GPS or Rangefinger .

[oxymoron]

Gents a bit of advice from the learned masses is required .
I have now retired and have come to be in possession of some AG vouchers so as a high handicapper I am wondering what you think would help me more ,a GPS watch or a rangefinder .I am torn between the Garmin S12 or the TECTECTEC KLYR rangefinder . I do not want all the bells and whistles just a basic ,reliable unit .
I am leaning towards the Garmin but any advice is welcome .

 

[MACM85]

GPS will give you a better way of getting round the course as chances of you hitting x yards is going to be slim.

If you know you need 110 to clear the front of the green and 130 to the back then you will hit those rough numbers more times than not.

Range finder is good if you can play to exact yardages within a small percentage.

 

[oxymoron]

GPS will give you a better way of getting round the course as chances of you hitting x yards is going to be slim.

If you know you need 110 to clear the front of the green and 130 to the back then you will hit those rough numbers more times than not.

Range finder is good if you can play to exact yardages within a small percentage.

This is my reasoning for leaning towards the Garmin give more info or should I say usable info for my level of play

 

[Imurg]

I have both and I use my laser less and less.
I have a SKycaddie SX400 and you can move the pin around the green as required.
The only time a laser is useful to me now is if I cant tell where the pin is on the green.
We have coloured flags to indicate front, middle and back but sometimes someone's definition of front is closer to middle and on a large green it can make a difference
I'd go with the GPS if you can't stretch to both.

 

[Backache]

As a high handicapper I think it's a no brainer to get a GPS. You do not have the ability to hit precise yardages with your clubs.
Virtually all club golfers will be better served by using distances to middle or back of green rather than pin for longer distances.
Skilled golfers may benefit from knowing precise distances for wedges.
By observation most people with GPS use it frequently but rangefinders are used only sporadically by many.

 

[jim8flog]

How accurate a golfer are you?
Does front, middle and back give you all the information you really need based upon your ability?

I have both but these days the GPS is hardly ever used and the laser maybe gets use twice in a round because we have 150 and 100 distance markers which give me all the information I need for my home course.

If I was to play away a lot I would opt for GPS given a choice.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

I have both but very rarely feel the need for the rangefinder. The GPS app on my Apple Watch has all the information I need at a glance and hasn't let me down.

 

[clubchamp98]

Do you wear glasses for reading ?
I found a gps watch was useless to me as I couldn’t see it.!
just a consideration as changing glasses all the time is a pain.
but agree a laser is for exact yardages and gps more front,middle and back pins.

 

[chrisd]

I mostly use my Bushnell as I like exact yardage (although I cant hit exact shots) but I do have Shotscope which gives front, middle and back too

 

[Alan Clifford]

I like to use my laser when I'm 60 yards from the pin. Or is it 40? That's why I use it; I'm hopeless at those distances. Also, how far is to to those trees just before the bend in the fairway that I would like to just not reach?
150ish yards out, gps is just fine.
I have the bottom of the range Nikon laser and a golf buddy voice 2 gps.
A 'phone based gps like swingu does the job really well except I find fiddling with the 'phone quite distracting. But try it, it's an excellent app. and I've even contributed course information to it in the past.

 

[Robster59]

Do you wear glasses for reading ?
I found a gps watch was useless to me as I couldn’t see it.!
just a consideration as changing glasses all the time is a pain.
but agree a laser is for exact yardages and gps more front,middle and back pins.

Interestingly enough, I use glasses for reading (1.5) but for a while was put off buying a GPS watch as, when I looked at them in the shops, I struggled to read them. Then when I took one outside I found I could read it perfectly well in natural light. So my advice is that if you do need glasses for reading and are wavering, try it outdoors to see if you can read it in its natural habitat.
To answer the original question, for most golfers of mid to high handicap, I would recommend a GPS watch over a laser as it will give you pretty much what you need and the modern ones are so light you don't even know that you are wearing them.

 

[Jason.H]

I have a garmin watch and bushnell rangefinder. I’ve stopped using my watch and use a free app on my phone (swing u) which I can pinpoint dogleg corners easily which is great for new courses. My phone clips on my Kaddey trolley perfectly.

 

[nyckuk]

Range Finders aren't just for zapping the Pin as seems to be suggested .
One of our dog leg holes if you dont get a great tee shot your knocking it over trees .If I measure the tree distance and its 60-150yds i can use Lob-7 iron any further back ill just have to knock it on as i wont get the height with 6 iron etc .
Like wise water and fairways bunkers are a great thing to measure so you can decide if to lay up or go for it .
As a higher handicapper i use it all the time.
At first you do feel bit of a wally when your measuring 150yds to a fairway bunker etc then duff it 15yds, but i wouldnt be without it now.

 

[jim8flog]

Range Finders aren't just for zapping the Pin as seems to be suggested .
One of our dog leg holes if you dont get a great tee shot your knocking it over trees .If I measure the tree distance and its 60-150yds i can use Lob-7 iron any further back ill just have to knock it on as i wont get the height with 6 iron etc .
Like wise water and fairways bunkers are a great thing to measure so you can decide if to lay up or go for it .
As a higher handicapper i use it all the time.
At first you do feel bit of a wally when your measuring 150yds to a fairway bunker etc then duff it 15yds, but i wouldnt be without it now.

Yes I use my laser for that as well.

A more expensive GPS will also do it, you just move the ball on the screen to the desired measuring point.

 

[oxymoron]

I like to use my laser when I'm 60 yards from the pin. Or is it 40? That's why I use it; I'm hopeless at those distances. Also, how far is to to those trees just before the bend in the fairway that I would like to just not reach?
150ish yards out, gps is just fine.
I have the bottom of the range Nikon laser and a golf buddy voice 2 gps.
A 'phone based gps like swingu does the job really well except I find fiddling with the 'phone quite distracting. But try it, it's an excellent app. and I've even contributed course information to it in the past.

I never thought of this , tried one or two phone apps but the faff of getting it in and out of my pocket was getting to be a pain but I can probably live with it thinking on .
A cheap laser would be a good option I think if I can settle on a good gps app , the best of both then .
Thanks for all the input gents much appreciated .

 

[Golfist]

Have you considered one of these? Gives you the same info as a GPS watch but will also track all your shots and in conjunction with an App, provides lots of data on performance.

I’ve got both (the below product) and a laser, after using both for a while I‘ve found I don’t use the laser much. The GPS gives me everything I need and the laser is used once in a blue moon.

Handheld Golf GPS Devices | Shot Scope

Improve your game with Shot Scope's handheld golf GPS and automatic shot tracking. Pre-loaded with data for over 36,000 courses!

shotscope.com

 

[Tower]

Gents a bit of advice from the learned masses is required .
I have now retired and have come to be in possession of some AG vouchers so as a high handicapper I am wondering what you think would help me more ,a GPS watch or a rangefinder .I am torn between the Garmin S12 or the TECTECTEC KLYR rangefinder . I do not want all the bells and whistles just a basic ,reliable unit .
I am leaning towards the Garmin but any advice is welcome .

If still looking, I'd suggest the GPS watch, though I've only used handheld device,s for both. Seems far simpler and less faff. Playing off a high single figure, I generally used the middle of green reading unless a significant slope was involved, in which case RF slope feature was handy.

 

[oxymoron]

Have you considered one of these? Gives you the same info as a GPS watch but will also track all your shots and in conjunction with an App, provides lots of data on performance.

I’ve got both (the below product) and a laser, after using both for a while I‘ve found I don’t use the laser much. The GPS gives me everything I need and the laser is used once in a blue moon.

Handheld Golf GPS Devices | Shot Scope

Improve your game with Shot Scope's handheld golf GPS and automatic shot tracking. Pre-loaded with data for over 36,000 courses!

shotscope.com

I have looked but again it’s the in and out of the pocket all the time that puts me off , hedging towards a watch I think

 

[IanM]

Lasers are no help on blind holes!

But you get to waste time trying to get it out of the bag, then trying to get a reading.

 

[full_throttle]

put a phone holder on the trolley and download the motocaddy golf app, tag golf or hole 19, all do the same thing, plus they are free to use