Rangefinders

SaintHacker

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Thinking about investing in a rangefinder at some point soon. Never tried one before so not really sure what to look for. Can they give you distances to bunkers, hazard marker posts etc, or do they literally just do the flagstick?
 

NorwichBanana

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I've recently brought a Bushnell V4.

It is intended for the flag, but I've used it to 'zap' bunkers, trees etc with good success. However it can only 'zap' something it can see. If the start of the bunker is hidden you wont be able to 'zap' it.
 

SteveW86

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Thinking about investing in a rangefinder at some point soon. Never tried one before so not really sure what to look for. Can they give you distances to bunkers, hazard marker posts etc, or do they literally just do the flagstick?

I’ve got a bushnell, use it to zap anything so great for knowing if bunkers are in play and yardage to a lay up spot etc.
 

robinthehood

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Yeah others say, if you can laser it, you can get a distance. Make sure you get one with pinseeker or similar, great for windy days when there is stuff behind the pin.
 

chrisd

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I use a Bushnell but one of our group at Bearwood had the new Decathlon one which is about £130. Its reviewed by GM I believe. When we compared distance they came up exactly the same on the tests we did, and also it apparently had the jolt sensor the same as Bushnell - well worth a look I'd say Paul
 

Orikoru

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They'll give you a distance to anything you can point it at. Personally I find the GPS phone apps give a better picture though with regards to hazards and so on.

I had a rangefinder for nearly a year, they were fairly useful for times when I couldn't see if the pin was front or back. But other than that I found I was relying on it too much and I should have just used GPS to the middle of the green and been better off. Too many times I lasered the pin, pin was front edge, I go down a club then don't quite get hold of it and end up short of the green, when I would have been better off just playing for middle and having two putts back. I think they're nice to have but you probably wouldn't see a direct benefit to your scores unless you're a very consistent ball-striker.
 

Dando

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Have a look at the boblov range finder.
Mine was about £80 on eBay and has slope and the jolt function
 

Redtraveller

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I use a Bushnell but one of our group at Bearwood had the new Decathlon one which is about £130. Its reviewed by GM I believe. When we compared distance they came up exactly the same on the tests we did, and also it apparently had the jolt sensor the same as Bushnell - well worth a look I'd say Paul
was just about to mention this. I’ve got a Bushnell but if ever needs replacing I’d get one of these. They do the same thing for a lot less. I think the review is on the Golf Monthly YouTube page
 

apj0524

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I use a Bushnell but one of our group at Bearwood had the new Decathlon one which is about £130. Its reviewed by GM I believe. When we compared distance they came up exactly the same on the tests we did, and also it apparently had the jolt sensor the same as Bushnell - well worth a look I'd say Paul

I played with Chris and have the Decathlon Inesis 900 and to be honest I can't praise it enough it feels nice in your hand has Slope feature, Pin Seeker, Jolt and the case is good quality and I have compared to Chris's measurements and my old Nikon Coolshot and it's with a yard or two, over a longer distance 250+ yards its with 4 - 4 yards on my Nikon but its difficult to get lock on with the Nikon as it does not have pin seeker so I am not confident I had a correct reading. I the GM review the only fault they had was that there wasn't a battery condition, but reading the manual this only shows when the battery is low, for £129 plus postage in my view its a no-brainer compared to comparative Bushnell at 4 time the price
 

robinthehood

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I played with Chris and have the Decathlon Inesis 900 and to be honest I can't praise it enough it feels nice in your hand has Slope feature, Pin Seeker, Jolt and the case is good quality and I have compared to Chris's measurements and my old Nikon Coolshot and it's with a yard or two, over a longer distance 250+ yards its with 4 - 4 yards on my Nikon but its difficult to get lock on with the Nikon as it does not have pin seeker so I am not confident I had a correct reading. I the GM review the only fault they had was that there wasn't a battery condition, but reading the manual this only shows when the battery is low, for £129 plus postage in my view its a no-brainer compared to comparative Bushnell at 4 time the price

The coolshot does have pinseeker.
 

KenL

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I have a Nikon Coolshot which has been great.
Boblov has a good name for value and Bushnell for being expensive.
Don't get why they include a slope mode when it is illegal to use.
 

Midnight

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Thinking about investing in a rangefinder at some point soon. Never tried one before so not really sure what to look for. Can they give you distances to bunkers, hazard marker posts etc, or do they literally just do the flagstick?

Mate,

I have a cheap boblov one you can borrow and see if they are for you if you want.
Let me know mate.
 

Imurg

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I got a 2nd hand Bushnell V2 from ebay about 5 years ago....still going strong and worth more at the moment than I bought it for should I come to sell it
 
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