Rangefinder

[aaajjj7589]

Do you use one or do you find the smart phone apps more beneficial?

I'm thinking of buying a cheap one for £90ish rather than the £300 ones.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Had this a while and a good bit of kit https://threeoffthetee.blogspot.com/2016/12/suaoki-laser-rangefinder.html

 

[clubchamp98]

My course is a bit hilly so rangefinder for me.

 

[KenL]

I wouldn't use a smart phone app. Too much faff getting your phone out.

I use a Nikon Coolshot but have also just got a need wee gps, Bushnell Phantom.

Check out Boblov if you decide on a low cost laser rangefinder.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I’ve got a cheap laser and a bushnell neo ghost which just gives me front middle and back and distance to hazards.

Primarily rely on the bushnell, laser just if wanting to check distance to a particular point (e.g layup or bunker). If I had £100 to spend I’d go for the bushnell over the laser. EDIT: the current model is the phantom which Ken has.

Weighing up a garmin s62 watch to effectively give me everything both my current devices offer. Not because I need one though, because I want one!

 

[patricks148]

My course is a bit hilly so rangefinder for me.

hows that better than a GPS on a hilly course? or are you using a slope laser?

just curious

 

[harpo_72]

I use both, I use a G80 and Bushnell V5, yeah these are expensive but my last Bushnell lasted 10 years and the G80 has a launch monitor ... so that is how I justify it to myself . The laser is for the short stuff, the G80 is to give a clue about hole layout and possible hazards.

 

[patricks148]

i have used a laser for the last 10 years and it helped me get down to Cat 1, my eyesight is poor and i struggled to see where exactly the pin was on our greens. my home club is fairly flat so i can zap bunkers etc, when i need to, but i got a new Trolly last year with GPS so i don't use the laser as much as i did, mostly just shots inside 200

 

[Dando]

i use the golfshot a to check out the hole for bunkers etc from the tee and to keep my score and also have a Boblov rangefinder

 

[Orikoru]

I had one for almost a year, then it broke while still in warranty, and I decided to take a store credit refund instead of a replacement. I found that with me not being a superb golfer who can hit a perfect yardage every time, the added accuracy they provide was pretty useless to me. There was even a case to say it hindered me, as the rangefinder might be telling me the pin is front edge, so I'd go down a club, then not get hold of the strike and leave myself short of the green. I realised that just going for the middle of the green is a much better idea, and a free GPS app gives me that. Rangefinder is probably only really useful if you're off low single figures and able to hit a yardage very consistently.

I spent that store credit on a Callaway Sure Out instead, I reckon that saves me more shots a round than a rangefinder did. ?

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I had one for almost a year, then it broke while still in warranty, and I decided to take a store credit refund instead of a replacement. I found that with me not being a superb golfer who can hit a perfect yardage every time, the added accuracy they provide was pretty useless to me. There was even a case to say it hindered me, as the rangefinder might be telling me the pin is front edge, so I'd go down a club, then not get hold of the strike and leave myself short of the green. I realised that just going for the middle of the green is a much better idea, and a free GPS app gives me that. Rangefinder is probably only really useful if you're off low single figures and able to hit a yardage very consistently.

I spent that store credit on a Callaway Sure Out instead, I reckon that saves me more shots a round than a rangefinder did. ?

I agree with your logic and that's why my go to is the v small handheld Bushnell which gives middle of the green at a glance. Middle of the green is almost always my target (or it should be.....).

The only thing I think you're missing with a rangefinder is checking distance to a particular point (150 marker say) for a lay up. But I suspect your app does that anyway.

 

[Orikoru]

I agree with your logic and that's why my go to is the v small handheld Bushnell which gives middle of the green at a glance. Middle of the green is almost always my target (or it should be.....).

The only thing I think you're missing with a rangefinder is checking distance to a particular point (150 marker say) for a lay up. But I suspect your app does that anyway.

Phone app does yeah, definitely. Even when I had a rangefinder with me, I was still using the GPS app for hole planning off the tee. For lay-up distances, distance to hazards and so on. On new courses where you don't know the hole layout - blind holes too. I think they have a lot more uses than a rangefinder has.

The only time I wish I had a rangefinder now is when the group ahead are slow and I would like to know how far away they are so I can drive or not.

 

[evemccc]

I’m in two minds about getting a rangefinder..

I find the free Hole 19 app very good and it’s been mostly v accurate when I compare it to others with GPS

Because of this though, and how useful I have found it, I am positive towards the usefulness of a laser...and been close to pulling the trigger on a cheap but respected Bobov one

I have made a note of how far I hit each club (on a calm day) using Hole 19 on the course and so don’t need to pay for a Trackman gapping session off a mat, and I think my estimates of my distance control with irons and wedges is the best part of my game

But, I don’t really use the app for less than 50 yards in....I find short game is best on using your judgement of where to land it and the release and whether you’re short-sided on not...So for this reason, I don’t see the point of a laser for me, as I don’t think it’ll be as useful in my short game as a new Vokey wedge will be

Am I missing something with regards laser rangefinder for short game use? Is it useful mostly for full shots from wedges and irons, or does anyone use it for chips and short pitches?

 

[CountLippe]

Rangefinder can be dead useful for short shots. I find bunkers, or a back pin can give an optical illusion of how hard you need to hit it.

 

[clubchamp98]

hows that better than a GPS on a hilly course? or are you using a slope laser?

just curious

It’s ok in summer when we have Red Yellow White flags to show pin positions.
But winter they just go for yellow.
So a rangefinder just helps when I can’t see the bottom of the flag.
I just prefer the rangefinder, as I never wear a watch and find them awkward to play in.

It has a slope function but imo it’s not that much help used it to practice at first but then just went back to it’s uphill club up, downhill club down.

 

[clubchamp98]

I’m in two minds about getting a rangefinder..

I find the free Hole 19 app very good and it’s been mostly v accurate when I compare it to others with GPS

Because of this though, and how useful I have found it, I am positive towards the usefulness of a laser...and been close to pulling the trigger on a cheap but respected Bobov one

I have made a note of how far I hit each club (on a calm day) using Hole 19 on the course and so don’t need to pay for a Trackman gapping session off a mat, and I think my estimates of my distance control with irons and wedges is the best part of my game

But, I don’t really use the app for less than 50 yards in....I find short game is best on using your judgement of where to land it and the release and whether you’re short-sided on not...So for this reason, I don’t see the point of a laser for me, as I don’t think it’ll be as useful in my short game as a new Vokey wedge will be

Am I missing something with regards laser rangefinder for short game use? Is it useful mostly for full shots from wedges and irons, or does anyone use it for chips and short pitches?

I use a clock face method to play certain yards with my wedges.
So use the rangefinder to get yardage and through practice I know how far each wedge goes for a given swing on the clock face.
It just takes the guess work out of it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I use a GPS until I get to 120 yards and in when accuracy becomes more important. I have worked hard on my distance control especially from 100 yard and in (well I had until Covid) so I want a rangefinder to give me an accurate reading

 

[Jigger]

Albeit I had a cheap rangefinder years ago and it was rubbish. Phone GPS is very good and using the free arcoss app would be my choice. Otherwise do some decent research on the rangefinder.

I have a bushnell these days and I personally can’t beat a decent rangefinder.

 

[Mockba]

How do people find the accuracy of the gps on arcoss caddie app?

I was thinking of getting a rangefinder but from my experience the arcoss app doesn’t seem far off.

 

[Golfnut1957]

GPS are pretty reliant on the quality of two things, the size of the aerial and the quality of the mapping. The bigger the unit the bigger the aerial can be and the stronger the signal from the satellite, but if the mapping is pants then nothing is going to save you.
I've had watches which when tested against other devices showed almost the same distance as them and then on one hole were constantly 15 yards out, mapping I guess. Or recently I walked up to a two hundred yard marker, and it showed 230ish, but a minute or so later it was only a couple of yards out, signal strength.
The Skycaddie SX500 is a large quality unit with mapping that is done on foot rather than in a room in California using Google Maps. Its mapping is considered to be industry leading, but the unit is really expensive and there is also a yearly fee

While rangefinders are acknowledged to be much more accurate than GPS the problem that cheaper ones have is in picking the flag up, which can make them slow and frustrating. The more expensive units have built in compensation mechanisms that ensure you lock on the pin.

Having owned the Callaway, the Bushnell and the Garmin hybrids it is my opinion that while the intension is good none of these devices do the job of a GPS or rangefinder as well as the individual units.

Do you need a rangefinder, am I accurate enough with my approach shots. Well the thing is, I like to know the exact distance to the flag and then when I miss it by a country mile I know that it is through my own incompetence and not dodgy information.

I have a Garmin S40 for blind shots and a Leupold GX-2i3 for everything else.