Skycaddie, I relented

[Val]

I've already admitted being wrong about the concept behind them Homer, give me a few weeks and Bluetoon is maybe right.
It's just a niggle I have about them, more about the club doesn't tell you how hard to swing or how hard to hit.
We shall see, but in the meantime, I withdraw my universal criticism of GPS

Greig, take it from me buddy, when you use it regularly you'll be lost without it, great pieces of kit and let's face it this game is hard enough and we all want as much help as is permitted.

 

[srixon 1]

Greig, take it from me buddy, when you use it regularly you'll be lost without it, great pieces of kit and let's face it this game is hard enough and we all want as much help as is permitted.

Have had mine for 3 years and use it every time. Makes so much difference knowing how far you have to the green. Not just the middle but the front and back too.

 

[garyinderry]

id love to use one to make a stroke saver for my course. after that i wouldnt need one.

 

[Foxholer]

Course only has a 150 marker on each hole. That's why I think it will be good for practice. If I can learn the true distances from hazards and landmarks then it will in turn help me manage the course better.

Surely that's 'cheating' just as much as a GPS (or the 150yd posts that haven't been a 'tradition' for all that long either). I'm definitely in the 'if it's legal, use it' camp. And if others in the comps are using them, it's surely best to have a level playing field.

I give it 3 comps max!

 

[pbrown7582]

can see you point greig but you may as well use every advantage you can no point handicap yourself unnecessary, i have not long had a sgx and with the holevue facility its amazing how many times i would of been out with my yardages guesstimated from the markers.

 

[chrisd]

Lets get this right once and for all - using a compliant measuring device IS NOT cheating!

It is not "MORALLY" cheating. It is not "AS GOOD"as cheating. It is not "TANTAMOUNT" to cheating.

The rules of golf lay down what you can and can't do and it's only breaking those rules that is wrong and it is only breaking them and not owninig up and taking the penalty that is "CHEATING".

So long as your course has passed a local rule allowing the use of distance measuring devices then it is not "cheating" to do so so long as yours is compliant.

So, can we just accept that there is no "cheating" involved - it's your free choice if you want to spend a bundle on a measuring device and not use it in competitions but it is likely that the winners will be using theirs!

 

[MashieNiblick]

I have a lot of sympathy with the OP and am in pretty much the same camp. I know that a GPS would help my game having played with a partner who has given me yardages which have resulted in me changing club and getting a better result.

I know that it is not cheating but I just have a kind of gut feeling that judging distances by eye is an intrinsic part of the game.

Yes I do refer to yardage markers and stroke savers now and again but there is still some element of subjective judgement in that as I very rarely pace out distances from markers or land marks and prefer making a judgement against these reference points using the old Mk I eyeball.

I was also slow to swap my steel shafted wooden woods and to get a 460cc driver, but now realise that is the modern game. No point being hidebound and falling behind.

Is GPS any different?

After all it is just a pastime and I play for fun. No one but me cares about what I score so why should I worry if I am getting help from GPS any more than I do getting help from Graphite and Titantium.

I read that Allan Robertson the first great golfer fell out big time with Tom Morris Snr when he saw the latter using a gutty ball. The game moves on.

Where's Brendy? Come on man tell me to stay pure and save my money and my conscience.

 

[chrisd]

I have a lot of sympathy with the OP and am in pretty much the same camp. I know that a GPS would help my game having played with a partner who has given me yardages which have resulted in me changing club and getting a better result.

I know that it is not cheating but I just have a kind of gut feeling that judging distances by eye is an intrinsic part of the game.

Yes I do refer to yardage markers and stroke savers now and again but there is still some element of subjective judgement in that as I very rarely pace out distances from markers or land marks and prefer making a judgement against these reference points using the old Mk I eyeball.

I was also slow to swap my steel shafted wooden woods and to get a 460cc driver, but now realise that is the modern game. No point being hidebound and falling behind.

Is GPS any different?

After all it is just a pastime and I play for fun. No one but me cares about what I score so why should I worry if I am getting help from GPS any more than I do getting help from Graphite and Titantium.

I read that Allan Robertson the first great golfer fell out big time with Tom Morris Snr when he saw the latter using a gutty ball. The game moves on.

Where's Brendy? Come on man tell me to stay pure and save my money and my conscience.

Difference = you don't tell us we are "as good as cheating" Mashie!

 

[bobmac]

I have always been a GPS fan since seeing Vig use his at Beau a few years ago.
Until the Woburn meet that is.
I tried the Laser rangefinders which were brilliant.
On one instance I was 130 to the middle according to the 150 markers but on RichardC's laser thing I was 145 to the flag.


Sold

 

[chrisd]

I have always been a GPS fan since seeing Vig use his at Beau a few years ago.
Until the Woburn meet that is.
I tried the Laser rangefinders which were brilliant.
On one instance I was 130 to the middle according to the 150 markers but on RichardC's laser thing I was 145 to the flag.


Sold

I agree that I prefer the lasers too. I bought a Bushnell one just before the rule was bought in and whilst I also have a Skycaddie I often go back to the laser. I find the Skycaddie useful, like the other day playing RichardC's gaff which has a fair number of blind shots.

 

[TaylormadePhil]

I have always been a GPS fan since seeing Vig use his at Beau a few years ago.
Until the Woburn meet that is.
I tried the Laser rangefinders which were brilliant.
On one instance I was 130 to the middle according to the 150 markers but on RichardC's laser thing I was 145 to the flag.


Sold

But, and its a big but, rangefinders are only good if you can see the flag.

As for Greig, its ok going without the GPS providing your consistantly hitting the fairways. Hit your ball off the fairway or god forbid onto another fairway running parallel to your fairway and thats when your GPS really comes into its own.

 

[bobmac]

But, and its a big but, rangefinders are only good if you can see the flag.

As for Greig, its ok going without the GPS providing your consistantly hitting the fairways. Hit your ball off the fairway or god forbid onto another fairway running parallel to your fairway and thats when your GPS really comes into its own.

Each to their own.
I was just giving my experience, having now used both

 

[jplkorea83]

I don't think someone who uses one of these devices will ever say it's cheating, given that they spent hundreds of pounds on these devices.
For me, I know how far I hit my clubs and I know how far I am from holes once I've played a course more than once. It's other factors such as the weather that will affect the distance. I don't need once of these devices.
For me, it's just a couple of hundred pounds wasted. I much prefer using my knowledge of a course to get around.

 

[Scottjd1]

But, and its a big but, rangefinders are only good if you can see the flag./QUOTE]

Really, so you cant tag a tree , a bunker lip, or other hazards around the course to get a yardage then......

Or you can get a yardage to a tree on the the corner of a dogleg.

Blind shots, you would often walk to the brow of a hill rather than just hit your shot to check the flag position etc, zap the flag, turn around and zap your bag, hey presto a pretty accurate yardage.

They are pretty useful when you try one out.

 

[GreiginFife]

Guys, thanks for the input on all this. Chris apologies if you felt I was calling anyone a cheat. I was actually inferring that somewhere inside of me I would have a niggle that it wasn't cricket, metaphorically.
I am very much an each to their own within the rules of the game type of person but having played for 20 odd years and never used anything other than my clubs and ball it's a mental shift.
Oh for a world where we could adapt our cultural beliefs in an instant.

 

[chrisd]

Chris apologies if you felt I was calling anyone a cheat.

No apology necessary mate, Its the fact that people constantly write in here that "it's as good as cheating in my eyes" type of comment in these threads. I never thought you were accusing anyone

 

[bladeplayer]

So to all those that I disagreed with about the usefulness of GPS, Sorry - you were right :thup:

Another converted disbeliever here Greig , just posted a review on my new G5 in the review section

 

[GreiginFife]

Another converted disbeliever here Greig , just posted a review on my new G5 in the review section

I haven't actively used it yet Bill, I was primarily won over by the number of useful features while just messing around with one. I am having a knock tomorrow in prep for next weekend's medal so will see if I am truly a convert then.
I will have a read of your review, maybe it will aid in dispelling the niggle that I still have... lol (I must sound totally set in my ways).

 

[bladeplayer]

I haven't actively used it yet Bill, I was primarily won over by the number of useful features while just messing around with one. I am having a knock tomorrow in prep for next weekend's medal so will see if I am truly a convert then.
I will have a read of your review, maybe it will aid in dispelling the niggle that I still have... lol (I must sound totally set in my ways).

I hear my (pre gps) self in every word you wrote mate , that is exactly how i felt , for some unknown reason yeaterday i felt more confident hitting to greens .. our 4th is a par 5 ,blind 2nd shot over the hill . then downhill to green , our fairways are hard at the min .. i was behind the 200 marker thinking 4 iron .. i touched the screen just short of the green 180, so i changed shots to a hard 6 & let it run out .. pin high & made eagle , ok the shot & the putt may have been lucky , but changing the yardages was because of the G5..

 

[GreiginFife]

Sounds like a strong case in the "for" camp when you put it like that. I will see tomorrow, my problem has been maybe being 10 yds out in my estimations and ending up, usually, too far - albeit on the green in most cases but leaving myself a total nightmare putt and ending up 2 (and 3) putting un-necessarily.