 Hello everyone and welcome back to theCUBE's live coverage of HPE Discover Barcelona 2023. I'm your host Rebecca Knight along with my co-host and analyst Rob Stratje-Rob. We talk on this program about AI, security, sustainability and now we're going to talk about golf. Golf, I love golf. My handicap is I get a parking space really close to the golf course, but I wish it was better, but I think that there's a lot of tech that goes into it. I think it significantly improves the fan experience so I'm really excited about this next guest and hearing how HPE has helped with that, especially given the stature of the event. Yes, that is absolutely true. I would like to welcome to the program Michael Cole. He is the Chief Technology Officer, PGA European Tour and Rider Cup Europe. Welcome and Max Walker, Chief Technologist at HPE. Hi. Thank you for coming on the show. So I want to start with you, Michael and talk a little bit about your vision and the challenges you face when you are thinking about getting a golf course ready to host a Rider Cup. Well, you can kind of look at this a number of ways. Golf is complicated. You know, we're not single venue, we're 18 fields of play or we're not two teams, we're up to 156 players, two teams for Rider Cup and it is just complicated, but the technology that underpins golf is equally complicated. We are deploying a number of infrastructures, being incredibly innovative and really pushing the boundaries to match that complexity with a degree of almost simplicity, if that kind of makes sense. But the other way to think about this is when we look at the Rider Cup, six months before it happened, it was a green field. It was a green field with 18 holes and we had to turn that green field into a smart city and that's exactly what we did. That's exactly what we achieved. You know, through the partnership with HPE and the Rubin Networking, we created what I think is one of the most technologically advanced Rider Cups ever. Yeah, I'm disappointed I didn't get to go to Italy and see that, except for the outcome for the Americans, which was not so brilliant to put it mildly, but I think that what is exciting about these events is that they are spread out over a complete huge area and the people are going around, they're watching different holes and you have all of that, plus you have a broadcast going on and you have all of the other support that you have point of sale and things of that nature. How does the partnership really work with HPE to really get ready for one of these? And either one of you can start for that. Will you go first and I'll fill in? Well, we've got a long history in partnership with HPE and we were very keen that this wasn't just about technology for the Rider Cup, this was an innovation platform and not only that, we were hosting the Rider Cup. I'll give you one of world's top five sporting events in the historical city of Rome. So, our challenge was how we were going to bring technological innovation into the ancient city of Rome and support a real gladiatorial contest between these two teams. And through that partnership, we were able to bring true innovation that really I think excelled beyond any other Rider Cup to date, but Max, what is your view? Yeah, our partnership started way before the actual event. So, we were working a year or a year and a half up to the event essentially and we built an innovation agenda with the Rider Cup and we took the vision that Michael had and we packed around technology that would enable that vision. It had four real key themes around connectivity, around collaboration, data and sustainability and that's what we collaborated on. Some of the ideas that we came up for in the innovation space didn't make the cut, right? Because not everything can go into one of these events but what did go in did change the way the Rider Cup was run for 2023 for sure. So, what was special about this year from a technology standpoint? So, yeah, so from a technology standpoint, first ever sporting, temporary sporting event to use Wi-Fi 6E, first public sporting event to use private 5G with our Athernet acquisition. So, those are two, the third one I'd probably say is we used our sustainability insight center which measured the sustainability of the IT platforms that we supplied as part of the Rider Cup making it a more sustainable event that coupled with solar access points meaning that we could reduce the amount of cabling, et cetera. So, we really played on that greener aspect of it, yeah? To make it more sustainable for the future event. Because golf needs to be greener. Absolutely, yeah, well, yeah. I like that. It's so funny, yeah. It's definitely, I love the greens if I can get to them in two, even better. But, so from a data perspective, because all the rage is AI and everything else and really the foundation for any types of analytics or things of that nature is really the data. How did you approach this from a data-driven perspective and what does that look like from a PGA perspective? I love this line of questioning. Data is the currency. And I love it because I often challenge it as well. And what I say is data is key but data is just an input. Actually, data drives insight. Insight drives intelligence and intelligence drives actionable outcomes. And that's exactly what we did for this Rider Cup. We created, I think, sports first true intelligence war. We had this wonderful visualization from Florida's ceiling of all of these data sources that were visualized. And that visualization allowed us to do a level of monitoring and a level of management that wasn't possible before. So you're right, data is key. But actually the intelligence that it drove and therefore the outcomes. For example, we were able to track fans and understanding if you had a Roy Macaroy playing with Justin Thomas and 10,000 people following those guys, then looking at pinch points that actually do we have enough volunteers out there, marshals? Do we need to send more marshals there? We were creating insights for spectators, giving them indications of queue lengths and queue lines into the merchandise. When was a good time to go to the merchandise? When was not a good time to go to the merchandise? And that's what I mean by true insights and true intelligence. Sustainability, both of you have talked about how that was a real priority going into this Rider Cup. Can you talk a little bit about your approach and how you thought about using technology? I mean, you said we were trying to deliver, to take these insights and make them actionable. And say, okay, here's what we can do. How did it work? Well, the first thing to say is it worked incredibly well. I think just generally, we'd have kind of scripted things. I think actually we were off script in terms of the level of success. We had solar panels that was driving access points where we couldn't reach in terms of power. We were utilizing satellite connectivity where we had issues getting cabling. We used smart power within the Aruba infrastructure. So at the end of each day, 123 generators were turned off. Turning those on each morning can create a problem in terms of repowering up infrastructure. Yeah, not for us because of the smart power capability that we had. All those devices went into idle mode, went into sleep mode, so the power utilization was far less than it can conventionally be. And then of course we were able to measure this through the sustainability dashboard. Measuring the energy consumption, measuring the carbon footprint, and even the cost associated with that IT estate. You know, this is important, not just for our own economics, but equally for the planets. And a part of our green drive, in terms of us through the European tour and the Ryder Cup being more sustainable as a business. And that drive, that vision is truly being enabled through the Aruba and the Green Lake capability. So, I mean, again, you got a little break now until the next Ryder Cup, but you do have events all the time over here in Europe. You have the European tour. How is what you've learned with this past Ryder Cup going to influence the years up to 27 when it ends up in Ireland again? Well, forecast and technology is a challenge. It moves at such a pace. If 2018 was all about connectivity and the connected course, 2023 Ryder Cup was all about Green Lake and intelligence, then what I'd like to predict in 27, it's all going to be about AI and how we're going to pull in some wonderful capabilities through artificial intelligence that's going to help us reinvent that spectator experience. It's going to drive operational efficiency even better, even further, it's going to reduce our sustainability, carbon footprint even lower. And these are all the things that I think we have to look forward to. So, Max, Michael made the point earlier about just how exceedingly complicated golf is. It's got 18 fields of play, hundreds of people playing, not just two teams. What are the learnings from how you work with the PGA and the Ryder Cup in terms of bringing it to other sports or bringing it to other ways of doing business? What are some best practices you've taken away? Yeah, there's nothing quite like a Ryder Cup, right? I lived through it and worked with Michael with it. So, and survived, yeah. There is nothing like that temporary event, but yeah, we can take some learnings around stadiums, large public venues, and we can apply what we learn. The Ryder Cup is very agile, right? In the moment, and we learn a lot from doing that, right? From a technology perspective, from a people perspective, from a process perspective. And actually, we can use that in other stadiums or other large public venues to basically build upon, right? And give our customers a better insight into the data into some of the aspects that will work and won't work in those venues. So, yeah, that's what we're going to take to the next customer, essentially. Yeah. You hit on a key point there. I mean, certainly lots of learnings that can be taken into other sports, but, you know, technology has a role to play and that is about being frictionless and keeping fans in the moment. What we don't want to do is to deviate from what is live sport. I think one of the best places, typically to watch sport, is in the armchair where, you know, you're watching TV, you've got a second device screen, and life is great. You've got all the information in front of you. One of the things that we wanted to achieve this time round is really to bridge the gap between the encore spectator and the armchair fan. And through great features like Outcome IQ, looking at probabilities and predictors, looking at every shot commentary, putting them on the screen, I think we were able to create that kind of armchair experience, but in a way that people weren't bamboozled by technology. And I feel, you know, that is the role moving forward. You know, making sure technology is enhanced and unexperienced, but keeping people in the moment, not deviating from what is live sport. Yeah, I think that's so true. We've talked to multiple different US based sporting leagues, the national football league US, and very similar comment where they don't want people staring at their screens and not watching what's going on right when they're there. They want them to be in the moment not only from being engaged, but from historically and understanding the sport. And that has to be a challenge that you have to deal with, like you said, the history of the sport plus bringing the technology plus the locations, which are some of the most beautiful golf courses on the planet. So that has to be a challenge that you have to. I kind of simplified what you've just mentioned is what I call the freeze. It's technology needs to create engagement. And that's absolutely what we did through some of those nice features that we ran at the Ryder Cup. It then has to create a degree of excitement. And, you know, we have a degree of control on that, but I must say there were oodles amount of excitement, particularly on the final day of the Ryder Cup this year. But finally, it's about experience. And we wanted the on course spectators to leave that tournament thinking and knowing it. They probably just witnessed one of the greatest sport in moments, experiences that they've ever had. And that needs to remain with them for the rest of their lives. Yeah, I would say that the last day was the best day because the Americans actually looked like they got off the flight and started to play. I mean that, but, you know, not bitter at all. No, no, no. But that really gets exactly what you're talking about. And I just got a little chill when you were talking because that's what the fan experience is all about, is to feel like I just was there watching history. Yeah, my wife was in attendance at the Ryder Cup this year and we'd arranged and we'd agreed that they would go day one and day two with my son. Day three, I was putting them on a flight to come back to the UK. And she was like, why are we going home? You know, this is just spectacular. I didn't have an answer for that, by the way, but I think it kind of sums up the experience that she had. And she's not even a go for the fun. Having been to Glenn Eagles for a Ryder Club, I can guarantee you my wife was with me. She doesn't, she's gone to other PGA events in the US. The Ryder Cup, she loves. It's just a special experience. Now even I want to go. Okay, well thank you both, Max and Michael. This was really great having you on. Really, really fun conversation. Thank you guys. I'm Rebecca Knight for Rob Stresche. Stay tuned for more of theCUBE's live coverage of HPE Discover Barcelona. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in high-tech enterprise coverage.