Fore! Rakuten drones deliver snacks to the golf course - CNET

Nobody with a beating human heart wants to see golfers suffering through 18 holes without a snack -- and drones are coming to the rescue.

Japanese delivery company Rakuten will shortly be launching the 'Sora Raku' drone delivery service to bring extra balls, equipment or snacks to golfers who are half-way through a round. Due to launch on 9 May, a one-month trial will see the Camel Golf Resort in Japan's Chiba Prefecture become drone-enabled.

In a new video explaining the service (embedded above), it's explained that golfers will use an Android app to order drone deliveries to specific pick-up points around the course. In a statement, Rakuten said its 'Tenku' drones are designed to be very visible and offer, "Highly stable flight performance, even in strong winds."

We've asked Rakuten whether it has plans to extend the service to areas outside of golf or to bring the service to other countries, and we'll update the story if we hear back.