Moncton-based Foursum has launched its new iPhone app that allows golfers to analyze and improve their game and network with other golfers.

The company was founded in 2012 by tech veterans (a golf fanatics) Matt Eldridge and Adam MacDonald and golf pro Louis Melanson as a means to use your smartphone to improve your golf score and enhance your enjoyment of the game.  The app can be downloaded free from foursum.com.

“We’re not only debunking the lingering myth that mobile phones don’t belong on the golf course; we’re helping to grow one of the most popular games in the world,” said Eldridge, the company’s CEO, in a statement. “Foursum adds new layers of insight, amusement, competition and reward to the game. We really want to bring on the next generation to the game of golf.”

He and MacDonald are fixtures in the New Brunswick tech community. Eldridge is the former CEO of social media analysis company Lymbix, while MacDonald is a veteran of such startups as Lymbix and Spheric. They have spent about 18 months perfecting an app that will make a smartphone an essential part of the golf game.

Foursum  has a databank of 26,000 golf courses, including maps, GPS location and details of each hole, and it includes a distance assessment function, so the golfer always know how far they are from the hole. It also allows golfers to input stats from each hole, so they end up with a range of personalized data and a graphic presentation of the strengths and weaknesses of their game.

The data – such as fairways hit and length of drive -- can be instantly shared with an instructor to help golfers identify the parts of their game that need improvement. They can share the stats with friends over Foursum’s social network, even form league tables to compete with other golfers. And they can earn badges through the product’s reward system.

 “Having Foursum on the golf course is like having a caddie at your side when you tee off,” said Derek Ingram, one of the world’s top golf coaches, in an endorsement for the product.. “No matter your level of play - its ability to track your performance and help you recognize strengths and weaknesses in your game is priceless.”

The company said there more than 26 million golfers in the U.S. alone, with 68% maintaining a social network profile.

A year ago, Foursum was raising its seed round with a target of $500,000 and it ended up raising $850,000. Eldridge said the company is now working on raising a larger Series A round.