GPS or Rangefinder??

C_MAC

C_MAC

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Right it's time to bit the bullet and invest in 1 of these. I'm sick of trying to work out yardages while on course. I know both have pro's and con's but what do most people use and why did they choose it? I'm thinking of getting a golf buddy GPS or a Bushnell rangefinder. All opinion's welcome. Thanks in advance
 
I use both a Skycaddie SGX and a Bushnell and as you say there are pro's and con's for both. The winner in my eyes would be the Skycaddie with all the features it has and if the course has holevue you basically get a yardage book image of the hole and it is great for course management in my opinion. Will definitely knocked a shot or two off your handicap.
 
Range finder, knowing the exact yardage to flags I find it very useful. Even better when in combination with a yardage book.

Got my range finder 2nd hand for about 100 and course "downloads" are only £3 a pop :D

Seems a good deal to me!
 
I was never too sure which one to get, so when smange advertised his on here I took the plunge. It is a skycaddie 2.5 and it does exactly what I am looking for gives me distances to hazards and front, middle and back of greens. Knowing exact yardages to pins wouldn't make such a great difference to me as I am not that accurate :o
 
This will be a HUGE debate, but for what its worth.......

I decided against a Skycaddie 'type' GPS, as I mainly only play my own course, and really only want to know yardages to Greens etc, and not to 'clear trouble' off the tee.
So,....I got a Bushnell V2 Laser, and they are fantastic pieces of kit.
However, I did tire of getting it out, pointing it at the flag, etc etc, and all while my playing partners looked on and in expectation of me peppering the pin everytime, or thats how it felt.

So, I sold it, and got myself one of the Garmin S1 Approach GPS watches.
Absolutely love it.......so clear & easy to use. Quick glance and I have the yardage to Front Middle & Back, and no-one even knows I have it on.
Undoubtably the best buy I have made in ages, and definitely staying on my wrist.

I'd urge you to try one.
 
I finally bought a device about a month ago as I am going to be playing a lot of away courses this year and could afford to treat myself. I don't like the idea of paying any subscription or download fees and ended up going for the Snooper S320. It gives accurate yardage to front. middle, back + bunkers, water and dog-legs which is all I need. It comes with 4500 courses pre-loaded and haven't found one not in yet including a trip to Portugal. For £165 I think it's money well spent.

I considered the Bushnel but a) my hand isn't steady enough especially in the wind and b) delving in the bag every time as opposed to just looking at a screen seems like too much hard work. I know that sounds daft but I prefer to maximise the time I have on a shot on the shot itself rather than other stuff and a laser does take longer start to finish.

One thing I would say though is the increased confidence in club selection is an advantage. I've been sceptical in the past but am a complete convert having invested. Golf is such a mental game and if you are confident in how far you hit each club then using these devices will translate into better scoring - period.
 
My opinion, I would rather use my own judgement and feel it's getting just a bit too technical. Not against anybody using them but not for me.

BUT, having read what Smiffy had to say about a Garmin watch and now Macsters take on them, that's about as far as I'd want to go - nice'n easy and no faffing around. So I might think about getting one sometime in the future. :cool:

Golfmmad.
 
I think a lot depends on the course you play most and your overall ability.
I can play to a flag if I want to. If I have 130 to the flag I have the ability to get the ball somewhere in the vicinity - not always mind..
On my course there are several greens that, when the flag is in a particular place, that the base of the flag is concealed. This makes it tricky to guage the distance. We have no help with flags at the front, middle or back. If the green is 40 yards long and I think the flag's at the back when it's at the front, even if I play for the middle and get there I'm going to be 10 yards rather than 10 feet away.
I have a Skycaddie that may well be going up for sale soon as I just don't use it anymore. I bought Macster's laser and I find I use it all the time - at Blackmoor I only looked at the Skycaddie for the time!!

For me it's the laser - it's rare I have no sight of the flag and if I don't then I can revert to old fashioned guesswork for one shot.
If you're not able to fire at pins then the GPS is a better bet.
 
I have a SC 2.5 and love it, my mate has the Garmin wrist device and loves it! most of the low handcapers i know, and i know a lot as i run our scratch team have range finders.

Those would be the top three in my book if you can try before you buy all the better.
 
I think a lot depends on the course you play most and your overall ability.
I can play to a flag if I want to. If I have 130 to the flag I have the ability to get the ball somewhere in the vicinity - not always mind..
On my course there are several greens that, when the flag is in a particular place, that the base of the flag is concealed. This makes it tricky to guage the distance. We have no help with flags at the front, middle or back. If the green is 40 yards long and I think the flag's at the back when it's at the front, even if I play for the middle and get there I'm going to be 10 yards rather than 10 feet away.
I have a Skycaddie that may well be going up for sale soon as I just don't use it anymore. I bought Macster's laser and I find I use it all the time - at Blackmoor I only looked at the Skycaddie for the time!!

For me it's the laser - it's rare I have no sight of the flag and if I don't then I can revert to old fashioned guesswork for one shot.
If you're not able to fire at pins then the GPS is a better bet.
Click to expand...

Imurg,

What model do you have and how much you wanting?

;)
 
I think a lot depends on the course you play most and your overall ability.
I can play to a flag if I want to. If I have 130 to the flag I have the ability to get the ball somewhere in the vicinity - not always mind..
On my course there are several greens that, when the flag is in a particular place, that the base of the flag is concealed. This makes it tricky to guage the distance. We have no help with flags at the front, middle or back. If the green is 40 yards long and I think the flag's at the back when it's at the front, even if I play for the middle and get there I'm going to be 10 yards rather than 10 feet away.
I have a Skycaddie that may well be going up for sale soon as I just don't use it anymore. I bought Macster's laser and I find I use it all the time - at Blackmoor I only looked at the Skycaddie for the time!!

For me it's the laser - it's rare I have no sight of the flag and if I don't then I can revert to old fashioned guesswork for one shot.
If you're not able to fire at pins then the GPS is a better bet.
Click to expand...

Imurg,

What model do you have and how much you wanting?

;)
Click to expand...

It's the 2.5 and I'll let you know!!
 
Was playing the Silver course at the Shropshire on Monday afternoon and was left with an approach shot that meant I couldn't see the bottom of the flag, elevated green, 7th hole.

Used my rangefinder and it was 52 M to flag, hit a 9 o'clock sand wedge and knew it was close by the guy on the 3 rd tee exclaiming to his wife " Bloody hell look at that " 6 inches from hole .
That comment alone was worth the money I paid for it :D :D
 
I find a GPS useful for club selection off the tee, for ditch avoidance, dog legs etc. It also helps me break the hole down if I'm playing strategically. Also just getting the ball on the green is a bonus, so exact yardages to the pin aren't that helpful. Eg. I took a 5 iron on the first at Blackmoor, ditch at 230 yards, so a driver was risky for me. Par'd the hole. Which is a great way to start a round.

One other aspect is that I'd look a tit if I laser'd the pin and then duffed the shot.

As Murph says. Cat 1 = laser. Everyone else would probably get on better with a GPS. But that's just my opinion.
 
Quite a few guys I have played with have given me yardages from their lazer which are so far out it is ridiculous. I have tried one, and could not get on with it. Either my hands aren't steady enough, or I'm totally incompetant. At least the GPS can't be influenced by operator error.

Even when I was only borrowing one, I still felt like a *** using it. I like the subtlty of the gps.
 
I saw Smiffys Garmin S1 approach gps watch at Woodhall and was very impressed.
You just turn it on and it loads up really fast giving front centre and back to the green.
It's also a watch so there should be no problems knowing when you've had your 5 minutes looking for your ball ;)
 
I hate wearing watches so the garmin is out of the question,only time I wear a watch is at work. As has been said already,the GPS is at a bit of a disadvantage for me at my course because it's hard to know where some of the pins are on the greens,we havnt caught onto the different colour flags for pin positions,I'll prob still invest in 1 though hoping that the club start using different colour flags . I'm not sure if I could handle taking the range finder out of the bag for every hole,i'd use it on the first 2 holes and not use it anymore. More suited to a lower handicapper
 
I use an SC 2.5 at the moment and was thinking of changing to a laser. On a few of the greens at my place it is difficult to judge where the pin is. When they are 30 odd yards deep with a fair amount of undulation, aiming for the centre of the green still leaves you with a tricky putt, which often ends up in a 3-putt.
I was thinking by knowing exact distances I may be able to stick the ball closer to the hole and eliminate as many 3-putts.
 
i borrowed my dads bushnell laser yesterday for a friendly knock in the morning and my mate had his gps for instance on 1 hole i clocked the flag at 179 yards and all he had on his gps was 162 front 186 back i hit my shot pin high and him an two others from very very similar distances all ended up short of the green his gps was atleast 3 yards shorts of the front of the green
 
I played a round with a guy who had a sonocaddie v300 and it was very helpful for those long shots for choosing the right club ensuring you hit the green! It was extremely useful and seemed very accurate. So for me, it would have to be a GPS.
Looking at GPS's
Does anybody have experience with either:
Go planet mars 100 gps?
or
Caddy lite

Both budget GPS's and i was wondering how they compare with the more expensive ones.
 
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