Rangefinders!

[OMAAbound]

I played 18 today at course near heathrow, took me nearly 5 hours 30 minutes to play 18!

The problem- rangefinders! Whatever happened to the good old yardage book, or looking at the coloured stakes and working your yardage out! The two guys I was paired with today had them plus the 4 ball in front as well!

After the front 9 I challenged the gents whether or not they felt they were getting the full benefit of one as the majority of the time they'd duff it 50 yards down the fairway or, almost always, slam it left in the water!

Anybody else agree with me?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Are you suggesting the round took longer because they used rangefinders ?

Does reading a course planner or using yardage marker mean a quicker round then ?

 

[fundy]

I played 18 today at course near heathrow, took me nearly 5 hours 30 minutes to play 18!

The problem- rangefinders! Whatever happened to the good old yardage book, or looking at the coloured stakes and working your yardage out! The two guys I was paired with today had them plus the 4 ball in front as well!

After the front 9 I challenged the gents whether or not they felt they were getting the full benefit of one as the majority of the time they'd duff it 50 yards down the fairway or, almost always, slam it left in the water!

Anybody else agree with me?

not in the slightest, youre telling me added 2 hrs more to a round to zap a yardage each time they needed to hit a shot. Takes me less than 10 seconds each time and usually is done whilst playing partners are preparing for their shot and is far quicker than reading a yardage chart/markers and then pacing off them

Im guessing if they were duffing it 50 yds it was no help to them but that their whole approach not the laser were the problem

 

[chrisd]

I played 18 today at course near heathrow, took me nearly 5 hours 30 minutes to play 18!

The problem- rangefinders! Whatever happened to the good old yardage book, or looking at the coloured stakes and working your yardage out! The two guys I was paired with today had them plus the 4 ball in front as well!

After the front 9 I challenged the gents whether or not they felt they were getting the full benefit of one as the majority of the time they'd duff it 50 yards down the fairway or, almost always, slam it left in the water!

Anybody else agree with me?

No!

They are a quicker way to get the yardage than refer to a book or pace from markers, it's the fact that the guys couldn't actually play that caused the slow play!

 

[OMAAbound]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]No, think I'm giving off the wrong impression of what I'm trying to say here.

Is is there any point using one if your not using if correctly, as these chaps were! I have one but don't use if regularly. I agree for the better player they are fantastic and can quicken a round up.

What i was trying to ask was if they hinder the average player for example [/FONT]

 

[LinksTurf]

Rangefinders speed up play if anything. It was the guys constantly duffing the shots (and also apparently not letting you play through) that slowed you down.

 

[chrisd]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]No, think I'm giving off the wrong impression of what I'm trying to say here.

Is is there any point using one if your not using if correctly, as these chaps were! I have one but don't use if regularly. I agree for the better player they are fantastic and can quicken a round up.

What i was trying to ask was if they hinder the average player for example [/FONT]

Most golfers aren't great at guessing yardages but know to a little how far a well hit shot goes with each club, so, IMO it makes sense to have the yardage being attempted as one correct factor of the decision making

 

[Deleted member 15344]

A range finder has no bearing on a persons ability or lack of ability to hit the ball

 

[Smitchell733]

I played with a guy mid week using a garmin gps watch to find his yardages, all it took was a quick glance at the watch to help with club choice....... I was pretty impressed with it to be honest and in my opinion a lot quicker than standing humming and hawing about yardage markers!!!

 

[John Boy Saint]

I played with a guy mid week using a garmin gps watch to find his yardages, all it took was a quick glance at the watch to help with club choice....... I was pretty impressed with it to be honest and in my opinion a lot quicker than standing humming and hawing about yardage markers!!!

I have a watch and indeed a quick look and weapon chosen, I have played with folks with a rangefinder and they have spent more time trying to spot the flag to start with, it's pretty unlikely they are going to stick the ball straight in the hole from how far they are out from it, yet they dilly dally once they gave ascertained the distance.

 

[Foxholer]

I played 18 today at course near heathrow, took me nearly 5 hours 30 minutes to play 18!

The problem- rangefinders! Whatever happened to the good old yardage book, or looking at the coloured stakes and working your yardage out! The two guys I was paired with today had them plus the 4 ball in front as well!

After the front 9 I challenged the gents whether or not they felt they were getting the full benefit of one as the majority of the time they'd duff it 50 yards down the fairway or, almost always, slam it left in the water!

Anybody else agree with me?

Let me guess....Stockley Pines? Actually, given you comment about water, perhaps not!

I don't believe it's Rangefinders that are the problem. Just bad golfers - and greedily small gaps between groups!

Though your comment about 'value' is apt - as is the one about the convenience of the GPS watches.

 

[ScienceBoy]

They are fantastic arent they! Quick and easy to use and generally save time and strokes.

I am a big fan of a simple number over a complicated GPS or a yardage book.

 

[ManinBlack]

No, think I'm giving off the wrong impression of what I'm trying to say here.

Is is there any point using one if your not using if correctly, as these chaps were! I have one but don't use if regularly. I agree for the better player they are fantastic and can quicken a round up.

What i was trying to ask was if they hinder the average player for example

I use mine all the time at my home course, not because I don't know the distance, but to discover how far I'm hitting each club which, alarmingly, varies from week to week. Then it's useful information when playing a strange course. Not much use knowing the distance if you kid yourself about how far you hit each club.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Are you suggesting the round took longer because they used rangefinders ?

Does reading a course planner or using yardage marker mean a quicker round then ?

Love it - don't go there please

Yes - If they hadn't been using their rangefinders and just guessed their yardages using the marker posts I'm thinking they might have been a little quicker. But I couldn't possibly suggest that as the DMD mafia will let loose their attack dogs. Yes - they might have been rubbish golfers but their use of DMDs was clearly a waste of time...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Nope. It took ages because of the pace of play of others. Rangefinders much quicker than looking in a yardage book and then pacing off distances from the nearest reference point.