StuartD
Tour Rookie
I have been a user of various GPS golf apps for my Iphone for some time now. The downside of them is that they have been based on images from google earth so if goggle earth does not show the course in a decent resolution or if the course is new you could struggle to find a map for it.
When preparing to play the Torrance at St Andrews last week none of my apps had the course listed and was unable to map it myself as the google images were still a building site.
After reading the best GPS debate I visited Sonocaddie website to look ant their devices stumbled across app for the Iphone.
The app uses the same courses as there other devices so therefore gave me instant access to all the courses on their website, so I downloaded the Torrance course. Scrolling through the courses and downloading on the phone was all very easy
On switching on the course I found that the GPS signal locked on quicker than other apps I used although this could be because of where I was rather than the Sonocaddie app itself.
The app also has Shot Distance & Game Tracker, Digital Scorecard and Game Analysis. I never used any of them on the day but the Shot distance part looks very easy to use
On standing on the first tee I noticed that the bunker on the right was not showing up on the app, this problem continued throughout the round summarised below
Hole 1: Bunker 280 yards off tee on right was not on app as stated above
Hole 2: Cross bunker in layup area was not on app
Hole 3: No problems
Hole 4: Bunker in middle of fairway 230 yards from tee missing
Hole 5: ok as it was par 3
Hole 6: Bunkers on right 230 and 260 yards off tee missing. Bunkers middle and left 130 and 110 yards from green in layup area missing
Hole 7: Ok
Hole 8: Bunker just short of green missing but you could switch to green view get carry distance from the front of green distance
Hole 9: See hole 8
Hole 10: Bunker left of tee 230 yards missing. App showed carry distance for a bunker short of the green which was not on the course
Hole 11: Again a par 3 so no problems
Hole 12: Bunker Left and right 250 and 260 yards off tee missing. Burn short of green also missing
Hole 13: Bunker middle of fairway 230 yards from tee missing
Hole 14: A joke. Showed up as 500 yards plus on the tee when it was a 381 yard par 4. App had two bunkers on left which were not there. Burn was shown across middle of the fairway but in reality it was far closer to the green
Hole 15: Bunker left 225 yards of tee missing
Hole 16: Bunkers left and right (long and short) missing were not really in play due to the wind but fairway narrowed considerably at 280 yards off the tee. This was not identified on App
Hole 17: Par 3 with kidney shaped green with bunker cut into it. Bunker was not on app. Carry distance for bunker would have been helpful for pin position.
Hole 18 Bunkers around layup distance 70 yards from green were missing.
Overall the app was pretty useless and we just referred to the stroke saver we bought most of the time. Another gripe was that other apps I used showed Front, Middle and Back green distances by default or by one setting change and am able to keep it this way all the round. I could not find a way to do this with the Sonocaddie app and always had to change the view to get this information on each hole. We also found that the distances given by the app were consitently 6 or 7 yards out from the course markers. It was far too windy on the day to determine which were more accurate. Any of the google map images I have used (which are reported to be far more inaccurate) have not been this far out
It would be helpful if I could try another course, my home track would be god as a couple of greens have been moved/changed but the app was only a free demo and you are only allowed to download 1 course. Its $35 to buy and tbh I just can’t see myself shelling out that anytime soon just to see if other courses are mapped better. Maybe would if I go to another course that I can’t get with my existing GPS maps
In defence of the app, the Torrance course has gone through a major upgrade a couple of years ago with 8 new holes (some taken from the other course) and bunker rework. As all but one of the holes stated the correct yardage in the app the course must have gone through an update at some point but the care and attention put in to the update is non existent. It was also quite easy to update the app by putting the new bunkers in as you went round, but as I was only a day visitor this was not of any real use at the time and would really expect a better mapping to start with.
I also spoke to the group in front who were using a skycaddie device and they claimed that they had no problems with there course mapping. Maybe that’s where your £30 pound a year subscription cost goes to
Overall Very disappointing and not worth the money with other apps out there for free
When preparing to play the Torrance at St Andrews last week none of my apps had the course listed and was unable to map it myself as the google images were still a building site.
After reading the best GPS debate I visited Sonocaddie website to look ant their devices stumbled across app for the Iphone.
The app uses the same courses as there other devices so therefore gave me instant access to all the courses on their website, so I downloaded the Torrance course. Scrolling through the courses and downloading on the phone was all very easy
On switching on the course I found that the GPS signal locked on quicker than other apps I used although this could be because of where I was rather than the Sonocaddie app itself.
The app also has Shot Distance & Game Tracker, Digital Scorecard and Game Analysis. I never used any of them on the day but the Shot distance part looks very easy to use
On standing on the first tee I noticed that the bunker on the right was not showing up on the app, this problem continued throughout the round summarised below
Hole 1: Bunker 280 yards off tee on right was not on app as stated above
Hole 2: Cross bunker in layup area was not on app
Hole 3: No problems
Hole 4: Bunker in middle of fairway 230 yards from tee missing
Hole 5: ok as it was par 3
Hole 6: Bunkers on right 230 and 260 yards off tee missing. Bunkers middle and left 130 and 110 yards from green in layup area missing
Hole 7: Ok
Hole 8: Bunker just short of green missing but you could switch to green view get carry distance from the front of green distance
Hole 9: See hole 8
Hole 10: Bunker left of tee 230 yards missing. App showed carry distance for a bunker short of the green which was not on the course
Hole 11: Again a par 3 so no problems
Hole 12: Bunker Left and right 250 and 260 yards off tee missing. Burn short of green also missing
Hole 13: Bunker middle of fairway 230 yards from tee missing
Hole 14: A joke. Showed up as 500 yards plus on the tee when it was a 381 yard par 4. App had two bunkers on left which were not there. Burn was shown across middle of the fairway but in reality it was far closer to the green
Hole 15: Bunker left 225 yards of tee missing
Hole 16: Bunkers left and right (long and short) missing were not really in play due to the wind but fairway narrowed considerably at 280 yards off the tee. This was not identified on App
Hole 17: Par 3 with kidney shaped green with bunker cut into it. Bunker was not on app. Carry distance for bunker would have been helpful for pin position.
Hole 18 Bunkers around layup distance 70 yards from green were missing.
Overall the app was pretty useless and we just referred to the stroke saver we bought most of the time. Another gripe was that other apps I used showed Front, Middle and Back green distances by default or by one setting change and am able to keep it this way all the round. I could not find a way to do this with the Sonocaddie app and always had to change the view to get this information on each hole. We also found that the distances given by the app were consitently 6 or 7 yards out from the course markers. It was far too windy on the day to determine which were more accurate. Any of the google map images I have used (which are reported to be far more inaccurate) have not been this far out
It would be helpful if I could try another course, my home track would be god as a couple of greens have been moved/changed but the app was only a free demo and you are only allowed to download 1 course. Its $35 to buy and tbh I just can’t see myself shelling out that anytime soon just to see if other courses are mapped better. Maybe would if I go to another course that I can’t get with my existing GPS maps
In defence of the app, the Torrance course has gone through a major upgrade a couple of years ago with 8 new holes (some taken from the other course) and bunker rework. As all but one of the holes stated the correct yardage in the app the course must have gone through an update at some point but the care and attention put in to the update is non existent. It was also quite easy to update the app by putting the new bunkers in as you went round, but as I was only a day visitor this was not of any real use at the time and would really expect a better mapping to start with.
I also spoke to the group in front who were using a skycaddie device and they claimed that they had no problems with there course mapping. Maybe that’s where your £30 pound a year subscription cost goes to
Overall Very disappointing and not worth the money with other apps out there for free
