SkyCaddie

[heronsghyll]

I recently bought a SkyCaddie. I love it.

One of the features is you can request a course to be mapped if it is not on their web-site for downloading.

I used this service to request a course which I play every month with friends. We play there about once a month as a 4 ball and pay the green fee. I am not going to say which one for reasons which will become apparant.

When Sky Caddie - by appointment - turned up to map the course they were very rudely turned away with the Pro saying - "we do not want this to be done, we are not interested".

I am aghast with this attitude. Surely in todays competetive market any opportunity a course/club has to promote themselves should be taken?

This mapping of the course is free of charge to the club and is of great benefit to anyone with a device or who is looking for courses to play and searches their web site.

What do other forum members think?

Maybe GM should run an article on the different ways of marketing golf and the benefits of clubs being shown, represented, listed in non-ususal ways.

FYI, as a result of this reaction, I will no longer play at the club mentioned but will take my business elsewhere where the course is Sky Caddie enabled, so they have lost one set of green fees x 4 people every month.

 

[SammmeBee]

Where was the Club - come on spill the beans.....

 

[heronsghyll]

Dewlands Manor,
Rotherfield,
East Sussex

 

[USER1999]

Why is this the decision of the pro. Surely this sort of thing is for the owner / management / members to decide?

The pro is probably just another employee, who possibly sells a rival device.

 

[SammmeBee]

Bizarre to say the least - but yet another short sighted professional sportsman trying to run a business who cannot see the wood for the trees.

The mark up on SC's is pretty good and they don't have to take many in an order - I fail to see why you would not want your course measured unless you have an exclusive/other agreeement with another type of range finder...but having a quick look at the course I would say they wouldn't have....

 

[Dodger]

The Pro thinks that it will have an affect on his sales of his strokesavers that is the reason why,I did a stint mapping the courses for Skycaddie and that was the only reason we were ever turned down to do the mapping,the company have actually done research in this and found that 99percent of users will still purchase a strokesaver to compare results so the Pro really is worrying about nowt.

Sorry wasn't the ONLY reason,the other one was old time Secretarys who hadn't a clue how it would work and 'didn't see the point.....I use my eyes young man!'.....open them old man and get up with the times!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Another inditement of old fashioned golfing values I'm afraid. An insular pro afraid of anything jeopardizing his wafer thin profit margins. I have a strokesaver for my course and all I have done is use SC to add extra reference points and mark distances from say a particular tree to a front bunker or to a suitable lay up point so that in a comp where I can't use SC I have a fully measured picture of each hole with more than enough yardages to help me.

I can understand some club owners not allowing SC onto their course but as already mentioned I'm sure the decision shouldn't have been the pros to make.

 

[viscount17]

Our pro has SC2.5 on sale at £169, but with chrimbo approaching and already planning next year's holiday I can't afford it.
tbh I would like to take one out to compare it with our course markers, some of which I suspect may be wrong. that and a better marked shotsaver would keep me going for a while.
next time I see him I might ask if he has considered renting them out in the same way as buggies.

 

[Cernunnos]

why should skycaddie affect sales of courseplanners, infact I'd say having a courseplanner is essential when using skycaddie, as it has no topographical information, simply distances to set points. My mate uses skycaddie & always buys a courseplanner, wherever he goes.

 

[Dodger]

Cernunnos go tell the dumb Pros that,believe me I tried!

 

[Cernunnos]

dodger I can well believe you some pro's or more to the point owners of golf courses are really short sighted as far as opertunities are concerned offered to them.

 

[viscount17]

if they updated their shotsavers occasionally they might improve sales - ours are at least two years out of date and with no corrections offered.

 

[SammmeBee]

if they updated their shotsavers occasionally they might improve sales - ours are at least two years out of date and with no corrections offered.

Sellling too many GPS units isn't he.......

 

[viscount17]

if they updated their shotsavers occasionally they might improve sales - ours are at least two years out of date and with no corrections offered.

Sellling too many GPS units isn't he.......

he's only just started, maybe in response to complaints about the shotsavers? at least the course is mapped - though when is now an issue as they've added a pond, taken out a couple of hedgerows and planted yet more trees in the last month.

 

[USER1999]

But the greens haven't moved, and to be honest, that is the most important thing.

 

[hackamore]

Took my 2.5 out today for the first time to map my course, it's a 9 hole so I mapped it on the first 9 then played another 9 using it. I definitely have a new favourite toy. The confidence you get from knowing the distance is unbelievable, all you need to worry about is making a good swing.
Couple of things I found out
-the 150 and 100 markers are perfect, but
-they are marked to the middle, not the front like I thought!
-my 290 drives are actually 270

I can see the sky caddie changing the way I play a lot of the holes, leaving myself 120-150 from the green and then having the exact yardage for a full shot instead of getting as close as possible and leaving an awkward 60-80 yards.