GPS or Rangefinder (or course planner?)

golf_bug

golf_bug

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I have seen a few people at my club using rangefinders, and I have always thought they were plebs. Why can't they just guess the distances like I do? Plebs.

But, I think I may have been a tad hasty. I usually work out the yardage I have left by stepping out (or guessing) my distance from the 150yard marker. This often leads to me overclubbing and going through the back.

So I have come to realise that maybe I am the pleb. Lets face it, I need all the help I can get to shoot low scores and I'd be better off knowing what the yardages are so I can choose the right club.

Having looked into this a bit I am leaning towards a GPS over rangefinder as they can do a bit more e.g. record driving distances etc. Also, they appear to be a bit cheaper.

Do you have any preference? Or do you prefer to use the age old 'finger in the air' method?
 
GPS and Sky Caddy for me (now that was unexpected wasn't it). It tells you what you have left and distances to hazards etc from anywhere and so you can be deep in the trees (a favourite spot) on another fairway (been there) or occasionally even on the right one. The great thing is that you don't need a line of sight like a rangefinder to get a reading. It gives front middle and back and you can move the marker to approximate the pin placement and so get a more accurate reading.

Yes I accept that the annual fee is a pain especially given the outlay but I've been more than happy with mine and would recommned it
 
Surely part of skill in golf is working out your yardages. Way the world is going with sat -navs rangefinders etc we 'll soon need a machine to find the loo and remind us to take trousers down first,
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so why do pros have a caddy to give them all this information as well as the luxury of pin placements? or are you saying it's only we amateurs who should be handicapped in this way?

the only additional info a legal GPS gives you is a distance from the wrong fairway (and who's to say the caddy doesn't have that in his little black book.
 
Hi,
Having used a gps a couple of times they are fine but i would say only on a flat course and a calm day so it tells you that u are 180 out from the green but if it is windy or up hill or down hill you still have to make a decision on which club, if you step it out from the 200 or 150 marker you will be within a couple of yards and there aren't that many of us that need to be that accurate. If you are clearing the green it maybe that you don't know roughly how far u hit each club. So save your cash for something else.
Mike
 
I have recently bought a Caddy Lite. It won't make me a better ball striker but it removes any guess work from basic club selection.
It also saves time, no need to pace out to/from 150yd markers then subtract/add for pin position etc, walk to ball look at distance, hit ball, repeat.
GPS is here to stay.
 
Ironically, during the practice rounds, the pros use range finders and gps, it is only during the comp they are banned. If they find them useful, why shouldn't I.

Yes, you can pace it out, but this takes time, and isn't very accurate. Getting the correct yardage is a good start, and then factor in wind, elevation etc. It gives me confidence to think I have the correct club, and when I am confident, I play better golf.

I find mine useful. Some people don't. I am currently finding about 4 times a round, I would have got it wrong. That could equate to 4 shots which are subsequently harder, which might lead to dropped shots.
 
Nope not saying that at all. Just it seems to me we begining to rely on machines for everything. Maybe its an age thing as I'll soon be 60
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I agree entirely. Totally against them. And chippers.(51 next year)
Why cant you just look and guess.
When I started playing golf, we didnt even have 150s.
If you cant tell that a 6 iron is too much and an 8 is not enough, then it must be a 7, you shouldn't be playing golf.
Then I bought one. :o
As Homer says, they are a great help inside 100yds and in my opinion they do speed up play, which in my book has got to be a good thing.
 
It is also suprising that many of the guys who took the mick when I bought one, ask for yardages when playing with me. If they serve no purpose, why do they keep asking?
 
I'm finding it invaluable from inside 100 yards to decide which wedge is best and as a result hitting it closer and making more pars and birdies
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I can see the sense in this. Better to hit an 80 yarder 85 yards than "guess" at 70 yards and hit it spot on.

Thankfully, we have disks.
 
If you cant tell that a 6 iron is too much and an 8 is not enough, then it must be a 7, you shouldn't be playing golf.
Click to expand...

This IS the old Bob talking? :)

t.b.h. with everyone on here, I struggle to even see (clearly) 150 yards let alone judge it.

I always want to know the yardage, not so I can be a golf god and hit the greens and make copious birides (which I won't) but to decide on the club based on fact rather than some blurred flag in the distance.

I have played courses without either score savers or marker posts. I may as well have not played...really, it's that bad.

My favourite all time quote was when a pro took the proverbial when I asked if the scorecard had yardages (before the dawn of the £2-8 score saver). His reply was "do you think Nick Faldo needs to know the yardage?".

M'lud, I rest my case.

The other day I had a comfy 81 on a course I've only played once before. The chaps commented on me being long almost every time. Now, long ain't so bad, especially when there are bunkers short r/l on every green.

My whole game rests on yardages. Put me somewhere where I can't get a reading, and the chances of par are pretty slim.
Give me 172 to the middle, probably 160 to clear the bunker and I'm eyeing up the shot with confidence.

If I ever decide on GPS or a rangefinder, and can spare the money I'll be a happy chappy.
 
I was dead against both GPS & R.Finders, then found myself the owner of a Bushnell V2 Tour.

Early days as yet, but I can say that from 100yds, I cant see me using it at all.

Surely the difference between a 62yd shot and a 88yd shot is down purely to feel, and not what club to take ?
I mean, I know that I hit my 54*Vokey 'about' 95yds flat out, but anything less, and its a feel shot.
50/60yds in, I may use the 60*, but thats reserved mainly for flop shots around the green.

The real advantage is from 200yds in, I mean the tee may tell you its 183 off the Whites, but point the laser and its suddenly 174 actually to the flag, which is easily missed when you cant see all the green.

Thats the potential huge benefit for me, but as I say, its early days.
 
one of the best uses of a gps (at least for me) is learning what distances I hit what club, with what stroke inside 100 yds. do it enough and I might remember when it counts in a comp and I can't use the gps.

like murph, lots of 'why do you need one of those, I never did' comments, but leave it on the bag and see who comes over to check their distance.

4 people pacing out distances (if the marker is in the right place) v one gps, you know it makes sense.
 
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