Picture a kid, not yet a teenager, on a 400-acre farm in the middle of Iowa, population 300, ripping golf balls across a cattle pasture off his front lawn.

No driving range. No launch monitor. No rangefinder. Just young Daniel Fitzpatrick and about 300 yards of open pasture.

Even then, he was obsessed with data.

Daniel would borrow his dad’s measurement wheel — the kind agriculture guys use to calculate field acreage — and trek out to find his golf balls. He’d hit one club at a time, then walk out with that wheel clicking away, trying to figure out exactly how far he was carrying his 7-iron. This was years before consumer launch monitors existed.

Fast forward to today, and Daniel runs PlayBetter’s sales concierge service, helping customers navigate what can be an overwhelming world of golf simulators and launch monitors.

He’s spent 20 years in the golf industry, the last seven-and-a-half at FlightScope working inside sales and tour operations. That meant regular contact with tour players, helping guys like Matt Fitzpatrick dial in their performance using the exact kind of data Daniel used to dream about on that Iowa farm.

After a year of junior college golf, Daniel traded rural Iowa for Orlando, Florida, enrolling at Professional Golfers Career College at Orange County National. Every day, it was class until Noon and then as much golf as you wanted, including lessons with pros. For a self-taught farm kid measuring his progress with an agriculture wheel, it was paradise. Daniel started working through the PGA apprenticeship program before the pull of technology proved stronger than the traditional golf pro path.

At FlightScope, he remembers spending an afternoon with Matt Fitzpatrick at the Bears Club just seven months before Matt won the 2022 U.S. Open. Daniel remembers the pro grilling him about data while Daniel walked the range with a measuring wheel to verify the launch monitor distances. Talk about coming full circle.

Now, 20 years into his career in golf, Daniel’s unique blend of experiences allows him to relate to consumer golfers trying to play their best. He knows the complexities involved in deciding on the right piece of golf tech. He gets it because he’s lived it from every angle — player, student, teaching pro, manufacturer rep, and now expert consultant.

These days Daniel lives in Key West, diving for lobster when he’s not helping golfers figure out their tech decisions or working on his own game. A 2.6 handicap with easily the prettiest swing on PlayBetter’s staff, Daniel says his strengths are his scoring clubs and driver accuracy, while his approach game and putting are his regular letdowns.

After 20 years in the golf industry, what keeps him fired up? The technology he used to dream about is now accessible to everyone. Just imagine, he often thinks, if he’d had a launch monitor in that cattle pasture.

Expertise:

• Golf Launch Monitors & Simulators
• Golf Simulator Studios
• Custom Golf Simulator Studios
• Golf GPS
• Golf Rangefinders
• Golf Hitting Mats

Daniel’s Top Content:

• PlayBetter Golf Tech Weekly Podcast
• Daniel at the 2026 PGA Show