Is a GPS device going against the spirit of golf.

[Oddsocks]

I suppose at the end of it, if you feel your 200.00 sunk is will give you the same amount of gain out its worth it. My eyes are shonky at the best of times.

Im playing again tomorrow and im gonna try this gps lark, if i see better scrore results using that playing my same shony swing, ill want some gps buying info.

 

[The_LHC]

If it's legal to use a caddie that knows the course inside out and the distance from every point on the course to middle of the green, enabling you to know the exact yardage, then I don't really see the difference between that and using GPS, yet I presume no one would complain if their opponent turned up with a caddie?

For the record, I use FreeCaddie, but only the free version, so I only get the distance to the front middle and back of the green, I don't get the extra information such as distances to carry bunkers or hazards and so forth, that's in the pay version.

It also relies on Google Maps etc being up to date, the course I play on the most only had it's back nine built about 5 years ago, it seems the satellite images pre-date that, so there's no yardage information for the back nine available, I'm regularly 3 to 4 shots worse on the back 9 than I am on the front, whether that's due to not having accurate yardages I couldn't say but in general I consider the back nine to be slightly harder than the front anyway.

 

[DCB]

Wow, I go out the office for a couple of hours and all this kicks off.

I thought we'd got past all these futile posts when the R&A allowd for DMDs at the last Rules revision.

They're here now, they're legal (by local rule) for competition play at many clubs so why not use one ?

 

[USER1999]

murph, please excuse my poor knowledge here, but what the hell is a stroke saver and market points coded to one.

Stroke saver is name of the company who make most of the yardage charts you buy in the pro shop.

Some courses, like Princes, will have different coloured (and shaped) markers on the fairway, at odd distances from the green (so you can't guess). The shape and colour are explained in the book, for that particular hole. It is pathetic. Coding the yardage markers so you have to buy a book. Especially if they don't tell you before you get to the first fairway.

 

[Tiger]

I got a Shotmiser for my b'day and the missus let me have a test run this weekend so I can use it properly in my next medal on my birthday. I was absolutely awful off the tee, truly terrible and a lot of my iron shots weren't that good either. But once I got within 100 yards of the whole I finished pin high pretty much every time. Admittedly, sometimes I missed the green or was miles from the hole because I got my bloody alignment wrong, again!!!!

My point is that I have had relatively little use of one and already I am getting a better feel for which clubs to use and how hard to hit them on approach shots. It's making me a better golfer because it is helping me learn distance control. Yet I shot 114 because I'm crap and can't hit the ball straight consistently. Knowing the shot you need to play is only about 10% of the battle and that's before you factor in wind, lie, slope, etc and after all that you've still got to hit the thing accurately.

I'm with Midnight, I'm bad enough as it is without adding inaccurate yardage guesses to my repetoire of problems.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I don't exactly understand what the 'spirit of golf' is...? If you are implying that technology is spoiling the game then I can't see how that rings true as science and technology have always played a part, from the first steel shafts to metal woods and, most importantly, ball technology.

As far as I can tell the 'spirit of golf' is about how many belts it takes to get the ball into the hole. If techology can help you then I'm of the persuasion that you should use it.

 

[USER1999]

Thing is, if the RandA thought using one of these would bring your h/cap down, then they would not have made them legal. Unless you are a terrible judger of distance, it won't make any difference to your game. It just enables you to get to the correct answer a bit quicker.

I find decyphering the info in a yardage chart to be mainly incomprehensible. Especially if you are trying to work out carry from where you are to over a pond.

 

[nulassilb]

I don't think it's against the spirit of the game. For me, it's like having a caddy. I find it really useful when playing courses that I don't know - or when I have no line of sight to the green. Most crucially, I stand over shots from 150 to 90 yards with much more confidence now. Is it helping me to lower my scores? Too soon to tell.

 

[Screwback]

Bit of a an intersesting thread with many different points of view.

For me if you want to use one use it they are leagal as DCB said.

I have one sometimes dont use it i cretainly dont base my game around one but it does not bother me when others use them and it is definately not outwith the spirit of the game.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Not against the rules, not against the "spirit of the game".
They assist in improving your game, just like GI irons, face balanced putters, high MOI drivers, powercaddies, gloves, shoes with spikes etc etc etc
Therefore as they are allowed and help you're a fool if you don't use them (unless you can't afford them or your club hasn't decided to allow them for comp's - although they'd still be useful to learn distances in non-competition rounds).

 

[viscount17]

My point is dodger the gps provides excess information which can be more accurate than information supplied by score cards, course marks and yardage books. Whether that information is wrong or right, if all players are using that information then its how you use that information that makes you a better golfer. but if your ALL using the same information its a level playing field.

what a nonsense. are you also going to require everyone to use the same clubs, the same ball? Everyone carries if one has no trolley?

why gps is so popular is simple. it's quick, and generally consistent in the amount of information that it gives you on evry course you play - unlike shotsavers which can range from good to bizarre.

much of that info you could derive from a good shotsaver but I've seen too many that don't even tell you the depth of the green, so a marker that is 150 to the front isn't telling you much.

 

[Oddsocks]

have you read the complete thread viscount. As i posted im not totally sure whether im with them or against them. I have my somewhat traditional views but obvioulsy see the benifit of having them,

after following the thread and its discussions im understanding more why people use them, simple accurate stats/distances over wild guess's from reference points on yardage books that may now be again between distances.

who know's? the end of the month could see one in my bag,

 

[viscount17]

maybe unusally, I still get the shotsavers. my gps (SG2.5) doesn't have overheads so I still like to have a plan of the hole, though you still run the risk of its being out of date.

 

[Oddsocks]

what i have noticed is there are alot on the market,

As you said i like a view of the hole, not just of the green, so im guessing if i did opt for a magic box, its gonna be a dear one!

 

[19th]

The great usage for this is obviously a course that has not been played before and the distances can be a problem to work out by the eye, due to hidden ground or lack of trees/bushes.

I don't have one by choice, playing partner has, but I feel that my club selection is very seldom incorrect, it is my inability to hit the sweet spot that is the problem and I cannot buy a gadget for that!!

The knowledge of yardage matters but the one/two club adjustment for the wind, the wind moving the ball in flight, the dry/wet landing area, is just as important.

Each to their own, I say!

 

[Sam]

The great usage for this is obviously a course that has not been played before and the distances can be a problem to work out by the eye, due to hidden groundor lack of trees/bushes.

Spot on - it's called 'dead' ground and a high proportion of the population find it hard to determine distance unless ALL the ground is visible.

 

[chrisd]

but I feel that my club selection is very seldom incorrect, it is my inability to hit the sweet spot that is the problem and I cannot buy a gadget for that!!

But if, like most players, you get the club selection wrong and then don't hit the chosen club properly, that 2 ways to mess up - knowing the correct yardage narrows the errors
down to 1

Chris

 

[Kellfire]

I've had my Shotmiser (cheers region ) for a few weeks now and it is absolutely invaluable. Not only is it helping me find yardages but I now really know how far I hit all my clubs on a clean hit and I am learning so much more about course management than I ever thought possible.

 

[viscount17]

Oddsocks, I think you'll have to go by user recommends as the issue with some of the GPS that provide course overviews is the source of the data. Very often the same as Google maps which can be some years out of date - not a problem where a course hasn't changed in aeons but mine for one has had a lot of changes over the last two or three years.

 

[Leftie]

Playing for our club's Vets in friendlies against other clubs, I get to meet a lot of old geezers who would, you would think, be well set in their ways.

Many times when one has realised that I have a SkyCaddie 2.5 I get comments along the lines of "I see you are using one of those cheating gizmos then". I explain that it is a glorified strokesaver that saves time by me not having to pace out distances, that knowing accurate yardages is not cheating but information in the public domain, and that it is not against the rules for me to share the info whether asked for or not.

Often, after a couple of holes, you see them taking a sneaky look at it and it's not long before they start asking for distances.

Even Smiffy (who sold his SC) has been known to ask for distances