Best GPS Watch for Short Game?

[Huwe]

any recommendations for a watch that will show distances around the green. My Tom tom watch has no reading as you approach the green. Thanks

 

[spongebob59]

By a laser or pace it out

 

[BubbaP]

How close are you talking about?

 

[hovis]

If you're that good at golf that you need to be more specific on the distance to the pin within a 100 yards I'd recommend using a laser

 

[Mandofred]

I consider my ranger finder my caddy. Yes.....I may know that the shot I'm about to take is about 30 yds. But I take the rangefinder out and it says 31.....just like another person telling me I'm right (I need all the confidence I can get). Yes, I'm anal enough that when I practice I put out cones at 40/60/80 yds....and sometimes 20 or 30 yds. I've found that sometimes I hit shots that "feel" good....yep.....should go about 60yds....and then it drops at 50 yds. I've done something wrong....and this info goes into the ol' brain bank. If I ever get to the point where all my shots go where they are supposed to go.....I'll stop playing golf.

 

[YandaB]

I used to use the laser but someone pointed out that I never laser a dustbin when throwing away a scrunched up piece of paper, your brain "knows" how far it is and what to do to get it that distance. I haven't looked back since much better rate of return. Horses for courses though.

 

[Mandofred]

I used to use the laser but someone pointed out that I never laser a dustbin when throwing away a scrunched up piece of paper, your brain "knows" how far it is and what to do to get it that distance. I haven't looked back since much better rate of return. Horses for courses though.

I've never thrown a scrunched up piece of paper 32 yds.....or 22 yds.....maybe about 8 feet? Margin of error significantly different.

 

[clubchamp98]

Lob wedge is 65yds I never laser anything under that .
But if you want an accurate yardage from 30/25 yds a laser is the best thing.

 

[YandaB]

I've never thrown a scrunched up piece of paper 32 yds.....or 22 yds.....maybe about 8 feet? Margin of error significantly different.

Fair do's, how far can you chuck a base
baseball into first base without measuring it first?

 

[Rlburnside]

I consider my ranger finder my caddy. Yes.....I may know that the shot I'm about to take is about 30 yds. But I take the rangefinder out and it says 31.....just like another person telling me I'm right (I need all the confidence I can get). Yes, I'm anal enough that when I practice I put out cones at 40/60/80 yds....and sometimes 20 or 30 yds. I've found that sometimes I hit shots that "feel" good....yep.....should go about 60yds....and then it drops at 50 yds. I've done something wrong....and this info goes into the ol' brain bank. If I ever get to the point where all my shots go where they are supposed to go.....I'll stop playing golf.

Are you seriously saying you take out a device for a shot of 30 yards?

 

[Mandofred]

Fair do's, how far can you chuck a base
baseball into first base without measuring it first?

I used to be ok at baseball (quit after youth league), my brothers were more into it. But you don't have to be carefull throwing a baseball, just fire it good and hard at pretty well whatever target you want. My arm would fall off I tried these days, haven't really thrown anything since I retired 10 years ago.

 

[Mandofred]

Are you seriously saying you take out a device for a shot of 30 yards?

Yes, and sometimes down to about 20 yds.......I put out cones when practicing down to 20 yds at times. If it works for me, what's the problem? It only takes a couple of seconds and I have the rangefinder out before I even come to a stop. Do I NEED it?.....no. Does it confirm what I'm already thinking (as I stated earlier), yes. Does it make me a little more confident in the shot to have the distance confirmed, yes.

This can kind of come back to pro's having caddies. The pro knows how far it is to the flag and they can see all the little humps and bumps just like the caddy can, but they still usually talk it over with them anyway just to get things confirmed in their heads. I don't think that pro's should have caddies, but if that option is available I think they would be silly not to take advantage of it.

 

[Neilds]

An argument against laser is, I believe, that you never want to hit it exactly at the pin so why is it so important to know how far it is? I knew one bloke, scratch player who had a gps and a laser - his reckoning was he wanted to know how for the flag was but then needed to know how far the back of the green was so he could work out how much spin to put on the ball. Too difficult for me!

 

[Rlburnside]

Yes, and sometimes down to about 20 yds.......I put out cones when practicing down to 20 yds at times. If it works for me, what's the problem? It only takes a couple of seconds and I have the rangefinder out before I even come to a stop. Do I NEED it?.....no. Does it confirm what I'm already thinking (as I stated earlier), yes. Does it make me a little more confident in the shot to have the distance confirmed, yes.

This can kind of come back to pro's having caddies. The pro knows how far it is to the flag and they can see all the little humps and bumps just like the caddy can, but they still usually talk it over with them anyway just to get things confirmed in their heads. I don't think that pro's should have caddies, but if that option is available I think they would be silly not to take advantage of it.

Ok good luck to you I just find it strange, you obviously put the practice in and probably a far better player than me , no you will be a better player than me as I don’t practice much. ?

My brother measured everything even as you do from 20/30 yards I used to pull his leg about it but he did have a very good short game.

 

[HeftyHacker]

An argument against laser is, I believe, that you never want to hit it exactly at the pin so why is it so important to know how far it is? I knew one bloke, scratch player who had a gps and a laser - his reckoning was he wanted to know how for the flag was but then needed to know how far the back of the green was so he could work out how much spin to put on the ball. Too difficult for me!

I'm far from a scratch player but I do find it useful to know just how far on to the green the flag is.

At my course there are a few holes where only the flag is visible, not the hole itself. So I laser it, and then check that against my watch and it let's me know how much run out I have (as I'm certainly not capable of stopping it dead).

 

[sunshine]

Yes, and sometimes down to about 20 yds.......I put out cones when practicing down to 20 yds at times. If it works for me, what's the problem? It only takes a couple of seconds and I have the rangefinder out before I even come to a stop. Do I NEED it?.....no. Does it confirm what I'm already thinking (as I stated earlier), yes. Does it make me a little more confident in the shot to have the distance confirmed, yes.

Do you use the laser on the green to measure putts? Is this going to cause a problem when people start taking flags out again?

 

[Mandofred]

Do you use the laser on the green to measure putts? Is this going to cause a problem when people start taking flags out again?

I guess if I had a lot of 20-30 yds putts.....maybe I would. But I don't practice 30 yd putts. Anything else I can help you with?

 

[clubchamp98]

I guess if I had a lot of 20-30 yds putts.....maybe I would. But I don't practice 30 yd putts. Anything else I can help you with?

The way I see it is
If it helps you with your game then that’s fine we’re all different .
If you think it’s silly , fine but we all have little things that help us concentrate on the only thing that matters.
The next shot.!

 

[IanM]

The day someone lasers a putt, it’s time to give up. I have seen someone laser a green side chip... I couldn’t help laughing.

 

[Mandofred]

The way I see it is
If it helps you with your game then that’s fine we’re all different .
If you think it’s silly , fine but we all have little things that help us concentrate on the only thing that matters.
The next shot.!

Yep...it works for me. I try to whip that laser out as I'm still moving....come to a stop with it already in my hand. Now....if I saw someone rolling up to the ball near the green and taking their sweet time with everything, then I may get annoyed at them causing slower play.

The day someone lasers a putt, it’s time to give up. I have seen someone laser a green side chip... I couldn’t help laughing.

Why? If they think it works for them I don't see a problem....as long as they can do it fast. I don't care if someone wants to give a quick prayer out to whatever god/demon they might believe in as long as they can do it pretty quickly. I think that the people who "can't putt with the flag in" are a bit silly....but hey, in their heads it works to take the flag out so I'm fine with that as well as long as they are not too slow about faffing around with everything....in their heads it works. What's really getting to me lately are more slow rounds...I've been getting a few in that 4:20 range again....and then if I see them faffing about with range finders, writing their scores while still standing on the green, standing around instead of preparing their own shots while their partners are hitting....

Although I don't know if it's just me, but I don't really see that many people using range finders. Better players seem to use them more, higher handicaps tend to just stick to GPS watches.