock a stupid one? Perhaps. I admit that. As a 16-18 handicapper, sure as heck. But I look at it this way. My wife and I each have our own hobbies. Hers is more of a nickel and dime buy what you need when you come up with an idea. ie I just but in a bid on eBay for something she wanted last night. Mine is an outlay of a fairly decent sized chunk of money, most of the time which I can pre-plan. That being said, I make use of my golf simulator and my golf cave more than a few times a week. I’m not hitting the bars, not into clothes, and that is my way of putting it in my head that this wasn’t a frivolous upgrade. Now to eat ramen noodles and or get a 2nd job to pay off this bill.